LIV Golf reserve players to compete in playoff for starting spot on Iron Heads team in Singapore

SINGAPORE – LIV Golf will hold its first-ever reserve playoff on Tuesday, with the winner earning a starting spot on the Iron Heads GC roster for this week’s LIV Golf Singapore presented by Aramco.

The roster opening was created because of the injury to Iron Heads member Jinichiro Kozuma, who has yet to play this season and will be out indefinitely. In the first three tournaments, the Iron Heads have selected one of LIV Golf’s reserve players to fill his spot.

But with the continuous uncertainty surrounding Kozuma, the league has created a unique qualifying process that provides an opportunity for the four reserves on-site at Sentosa Golf Club to compete against each other. The winner will then start for Captain Kevin Na’s team when LIV Golf Singapore begins Friday at The Serapong course.

The four reserves competing on Tuesday are John Catlin, Wade Ormsby, Kalle Samooja and Ollie Schniederjans. They will tee off at 8 a.m. local time in an 18-hole progressive elimination playoff. Format details are as follows:

• After 6 holes, the player with the highest stroke play score is eliminated. If two or more players are tied for the highest score, they continue until a highest score of those players is determined and that player is eliminated.

• After 12 holes, of those remaining players, the one with the highest stroke play score is eliminated. If there is a tie for highest score after 12 holes, those players continue until a highest score is determined and that player is eliminated.

• The two remaining players play the final six holes of stroke play to determine winner. If they are tied after 18 holes, they will continue in a sudden death playoff until a winner is determined.

Please note that scores are not reset after each elimination stage.

The four players competing Tuesday each have prior experience in LIV Golf.

Catlin, the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, made six starts as a reserve last season. He played for Smash GC when they won the team title in Greenbrier.

Ormsby was a full-time LIV Golf player during the inaugural 2022 Invitational season. He made one reserve appearance in 2023, three in 2024 and has played twice this season for the Iron Heads in Riyadh and Adelaide.

Samooja earned a full-time spot for the 2024 LIV Golf season through the 2023 Promotions tournament and played for Cleeks GC.

Schniederjans, the former top-ranked amateur player, has made two starts this season in a reserve role after playing well at the 2024 Promotions tournament in December. He replaced Kozuma in the Iron Heads lineup last week in Hong Kong, tying for 42nd.