FOUR INTERNATIONAL SERIES EVENTS PART OF ASIAN TOUR'S EARLY 2023 SCHEDULE

The 2023 season will mark the second year of the LIV Golf-supported International Series, the ground-breaking set of elevated events on the Asian Tour that recognizes and develops next-generation stars while providing playing opportunities for LIV Golf members. LIV Golf has made a sizable commitment to the International Series, with prize purses of $2 million or more for each tournament to help invigorate the game in Asia and the Middle East.

The International Series also offers a pathway to playing privileges at LIV Golf events. Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent won the International Series Order of Merit in 2022 and received an exemption to play in the upcoming 2023 LIV Golf League. Vincent and several others also played a full LIV schedule in 2022 thanks to their success in last year’s International Series events.

The 2023 Asian Tour season will open with its flagship event, the $5 million PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers on Feb. 2-5. Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, site of the last regular-season event during the inaugural 2022 LIV Golf Invitational Series, is the tournament venue for the fifth consecutive year. The defending champion is current LIV Golf member Harold Varner III, who won in dramatic fashion with a 92-foot eagle putt on the final hole to beat Bubba Watson; the two eventually became teammates on Niblicks GC, with Watson the non-playing captain while recovering from knee surgery.

The first International Series tournament takes place the following week, Feb. 9-12 in Oman. The $2 million event will be held in Muscat at Al Mouj Golf, Oman’s first links-style course set along more than a mile of coastline along the Indian Ocean. The layout, designed by LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman, is considered the second-best course in the region, according to the Top 100 Golf Courses rankings. It will be the first International Series event ever held in the Middle East.

The International Series will remain in the Middle East for the event in Qatar, Feb. 16-19. The host course for the $2.5 million tournament is Doha Golf Club, among the oldest golf destinations in the region. Current LIV members Branden Grace, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson have won professional events at Doha, which first hosted the Qatar Masters in 1998.

International Series Thailand will return to Black Mountain Golf Club on March 9-12. Located in the foothills outside the royal town of Hua Hin, Black Mountain has been voted as Thailand’s top course seven times and hosted its first professional event in 2009. Last year, it was the venue for the first of seven International Series events, with Sihwan Kim winning the title that helped lead to several LIV Golf starts.

A month later, International Series Vietnam will be played at KN Golf Links in Cam Ranh on April 13-16. The Norman-designed signature course, a links-style layout with views of the South China Sea, ranks among the best in Asia. It will be the first time in seven years that the Asian Tour has played in Vietnam.

A total of 10 International Series events will be part of the full 2023 Asian Tour schedule, with the remaining six in the series to be included in future announcements.

“The Asian Tour is absolutely thrilled with how the schedule looks,” Asian Tour Commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant said in Friday's news release. “It reaches a wide range of exciting destinations, offers extremely lucrative purses, world-class venues and a great balance of established and new events.”

2023 INTERNATIONAL SERIES SCHEDULE

Note: Remainder of the 10-tournament International Series schedule will be announced at a later date. Click here for first half of the 2023 Asian Tour schedule.