International Series set for six-tournament sprint to the finish in next two months

After a two-month break in the schedule, The International Series resumes play this week in Thailand with a six-tournament sprint to the finish for the 2024 series. At stake is a coveted spot in next year’s LIV Golf League.

The Black Mountain Championship is the fifth leg of the 10-tournament International Series, the set of elevated events on the Asian Tour. The leading player at the conclusion of the season earns full entry into LIV Golf for 2025.

American John Catlin received an introduction to LIV Golf this season, making six starts as a reserve player. As a member of Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, he tied for seventh individually in Nashville. At Greenbrier, he played for Brooks Koepka’s winning Smash GC team in Greenbrier, and at the LIV Golf Team Championship in Dallas, he replaced an ill Jon Rahm in the Legion XIII lineup.

He now controls his own destiny as the current International Series points leader, with LIV Golf as his goal for 2025.  “I would love to be out here,” said Catlin, who has two Asian tour wins this season, including the International Series Macau presented by Wynn in March.

He has a healthy lead, nearly 147 points ahead of New Zealand’s Ben Campbell. But with six tournaments left in the next two months, his chasers have ample opportunity to catch him, starting at Black Mountain in Hua Hin, the coastal village where Catlin is currently based. (See full schedule below.)

With the 2024 LIV Golf season now over, several players are expected to make International Series starts in the next two months. This week, four LIV Golf players are in the field – American Peter Uihlein, Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma, and Zimbabwe brothers Scott and Kieran Vincent. That number could double for next week’s tournament at Thai Country Club.

While Uihlein – who won the most recent International Series tournament in England – and Kozuma finished in the Open Zone (25-48 in points), the Vincents both finished in the Drop Zone and face relegation from the league. They can earn their way back, however, either through topping the International Series or at the LIV Golf Promotions tournament later this year. It would not be an unfamiliar path for either one.

In 2022, Scott Vincent was the International Series points leader, earning a spot in the 2023 LIV Golf League. And less than a year ago, Kieran Vincent was one of three players (along with Kozuma and Finland’s Kalle Samooja) to earn spots at the Promotions tournament.

“Work on the game and see where it goes,” Scott Vincent said after his Iron Heads GC finished an inspired run to a tie for second at the Team Championship, including upsets of the Nos. 1 and 4 seeds.

Other players who’ve previously received a taste of LIV Golf are also hoping to get back. That list includes Australian’s Wade Ormsby and Jed Morgan, as well as American Sihwan Kim, each a former full-time LIV Golf player.

Meanwhile, young players from across the globe are exploring the opportunities presented by The International Series.

In Thailand, reigning Amateur Championship winner Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark and Latin America Amateur Champ Santiago De la Fuente of Mexico are in the field. De la Fuente recently turned pro, while Olesen is 12th in the world amateur rankings.

Olesen is exempt into The International Series next year due to his Amateur win.

“Definitely there are a lot of people that are looking this way, especially with The International Series now, with bigger prize pools,” Olesen said. “And yes, this (event) seems to be run extremely well. That is what filters down. If you know that the tournaments are run well, with good courses and destinations, people will want to play.

“When you see this, and you hear from other guys that have done it, then it becomes an option. And I definitely think you’re going to see a lot more guys from America and Europe coming over here to play.”

Another up-and-comer in the field this week is China’s Sampson Zheng, who turned pro earlier this year after a stellar amateur career.  He has two top-5 finishes and another top 20 in his first four starts.

As an amateur last year, Zheng competed in the LIV Golf Promotions tournament.

INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2024 SCHEDULE

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