LIV Golf Promotions fact sheet: Basic info, format, field and course notes
BASIC INFO
DATES: Dec. 12-14
VENUE: Riyadh Golf Club, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
COURSE: Par 71; 7,408 yards
PURSE: US $1.5 million ($200,000 to winner)
FIELD SIZE: 93 players
TEE TIMES: Rd. 1 (Hole 1), 8 a.m.-11:20 a.m. Rd. 2 (Hole 1), 8 a.m-10:50 a.m. Rd. 3 (Shotgun start), 7:15 a.m. Rd. 4 (Holes 1 & 10), Noon-12:54 p.m. All times local.
BROADCAST: Globally live and on-demand on LIV Golf Plus, LIV Golf YouTube channel and broadcast partners around the world. Live coverage Thursday (noon-4 p.m.), Friday (noon-4 p.m.) and Saturday (12:30 p.m.-5 p.m.). All times local.
RELATED: Full field list for LIV Golf Promotions
WHAT’S AT STAKE
• Winner earns a coveted spot in the LIV Golf League for 2025
• Top 10 finishers (including ties) earn full exemption in all 2025 events on The International Series, sanctioned by the Asian Tour.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
Four rounds of 18-hole stroke play during three days of competition:
• DAY 1, December 12: 64 players eligible for category A compete in round one, with the top 20 and ties advancing to round two.
• DAY 2, December 13: In addition to the advancing players, the field will be joined by players from category B who automatically qualified into the second round. Scores will be reset, and the top 20 players (after tiebreakers) will advance to the final day.
• DAY 3, December 14: Scores will again be reset for a 36-hole shootout. A playoff will be held if necessary to determine the winner.
FIELD NOTES
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
A total of 30 countries are represented by the 93 competitors: Australia (12), United States (11), South Korea (10), England (7), Thailand (7), South Africa (5), Ireland (4), Japan (4), Mexico (3), Spain (3), China (2), Germany (2), India (2), New Zealand (2), Sweden (2), Chinese Taipei (2), Zimbabwe (2), Armenia (1), Belgium (1), Brazil (1), Canada (1), Denmark (1), Finland (1), France (1), Hong Kong (1), Italy (1), Northern Ireland (1), Philippines (1), Saudi Arabia (1), Wales (1).
ASIAN TOUR ORDER OF MERIT
Nine of the top 10 finishers on the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit are in the field: 1. John Catlin; 2. Ben Campbell; 3. Richard T. Lee; 4. Lee Chieh-po; 5. Suteepat Prateeptienchai 6. Michael Maguire; 7. Miguel Tabuena; 9. Travis Smyth; 10. Sadom Kaewkanjana. The only top-10 player not participating is LIV Golf veteran Patrick Reed, a member of 4Aces GC.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Five of the top 10 finishers in the 2024 International Series final standings are in the field: 3. Ben Campbell; 4. John Catlin; 5. Richard T. Lee; 7. Lee Chieh-po; 8. Michael Maguire.
2023 PROMOTIONS WINNERS
Of the three players earning entry into the 2024 LIV Golf season through last year’s Promotions event, two are in the field this week: Kalle Samooja and Kieran Vincent. The other player, Jinichiro Kozuma, avoided the Drop Zone and re-signed with Iron Heads GC.
RELEGATED PLAYERS
Of the five full-time LIV Golf players in 2024 suffering relegation after finishing in the Drop Zone (49th or below in points), four are competing this week: Cleeks GC’s Kalle Samooja, Stinger GC’s Branden Grace, Legion XIII’s Kieran Vincent and Iron Heads GC’s Scott Vincent. Grace and Scott Vincent were full-time LIV Golf players in each of the first three years. Grace is the only player in the field who has previously won an LIV Golf individual tournament.
FORMER LIV GOLF PLAYERS
A total of 14 players in the field have made at least one previous appearance in LIV Golf’s first three seasons: Ben Campbell, John Catlin, Branden Grace, Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phachara Khongwatmai, Jed Morgan, Wade Ormsby, Turk Pettit, Kalle Samooja, Travis Smyth, Ian Snyman, Hudson Swafford, Kieran Vincent, Scott Vincent.
PIF SAUDI INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS
Of the 120 competitors in last week’s PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers played at the same Riyadh Golf Club course that will host this week’s Promotions event, 42 of those players are in the field. The top returning performers: Ben Campbell (T3), Branden Grace (T6), Logan McAllister (T9), Kieran Vincent (T9), Travis Smyth (T17) and Ian Snyman (T17).
HOMETOWN FAVORITE
Riyadh’s Khalid Attieh, who recently turned pro, is the lone competitor from Saudi Arabia in the field. The 29-year-old moved to the United States as a youth and played collegiately for the University of Southern California. In 2010, he represented the Saudi Arabian national team at the 2010 Asian Games in China. Earlier this year at the International Series Oman, he became the first Saudi amateur to make the cut in a pro tournament. He’s playing on his home course for the second consecutive week, having missed the cut by one stroke at last week’s PIF Saudi International.
TWO AMATEURS
Northern Ireland’s Matthew McClean and China’s Ziqin Zhou are the only two amateurs in the field. The 31-year-old McClean won the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Erin Hills in Wisconsin and is an optometrist in Belfast. The 18-year-old Zhou is a freshman at Cal-Berkeley and is a two-time representative for China at the World Amateur Team Championship. McClean is ranked 104th, Zhou 110th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH
Mexico’s Santiago De La Fuente, winner of the 2024 Latin America Amateur Championship … 2024 European Amateur runner-up Max Kennedy … Spain’s Luis Masaveu, a top 20-ranked amateur and former U.S. Amateur semifinalist who recently turned professional … 23-year-old Fred Biondi of Brazil, the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Individual Champion and runner-up in the PGATU rankings … European Ryder Cup player Chris Wood from England … Former top 50 players Tom Lewis, Adri Arnaus and Martin Trainer.
COURSE NOTES
ABOUT THE COURSE
Riyadh Golf Club, located just 20 minutes from Central Riyadh, is a Golf Saudi-managed golf facility. The course opened in 2005 and boasts undulating terrain, with various lakes and streams traversing across the layout and a scorecard length of more than 7,400 yards from the tips.
HOLES TO WATCH
The par-3 eighth, the shortest hole on the course, has water guarding all sides … The longest hole is the 681-yard par-5 second, with bunkers creating a narrow opening to the green … The most difficult hole during last week’s PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers was the 204-yard par-3 17th, playing to a stroke average of 3.11. … The easiest hole was the 627-yard par-5 12th, playing to a stroke average of 4.62.