LIV GOLF PROMOTIONS: SEVEN TAKEAWAYS FROM ABU DHABI
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Kalle Samooja not only is LIV Golf’s first player from Finland, he’ll fill a category that the League didn’t have in abundance in 2023 – a mid-30s, under-the-radar European player eager to take the next step and become a global star.
There were 13 full-time Europeans in the League this season, and they could be categorized as:
Major winners and Ryder Cuppers – Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Thomas Pieters, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Bernd Wiesberger, Lee Westwood
20s up-and-comers – Eugenio Chacarra (23 years old), Sam Horsfield (27), David Puig (22)
Age-defying wonder – 50-year-old Richard Bland
Yes, Laurie Canter filled that mid-30s European role, but he was technically a reserve who made 11 starts due in large part to Horsfield’s hip injury. Samooja is guaranteed a full-time position after topping the LIV Golf Promotions leaderboard, and he’s already shown that he’s capable of generating serious noise, having won the Porsche European Open on the DP World Tour in 2022. He once ranked as high as 109th in the world.
At 35 years old, he’s ready to jump on the opportunity as a LIV Golf League member in 2024 and take his game to the next level.
“I’m not really surprised I got one of the three spots,” Samooja told me Sunday evening at Abu Dhabi Golf Club after his first press conference as a LIV Golf member. “Even though I said I was a little under the radar, I think I was one of the best players out there, with the world ranking and the way I’ve been playing lately.”
I like the confidence. Call him the Feisty Finn.
ABOUT HIS STATUS: Thanks to his 2022 win, Samooja arrived in Abu Dhabi with playing status for the 2024 DP World Tour season. In fact, he had already made two starts at the Joburg Open and the South African Open (finishing T-25 in the latter).
He’s not sure how his status will be impacted now that he has LIV Golf playing privileges for 2024.
“We’ll see where the framework agreement goes at the end of the year,” he said. “At the moment, I’m planning to play in Dubai (there are two DP World Tour events in January). But there’s a lot of questions out there and at this point, we don’t really know.”
POTENTIAL OLYMPIAN? In the latest International Golf Federation Olympic rankings (as of Dec. 4), Samooja is listed among the top 60 players for next summer’s Games in Paris. He currently ranks 58th but may have difficulty holding that position given that the OWGR is the basis of the Olympic rankings and LIV Golf tournaments are not recognized by that organization.
Ten other LIV golfers also are on the latest top 60 list – Jon Rahm (3), Cameron Smith (14), Joaquin Niemann (26), Dean Burmester (28), Mito Pereira (37), Abraham Ancer (41), Thomas Pieters (45), Anirban Lahiri (59), Sebastian Munoz (57) and Scott Vincent (60).
COMPARING THE BROTHERS: Scott Vincent ranked 29th in the League in driving distance in 2023 with an average of 299.4 yards.
Don’t expect younger brother Kieran to average under 300 yards next season.
Although the brothers look similar, Kieran is longer off the tee. He ranked 18th on the Asian Tour in driving distance this year with a 305-yard average. His stock yardage is 328 yards with a driver and his ball speed of 192 mph was good enough to impress Bryson DeChambeau when the two were at the range earlier this year (Vincent was a reserve at a handful of LIV Golf events).
On the Promotions’ final 36-hole day, Vincent ranked second in driving distance among the top players, averaging 322.3 yards – just a half-yard less than stat leader Jed Morgan.
Even though Kieran is 26, he’s less than two years into his professional career. He started his college career at Liberty University in 2016 but missed the next season due to injury. Like all athletes, he received an additional redshirt season due to COVID, meaning he spent essentially six years at Liberty.
While Scott earned his LIV Golf membership last year thanks to topping the International Series standings, Kieran took advantage of his first-round bye via his International Series ranking in 2023.
“Couldn't have dreamed this any better,” Kieran said. “Obviously grateful to have my brother and kind of seen the ups and downs and the rides, enjoyed those moments with him. But yeah, I think it's just been an awesome opportunity for guys to grow themselves and grow their game.”
REMEMBER KOZUMA? When Jinichiro Kozuma tees off for the opening round at LIV Golf Mayakoba next Feb. 2, it will be 552 days since his previous appearance in the final round of LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster in 2022.
So, you’re forgiven if you can’t quite recall how he performed in the early part of the beta-test season. But a two-word review would be: Very solid.
Kozuma played in the first three Invitational events, and he finished with points each time. He tied for 15th in London as a member of Smash GC, then solo 6th in Portland and a tie for 10th in Bedminster while playing for Torque GC.
Perhaps even more impressive: All nine of his rounds counted for his team (and this was when just two rounds counted for each of the first two days).
The Torque team back then consisted of four players from Japan, but unsure of how their LIV participation might impact their status on other tours, especially in their native country, choices needed to be made. Kozuma thus concentrated on his home events on the Japan Golf Tour, although he also made some starts on the Asian and Korean tours.
He said he always wanted to come back to LIV and now calls it “a dream.”
Will be interesting to see him re-introduced to LIV competition against a 48-man field that has been significantly upgraded since the last time he played a LIV event.
IRON HEADS DECISION? I don’t know what Iron Heads GC Captain Kevin Na plans to do about his open roster spot. But if he’s contemplating drafting a Promotions graduate, he certainly has two intriguing choices.
He could select Kieran Vincent to complement his brother Scott – the Iron Heads’ top point producer in 2023 – and hope the family connection is a positive intangible for a team that claimed just one podium finish this season.
Or he could select Kozuma to enhance and build on the team’s Asian connection, since Na and teammate Danny Lee were both born in South Korea (though they play under the American and New Zealand flags, respectively.)
It’s really a win-win decision for the Iron Heads. And who knows – maybe Kieran wouldn’t mind forging his own identity instead of playing in his older brother’s shadow.
THE FORMAT WORKED: The LIV Golf Promotions tournament was essentially two consecutive 18-hole Monday qualifiers followed by a one-day, 36-hole U.S. Open sectional. It was survive, survive and thrive.
And it produced plenty of drama, including a 5-for-4 playoff on Saturday and a three-man playoff on Sunday to determine the final two golden tickets.
“What LIV has done here is quite revolutionary in terms of qualifying tournament, promotions tournament, so it's quite exciting to be a part of,” said Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, who advanced through the first round but not the second.
Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri, who lives in Dubai and drove to Abu Dhabi to support his friends in the field, called it, “pressure to another level all together. So many of them have stated how this is an opportunity of a lifetime. A lot of people know that three good days could change your life.”
“My phone has been blowing up since I've been here,” LIV Golf Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman said. “People from all over the world have been watching this, because obviously it has a very powerful meaning about this pathway to the LIV league for 2024. That's a testament to the thought and the process that we put through creating this opportunity for the three guys who made it here today.”
For all the smiles being worn by the three newest LIV golfers, there was an equal amount of disappointment for those who came so close, including Laurie Canter (a two-putt away from advancing out of the first playoff hole Sunday), Jaco Ahlers (who missed a couple of short putts and came up one shot short of the playoff) and Zach Bauchou (who had the outright lead midway through the final round).
“The sport is a cruel sport. Golf can be even crueler at times. We've all experienced it. No matter how great you are, no matter how bad you play, whether you're a 27 or a 100 shooter, golf can hurt a lot at times,” Norman said during the post-round ceremony while thanking all the participants who competed at Abu Dhabi.
Those three, along with Poom Saksansin, Kevin Chappell, Martin Trainer and Suradit Yongcharoenchai, will receive exemption into all International Series events in 2023.