FIRST-ROUND BYE PLAYERS NOW JOIN LIV GOLF PROMOTIONS BATTLE
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – In the intense battle that is playing out at the LIV Golf Promotions this week at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for three cards to the 2024 season, 13 players have created their own luck and received a bye into the second round.
The competitive advantage – as against the 60 who needed to play the opening round on Friday and finish inside the top-20 and ties – is a reward for their stature in the sport and year-long consistency on the International Series and other worldwide tours, including amateur championships.
The players receiving byes are Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Ben Campbell (NZL), Laurie Canter (ENG), Kevin Chappell, Jason Dufner, Sihwan Kim, James Piot (all USA), Gunn Charoenkul (THA), Jed Morgan, Wade Ormsby (both AUS), Kalle Samooja (FIN), Kieran Vincent (ZIM) and Sampson-Yunhe Zhang (PRC).
“It is a new format and we are in a bit of unchartered waters. But I think it is very fair. The players getting a bye in the first round have some status in LIV Golf or other Tours,” said Ormsby, who has played on LIV Golf before.
“There’s a bit on both sides. They’ve seen the golf course today, which we know is always good, but it’s no different from being in a ProAm, I guess. But bypassing the first round is definitely an advantage. It’s one less round you've got, one less hurdle to get over.”
Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent, brother of Iron Heads GC star Scott, felt he had an advantage, but it all boiled down to how the players handled pressure towards the end of each round.
“The advantages are a little bit extra rest leading up into the weekend, when we got 18 holes on Saturday and 36 on Sunday. It’s not as much as rest, but an extra day to be able to come up with a better gameplan,” said Vincent, winner of the International Series Vietnam this year.
“However, advantage is a strong word. At the end of the day, we’re still gonna go out and still hit a white little white ball, the least amount of times you can over 18 holes. It is still coming down the stretch and come in with the right mindset to handle the pressure.”
India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar, who got into the second round by virtue of finishing inside the top-eight of the International Series Order of Merit, resorted to mathematics.
“Surely works in our favour a bit. I mean, instead of 80 players fighting for three cards in the first round, we will have less than 40 players fighting for the same number of cards. The probability just gets better,” said the 35-year-old, a recent winner of the International Series event in Indonesia.
Zhang, No. 27 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who recently stunned everyone with a seven-under par round on Royal Melbourne Golf Club in treacherous conditions before losing the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in a play-off, was looking forward to playing 54 holes over the next two days.
“I am quite used to playing 36 holes in a day in college,” said the University of California Senior. “But if you are doing that, it’s much better coming into it having played one round before that rather than two rounds in two days.”
Sihwan Kim, who secured his card for 2023 LIV Golf season with a stunning show late in the 2022 season, is another LIV Golf player who is trying to get back in the League.
“It’s a bit hot out there, but to be honest, everyone in the field are professional golfers and they can handle all kinds of conditions,” said Kim, who is getting married in Korea next month.
“We have a slight advantage, but I don’t think it matters because you have got to be on the ball pretty much throughout. There is no second chance in this format.”
The top-20 players and ties after Friday’s opening round proceed to join the 13 exempt players in Saturday’s second round. After another 18 holes, exactly 20 players will advance to Sunday’s 36-hole shootout offering cards to the top-three players.