Promotions players ready to chase LIV Golf’s lottery ticket

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Their perspectives are as diverse as their nationalities.

Some, like 23-year-old Fred Biondi of Brazil and 24-year-old Taichi Kho of Hong Kong, are in the early stages of their pro careers.

Others, like 29-year-old Jazz Janewattananoud of Thailand, have leveled off and are eager to find the next step.

A few, like 36-year-old Chris Wood of England and 31-year-old American Ollie Schniederjans, are looking to reinvigorate once-promising careers derailed by injuries and other factors.

And for 14 of the players, such as Kalle Samooja of Finland and Australia’s Jed Morgan, they’ve already received a taste of competing on the LIV Golf stage. They yearn for another chance.

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While the collection of 92 competitors in this week’s LIV Golf Promotions at Riyadh Golf Club are a global melting pot of players, they each share the same goal: Win the coveted spot into the 2025 LIV Golf season.

“That one spot,” Janewattananond said, “will definitely change one life.”

Morgan simply called it “a lottery ticket.”

It won’t be easy to procure. A total of 64 players will start Thursday’s first round, with the top 20 and ties advancing to Friday. They’ll be joined by 28 other players who received exemption into the second round.

The top 20 players (no ties) who survive Friday will then compete in a 36-hole shootout on Saturday. The winner becomes a LIV Golf regular next year. The top 10 receive guaranteed entry into the 10 International Series events in 2025.

“To play against the best players in the world is something that I really dreamed of as a little kid,” said Kho, the former University of Notre Dame player who last year became the first player from Hong Kong to win on the Asian Tour. “The opportunity is there now, and I really do want to take it.”

The format is unique … and challenging. With scores reset after each of the first two rounds, players are trying to formulate their best approach for the week, both strategically and mentally.

There are 25 players in this week’s field who competed in last year’s Promotions event, and if anyone knows the winning game plan, it’s Samooja. Last year in Abu Dhabi, he took medalist honors. Following his first-round bye, Samooja was T11 after round two to advance, then after the leaderboard reset, he shot 65-71 on the final day to win by one stroke. He ultimately joined Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks GC for the 2024 season and was part of the champagne celebration when the Cleeks won their first-ever team title in Houston.

“The first two days are more crucial,” Samooja said. “When you get to the last two days, that's where you can just go for it. You don't need to hold back. There's nothing to lose. It's only about who gets the spot this week. If you slip a little bit on Friday, you might not even get the chance on Saturday. 

“You need to have a solid day on Friday, get to Saturday, and when the lights go out, you just go as fast as you can.”

Samooja managed to avoid the three-for-two playoff necessary to fill the other two Promotions spots last year, eventually claimed by Kieran Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma. But with this year’s change in which only the winner receives a full-time LIV Golf spot for 2025, the pressure will increase on that final day.

“Obviously there is one spot, but at the same time you've got to go through a couple days before to get to that,” said Spain’s Adri Arnaus, a former world top-50 player. “I feel like definitely it's not the same game plan that you would do in a normal tournament. Like every day from the first shot until the last, it's just be a tiny bit more aggressive and don't really leave anything out there.”

Wood, who played for Europe in the 2016 Ryder Cup and finished third at the 2009 Open, was once a top-25 player. But physical and technical issues have taken their toll on his 6-6 frame. “I’ve been through hell,” he said in an interview three years ago. That was before the arrival of LIV Golf. He sees the new league – and its ties to The International Series – as a potential fresh start.

“It's a tough format,” Wood said. “The first two days, 20 guys, you could play well and finish 21st and you could be going home Thursday night. It's brutal. But that's professional sport.

“I think as far as it goes to getting through each day, it's a massive patience thing this week. I think be as aggressive as you feel you need to be. There's a case you could finish 19th and then first. But there's also a massive appeal of the 10 places for the International Series, so for myself, I've sort of got half-an-eye on that, as well.

“But as I said, I think you could quite easily get caught up in thinking there's only one place, and there's about 90 players here, so the standard is obviously very good. It very much needs to be your week to get that one place.”

Schniederjans and his younger brother Luke are in the field. They’ve played a few of the same tournaments and made the decision to chase the one LIV Golf spot together.

“We just think it's a great opportunity,” Ollie said. “The landscape in the world of golf is wild right now, and what LIV has done has been super-interesting.

“For us, we just want to play great courses against the best players, and we're excited about what's going on with LIV and that opportunity, and also the International Series. There's a lot of new stuff going on in the world of golf and a lot more opportunity in different places. We're really excited about this chance.”

For each player in this week’s field, it’s a one-in-92 chance. The task is tall, but the odds aren’t bad considering the prize is professional golf’s version of a lottery ticket.

(Photos by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour)