Tag: Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Q&A: Why this USGA champion and top college golfer played in the LIV Golf Promotions event

One of the top amateurs speaks about his experience at the LIV Golf Promotions event.

Sampson Zheng was one of four amateurs to tee it up last week in the 2023 LIV Golf Promotions event, but his resume was the deepest of them all.

He won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Kiawah Island last summer and finished as a co-medalist at the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. A senior at Cal, Zheng is also in the PGA Tour University rankings for 2024, which gives top college seniors a chance at PGA Tour membership as well as eligibility and starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Americas.

However, last week Zheng traveled to Abu Dhabi and played in the LIV Golf Promotions event. He was exempt into the second round and was one of 20 players – and the only amateur – to make the 36-hole final. He finished T-11, one shot out of earning status on the Asian tour.

Zheng spoke with Golfweek about his decision to play in the LIV Golf Promotions event, his experience last week and more.

Meet the 20 golfers vying for three spots Sunday at the LIV Golf Promotions event

These 20 players have a shot at LIV.

It all comes down to this.

On Saturday at Abi Dhabi Golf Club, 42 golfers teed it up over 18 holes vying for 20 spots come Sunday at the LIV Golf Promotions event. It took a playoff to settle the final spots, but the 20 players are set.

After Sunday’s 36-hole final, the top-three finishers will earn spots in the LIV Golf League for the 2024 season. Included in the 20-player field on Sunday include a former NCAA individual champion, a 2023 USGA champion and multiple former PGA Tour pros.

Here’s a look at the 20 players battling it out for three spots Sunday at the LIV Golf Promotions event.

Former NCAA champ, PGA Tour pro among 29 players to advance into second round of LIV Golf Promotions event

The inaugural LIV Golf Promotions event is underway.

As if there hasn’t been enough LIV Golf news the past 24 hours, the LIV Golf Promotions event teed off Friday in Abu Dhabi, where three spots are up for grabs for the 2024 season.

And after the first round, there are 42 players battling it out for those spots.

Twenty-nine players advanced after the first 18-hole round, with Kerry Mountcastle leading the pack after an 8-under 64 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The cut, which was top-20 and ties, came at 2-under 70, and included players like Braden Thornberry, the 2017 NCAA individual champion, and Martin Trainer, who has 131 starts on the PGA Tour.

In addition to the 29 players who advanced from the first round, the 13 exempt players into the second round will join the competition come Saturday, where scores will reset. The top 20 players (no ties) after Saturday’s 18-hole round will advance to Sunday’s 36-hole final, with the top three earning status for the 2024 LIV Golf season.

Some of those golfers to miss the cut include Chris Stroud, who voiced his displeasure with the PGA Tour last week. He bogeyed two of his last three holes to miss by one. Jeff Overton, Turk Pettit and Jazz Jannewattananond are others who are also heading home empty handed.

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South Korea captures Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Abu Dhabi

The United States finished T-6 after the low final round of 8-under 136.

South Korea and Spain went into the final round of the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship tied. At the end of the day, it was Korea hoisting the Espirito Santo Trophy for the fifth time.

Korea fired the second-lowest round of the day, a 5-under 139, pulling away from the field to capture the 2023 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship on Saturday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Korea finished at 22-under 554 for the tournament, four shots clear of Chinese Taipei and five in front of Spain, which shot even par in the final round.

The United States finished T-6 after the low final round of 8-under 136, tying with Australia at 15 under. Auburn commit Anna Davis, the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner, shot 6 under for the tournament. Megan Schofill, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, and Rachel Kuehn each finished at 4 under.

Cindy Hsu, a sophomore at Texas from Chinese Taipei, won the individual competition, shooting 13-under 275. She topped Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, a freshman at Texas A&M and No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, by two shots.

Korea’s highest finisher was Kyorim Seo, who placed third at 10 under.

The WATC is a biennial competition comprised of two or three golfers from 36 countries playing four days of stroke play with the two lowest scores every day being counted.

First LIV Golf Promotions event is set for December in Abu Dhabi, but who will play?

Everything you need to know for LIV Golf’s first promotion event as it attempts to open pathways to its league.

When LIV Golf’s application for Official World Golf Ranking points was rejected, the reason given was due to its closed-door shop. Come December, the upstart circuit will take its first step to provide a pathway for players.

The inaugural LIV Golf Promotions event – initially reported by Golfweek in February – will be held Dec. 8-10 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and will see three players punch their ticket for the league in 2024. Four rounds will be played over the three days, with 36 holes on the final day. The purse is $1.5 million and players must pay a “nominal” entry fee (when LIV opened entries for its first event in London in 2022, “Tiger Woods” entered 216 times).

The promotions event is the same week as the PGA Tour/LPGA mixed team event, the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. It’s also the same week as the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa.

Here’s how the event will work: