Tag: David Puig

All four golfers representing Spain at the Olympics played at the same U.S. college

Both Spanish women have Olympic experience, but this will be a first for the men.

Spain is sending four golfers to Paris to the 2024 Olympics, and all four played for the same college: Arizona State.

Jon Rahm and David Puig, who both play on LIV Golf, are the Spanish duo in the 60-man field for the men’s competition. Rahm played for the Sun Devils from 2012 to 2016; Puig was there from 2019 to 2022.

Rahm is heading to Le Golf National fresh off his first win on the LIV circuit.

“I’m really looking forward to sharing the week with David,” he said Sunday in London. “It’s going to be fantastic, and hopefully one of us can leave with the gold.”

It’ll be the first Olympics for each. Rahm was set to compete three years ago in Tokyo but a positive COVID test kept him on the sidelines.

“Hard to position myself on where the magnitude of something like that may be, but to be able to say that you have a gold medal or an Olympic medal for that matter is something that a very small group of people in all human history can say,” he said. “I don’t think it might have the recognition it could have yet, but in the future this may be one of those things that means a lot more than we’re aware of right now. Just to be able to add to a Spanish medal count would be absolutely amazing.”

2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open
Arizona State’s Jon Rahm at the 2015 Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (The Arizona Republic)

Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Munoz will represent Spain on the women’s side, which also has 60 players. Ciganda was at ASU from 2008 to 2011; Munoz was there from 2005 to 2008. She won the NCAA individual title in 2008. Ciganda helped ASU win the NCAA team title in 2009.

Munoz and Ciganda are heading to their third Olympics. Munoz finished 21st in the 2016 Games in Brazil and 50th in 2021. Ciganda finished 39th in 2016 and 29th in 2021.

ASU has five former women golfers in all heading to France. Joining Munoz and Ciganda will be Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling and Sweden’s Linn Grant.

“It’s fantastic. We’re so excited (to see the five Sun Devils alums competing in the Olympics),” ASU women’s coach Missy Farr-Kaye told cronkitenews.com. “It’s amazing, and it really speaks to the level of our Olympic teams and how well (they do) across the board.”

The men’s competition is Aug. 1-4, while the women will be Aug. 7-10 and Le Golf National, which hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup. The events will be 72 holes of stroke play, with the top three finishers winning gold, silver and bronze medals.

See which members of LIV Golf qualified – and which ones didn’t – for 2024 U.S. Open

There are now 11 LIV golfers qualified for Pinehurst No. 2.

Monday started with 83 golfers, including eight members of LIV Golf, already in the 156-man field at the 2024 U.S. Open.

Golf’s Longest Day, an annual rite of passage for those seeking to qualify for the national championship, was the final chance for those not in to punch their ticket to Pinehurst No. 2.

Among the 687 golfers who were spread across 10 qualifying sites on Monday were 19 LIV golfers, who normally play 54-hole events over three days but for this they had to navigate 36 holes in one day.

Of those 19, just two earned a golden ticket, which brings the LIV total for Pinehurst to 12.

There were 16 LIV golfers who played in the PGA Championship in May and 13 who were in Augusta in April for the Masters.

Unlike those two events, however, there are rarely special exemptions for the U.S. Open so you either have to be a recent major winner, a recent PGA Tour winner, high enough in the Official World Golf Ranking or be one of those who managed to battle through qualifying.

David Puig had the best day, as he won the qualifier at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, California, at 12 under, after posting scores of 68 and 64.

Here’s the breakdown of the LIV golfers who are in, and who fell short, of making it.

Already in prior to June 3 (11)

Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Kaymer, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Adrian Meronk.

Made it through June 3 qualifying (2)

David Puig and Dean Burmester.

Failed to make it through qualifying (17)

Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Niemann, Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Matt Jones, Cameron Tringale, Graeme McDowell, Anirban Lahiri, Charl Schwartzel, Peter Uihlein, Branden Grace, Andy Ogletree, Lucas Herbert, Marc Leishman, Hudson Swafford, Wade Ormsby and Sebastian Munoz.

LIV Golf’s David Puig punches ticket to 2024 Open Championship with Asian Tour win

Nine players have already qualified for the Open via the Open Qualifying Series.

David Puig is bound for Scotland this summer.

The 22-year-old Spaniard won the Asian Tour’s IRS Prima Malaysian Open at Mines Resort and Golf Club thanks to consecutive rounds of 62 on the weekend to earn not only his second Asian Tour victory in four months but also a place at the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media], July 18-21.

The Malaysian Open was the first Open Qualifying Series event of 2024. The next is the PGA Tour’s 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 7-10. Six players have already qualified via the series. Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt and Dan Bradbury earned their spots late in 2023 at the Joburg Open, while Joaquin Niemann, Rikuya Hoshino and Adam Scott earned theirs at the ISPS Handa Australian Open.

“It feels great, weird feeling for sure. We almost missed the cut. I was kind of playing good, but I kind of messed up,” said Puig, who was flirting with the cutline after the second round. “We actually finished round two good, and the weekend was just insane. I mean 18 birdies, no bogeys, in 36 holes was unbelievable.”

“And getting that Open spot is super cool, I came here for that,” he added.

Runner-up Jeunghun Wang will also join Puig at the Open, same with Denwit Boriboonsub, who finished T-3 with John Catlin but won the tiebreaker thanks to his higher position in the Official World Golf Ranking. Puig and Boriboonsub will make their Open debuts, while Wang will make his third start after missed cuts in 2016 and 2017.

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LIV Golf signs top amateur Caleb Surratt, Tyrrell Hatton will also join Jon Rahm’s team for 2024 season

One of the top amateurs in the world is joining LIV Golf.

One of the top amateurs in the world is joining LIV Golf.

Caleb Surratt, a sophomore at Tennessee, is turning professional and will join Jon Rahm’s LIV team ahead of LIV Golf’s season opener at Mayakoba in Mexico, which begins Friday. LIV Golf announced the long-rumored news Tuesday when it announced Rahm’s team Legion XIII.

Joining Rahm’s Legion XIII with Surratt will be Tyrrell Hatton, ranked 16th in the world, and Kieran Vincent, who was one of three players to qualify for the league via the LIV Golf Promotions event.

Surratt, ranked 10th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, was a member of the 2023 Walker Cup team and won the individual SEC Championship as a freshman last spring. He was named a Golfweek first-team All-America selection, the first in Tennessee history, and was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Year.

In four events with the Volunteers in the fall, Surratt had a 69.00 stroke average in 10 rounds and a second-place finish at the Fighting Irish Classic.

 

 

Hatton finished T-14 at The Sentry and T-13 at The American Express, his two starts on the PGA Tour this month. It was reported recently Hatton was making the switch to join his Ryder Cup teammate.

Surratt is the second member of the 2023 Walker Cup team to turn pro, joining Nick Dunlap, who will also make his debut this week at the PGA Tour’s 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Dunlap became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991 at The American Express in La Quinta, California.

Surratt is not the first high-ranking amateur to join LIV Golf. During the league’s inaugural season, former Arizona State golfer David Puig joined the league when he was ranked ninth in WAGR. Puig is now on Sergio Garcia’s team.

Then, Eugenio Chacarra left Oklahoma State while ranked second in the world, and he won in his fifth start at 2022 LIV Golf Thailand. Chacarra is also on Garcia’s team.

LIV Golf’s first-ever trade sees David Puig dealt for Carlos Ortiz

The deal makes the Fireballs a majority-Spanish team, while Torque is now fully comprised of Latin American talent.

Two teams have completed the LIV Golf League’s first-ever trade.

David Puig, who competed for Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC and finished 31st out of 50 players in LIV’s season-long standings in 2023, has been dealt to Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC for Carlos Ortiz, who placed 15th last season.

The move will make the Fireballs a majority-Spanish team with Garcia, Puig, Eugenio Chacarra and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer. Torque is now fully comprised of Latin American talent with Chileans Niemann and Mito Periera, Ortiz, also from Mexico, and Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz.

LIV Golf has a unique ability to own golf’s silly season with its offseason news, but the upstart circuit has been rather quiet since its team championship in late October. This week marks the first LIV Golf Promotions event, which will earn three players a place on a team for the 2024 season. The event will run Dec. 8-10 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and features an interesting field that includes two former Ryder Cup players, a handful of rising amateurs and a past major champion.

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Four LIV Golf players punch ticket to 2023 U.S. Open via final qualifying

Nineteen players were entered in a final qualifier. One didn’t finish, one withdrew and another didn’t show up.

Amateur and professional golfers across the country flocked to 10 different sites this week for U.S. Open final qualifying – known annually as Golf’s Longest Day – and one of the biggest stories from this year’s 36-hole Marathon Monday was the presence of LIV Golf League players in the fields.

An easy way for players to qualify for major championships is via their Official World Golf Ranking. Seeing as events for the upstart circuit backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund currently don’t offer OWGR points, LIV players have plummeted in the ranking, forcing them to qualify for the third men’s major of the season the hard way.

Of the 19 players entered in a final qualifier, just four (in bold) punched their ticket. One didn’t finish, one withdrew and another didn’t even show up. Here’s how LIV golfers fared in final qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Open, June 15-18, at Los Angeles Country Club.

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LIV Golf at U.S. Open final qualifying

Player Qualifying site Result
Sergio Garcia Dallas 9 under, qualified
Branden Grace Dallas Did not finish
Matt Jones Los Angeles, California 4 under, failed to qualify by five shots
Jason Kokrak Columbus, Ohio 2 under, failed to qualify by six shots
Danny Lee Los Angeles, California No show
Marc Leishman Rockville, Maryland Even, failed to qualify by three shots
Graeme McDowell Dallas 7 under, failed to qualify by one shot
Sebastian Munoz Rockville, Maryland 3 under, qualified via 4-for-2 playoff
Andy Ogletree Ball Ground, Georgia 8 under, failed to qualify by three shots
Wade Ormsby Dallas Even, failed to qualify by eight shots
Carlos Ortiz Boynton Beach, Florida 3 under, qualified via 3-for-1 playoff
James Piot Springfield, Ohio 4 under, failed to qualify by three shots
David Puig Los Angeles, California 10 under, qualified
Brendan Steele Los Angeles, California 8 under, failed to qualify by one shot
Cameron Triangle Summit, New Jersey 3 under, failed to qualify by two shots
Peter Uihlein Columbus, Ohio 2 under, failed to qualify by six shots
Harold Varner III Durham, North Carolina 8 under, failed to qualify by three shots
Scott Vincent Columbus, Ohio 7 under, failed to qualify by one shot
Matthew Wolff Boynton Beach, Florida Withdrew

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David Puig said playing opportunities made for ‘pretty easy decision’ to leave Arizona State and join LIV Golf

“LIV was very supportive, and they gave me two exemptions as an amateur, which I really appreciated them a lot.”

David Puig will make his professional debut at this week’s LIV Golf Invitational Series stop outside Chicago, but the former standout from Arizona State is no rookie on the upstart circuit.

The 20-year-old Spaniard played in two previous events for the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed series as an amateur this summer, finishing T-41 at LIV’s debut in London and T-42 at LIV Golf Bedminster. Puig said his reason for leaving college early (and after the start of the fall season) was because LIV provided him playing opportunities.

“LIV was very supportive, and they gave me two exemptions as an amateur, which I really appreciated them a lot,” explained Puig. “They also gave me an opportunity to play against the best players in the world, so it was obviously a tough decision to leave ASU, but it was a pretty easy decision to join LIV.”

When Puig was later asked if he had looked into PGA Tour exemptions while at Arizona State and if he had written to the Phoenix Open or other events, his response was, “Not really.”

“At least for what I know, getting into the Phoenix Open is pretty tough, especially when a guy is from Spain. I would say, I don’t know, Preston, one of my teammates, he had the chance to play in the Phoenix Open, and he deserves it. He’s an awesome guy, awesome player, but I think when he was 10 years old he was already a member at TPC Scottsdale or helped with the tournament somehow or something like that,” Puig said referencing the Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays, who received an exemption to the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. Other recent college players to earn exemptions as amateurs include Matthew Wolff, an All-American at Oklahoma State, in 2019 and Jon Rahm, also a Sun Devil who hails from Spain, in 2015.

“Yeah, and then on the other tournaments, being from Spain, I would say it’s just pretty tough because I would say they’d rather give the exemptions to people that are local.”

Quite a bit of speculation for someone who admittedly didn’t really make an effort.

Puig was not selected for Arizona State’s first event of the fall season, a second-place showing at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate down the road from campus at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale. This summer during his time with LIV Golf he played for Cleeks GC in Bedminster and Fireballs GC in London. This week he’ll tee it up for newly-announced Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC.

“I’m not nervous. You know, at the end when you play golf, it’s pretty much every time the same. You’ve just got to hit a golf ball and just try to make as less shots possible,” Puig said. “Obviously first tournament as a pro, I’ve got some expectations that I want to do or get, like I don’t know, play a round under par, which I still never did in LIV, or had a chance to win or help my team to win, too.

“But I’m not nervous. It’s just what I do every day. I mean, I’ve practiced for this, to try to be one of the best players in the world. Yeah, I’m not nervous, I’m just excited to start going.”

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Arizona State’s David Puig turns professional, will make debut at LIV Golf Chicago

Puig previously played in two LIV Golf events as an amateur.

On the eve of the final match of the 2022 NCAA Championship back in May, news broke that Arizona State junior David Puig would be competing in the first LIV Golf Invitational Series event in June.

This week he travels to Illinois, but it’s not to play for the Sun Devils. Instead of competing at the Fighting Illini Invitational in Olympia Fields, Puig will make his professional debut at LIV Golf Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

The Spaniard has made two starts for the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed series as an amateur, finishing T-41 in London and T-42 at LIV Golf Bedminster. LIV Golf events feature no cuts, 54 holes of shotgun start play and fields of just 48 players and 12 teams. Supported by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, the series has been criticized as a means for Saudi Arabia to sportswash its controversial human rights record.

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Puig was not selected for Arizona State’s first event of the fall season, a second-place showing at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate down the road from campus at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale. This summer during his time with LIV Golf he played for Cleeks GC in Bedminster and Fireballs GC in London. This week he’ll tee it up for newly-announced Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC.

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2022 U.S. Amateur field features two players who have competed in LIV Golf events

According to LIV Golf’s year-to-date money list, one player has earned $136,000, the other $267,000.

For any crossover fans of amateur golf and the LIV Golf Invitational Series, two names stick out among the field of 312 at the 2022 U.S. Amateur.

Arizona State senior David Puig and Thailand’s Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat have competed as amateurs in the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, with both making starts at the inaugural event in London back in June. The 54-hole, no cut event at the Centurion Club was Chantananuwat’s lone start, while Puig also competed in last month’s event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.

According to LIV Golf’s year-to-date money list, Chantananuwat has earned $136,000 with Puig at $267,000.

“We have had conversations with both players regarding their relationship with LIV Golf and, based on that discussion, we have affirmed their status as an amateur golfer and that they are both eligible to compete this week at the U.S. Amateur,” the USGA said via a statement to Golfweek.

When the USGA began a full Rules overhaul in 2019 it continued with the finalization of the new Rules of Amateur Status, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. The modification was made to draw a clear line between an amateur and a non-amateur rather than defining what it means to be a professional.

The only ways a player can lose amateur status are as follows:

  • Accepting a prize with a value exceeding the prize limit ($1,000) or accepting prize money in a handicap competition.
  • Playing as a professional.
  • Accepting payment for giving instruction (although all current exceptions still apply, such as coaching at educational institutions and assisting with approved programs).
  • Accepting employment as a golf club professional or membership of an association of professional golfers.

Both players are listed on the LIV website as amateurs, meaning they could accept no more than $1,000 of their earnings per LIV event.

Puig told the Golf Channel in May that he’s not directly receiving any of the tournament prize money. The story also noted how a source said amateurs in LIV fields could be compensated through other means, such as a name, image and likeness deal. Puig plans to turn professional after the 2023 NCAA Championship, which will be held for the final time at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale near Arizona State.

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Men’s college golf player of the week: David Puig, Arizona State

Arizona State sophomore David Puig earned his second consecutive win in just his sixth collegiate start last week.

Arizona State sophomore David Puig is playing with the confidence of a fifth-year senior early on in his collegiate career.

After playing just four events as a freshman due to the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season, the native of La Garriga, Spain, has now won consecutive events to start the spring, claiming last week’s Amer Ari Invitational in Waimea, Hawaii, and the Southwestern Invitational in Westlake Village, California, before that.

“Puig is playing extremely well. He’s putting well, he’s playing with great emotion, energy, and confidence. [It’s] fun to see him win again and see his potential,” said head coach Matt Thurmond.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
College golf blog: The Road to Grayhawk

Puig fired rounds of 67-68-68 to win the Amer Ari at 13-under and won the Southwestern by nine shots at 10 under (70-66-70).

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