By Rahul Banerji
Gaganjeet Bhullar and Karandeep Kochhar will line up to bid for LIV Golf 2024 berths at the $1.5 million LIV Golf Promotions event that gets under way in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Bhullar’s 11th Asian Tour title at the Indonesia Masters last month gave him eighth place in the International Series order of merit and ensured exemption into the second round of the Promotions tournament.
Kochhar rode a late-season burst of form that saw him finish second behind Bhullar at Jakarta, fifth at the Volvo China Masters and 25th at the Hong Kong Open.
Those results were enough for 18th place in the Asian Tour’s order of merit and a place in the first round at Abu Dhabi where he will join 59 others bidding to make the second round cut.
In all, 73 players have qualified for the Promotions event with 60 starting the first round drawn from the Asian Tour list of winners and placings on the order of merit.
The top 20 and ties will be exempt into round two alongside those with exemptions.
Novel qualifier
Sunday’s final stage will see those making the second cut play 36 holes with the top three getting full LIV status, while those finishing between fourth and 10th will earn exemption into 2024 International Series.
Scores will be reset to zero ahead of the two rounds on Sunday.
The Promotions tournament has drawn a high-profile field including 2013 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner of the US and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, who has just announced retirement from the DP World (European) Tour.
In all, a prize fund of $1.5 million is on the table at Abu Dhabi with the first three finishers earning – besides a LIV Golf slot – $200,000, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively.
Like Kochhar, Bhullar too had a stellar closing run that included the Indonesian Masters title and two top-fives between August and November.
Leading the way
While there is stiff competition from the high-quality field, the Kapurthala golfer leads all entrants with 23 professional titles, 11 from the Asian Tour alone.
Also in the running is up-and-coming Zimbabwean Keiran Vincent, whose elder brother Scott is a LIV Golf member with the Iron Heads, besides Australian veterans Scott Hend and Wade Ormsby and a solid 10-strong contingent from Thailand.
Three from LIV Golf 2023’s Drop Zone – Americans Sihwan Kim and James Piot, and Jediam Morgan of Australia – complete the 73-strong starting lineup though they too are in the group with first round exemptions.
Said the younger Vincent on the Asian Tour website ahead of the Abu Dhabi event, “It is an important week, but I will go out and have some fun.
“At the end of the day, golf is just golf and the more we try to play up the situation, the more pressure you can feel, so it is important to keep it simple. We live for those pressure moments.
Staying focussed
“If there wasn’t any pressure, there wouldn’t be any privilege to it. I look forward to the opportunity, I’m not sure how we are going to handle it, but I will go out one shot at a time and take it from there.”
Vincent will know many in the field who also qualified via The International Series Order of Merit which covers the Asian Tour’s set of 10 marquee events every year.
And he is confident the Asian Tour contingent will be rooting for each other as they all go in search of those three life-changing golden tickets to the LIV Golf League.
“I have been fortunate enough to play here for a whole year now with this group of guys and the camaraderie and spirit is I think what separates us from other tours.
“No one thinks they are above anyone else, everyone is trying to do the very best they can, and everyone tries to help each other out.
“I hope that stays, the guys have taken me under their wing and treated me like family ever since I joined the tour, it is very special.”
Also read: Buzz around Rahm’s departure to LIV Golf gains momentum
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