In the second round of the pride battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, LIV Golf laughed.
Abraham Anser (Mexico), who is active in LIV Golf, won the opening game of the 2023 Asian Tour with a large prize money.
On the 5th (local time), Anser made a birdie 3 in the 4th round of the Asian Tour PIF Saudi International (total prize money of 5 million dollars) held at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club (par 70, 7048 yards) in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. He shot a 2-under-par 68 with a dog and one bogey.
Anser, who recorded a final total of 19 under par 261 strokes, beat second place Cameron Young (USA) by two strokes to reach the top. Young was the rookie of the year on the PGA Tour last season.
Anser, who achieved the wire-to-wire championship, received a prize of 1 million dollars (approximately 1.25 billion won). Compared to the ‘money party’ of the LIV Golf Tour, it was a modest (?) amount, but it was the most prize money among Asian Tour tournaments. With Anser’s victory, LIV Golf, which had been competing with the PGA Tour for pride, took revenge for Patrick Reed’s defeat last week.
Last week at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic, Rory McIlroy, the spearhead of ‘Anti-LIV’, defeated LIV’s bad boy Reed to reach the top. The two players, who had been in a war of nerves before the tournament, competed fiercely until the end, but McIlroy, who recorded 19 under par, beat the lead by one stroke and lifted the championship cup.
In this tournament, as Anser and Young took the lead, a ‘PGA vs. LIV’ confrontation was created, but Anser won and LIV made up for it.
In fact, there are not many opportunities for LIV and PGA Tour players to face each other. This is because LIV players who are banned from participating in PGA Tour events only participate in the Asian Tour, DP World Tour, and major tournaments (players subject to ranking). In particular, the LIV golf tournament is not given a world ranking due to the competition method, so players are thirsty for competitions that can raise their rankings. 안전놀이터
Anser was also ranked 20th in the world before moving to LIV in June of last year, but now he has dropped to 37th. He will be able to move up the ranks with this win.
On the other hand, among Korean players, Kyung-Joon Moon cut 7 strokes on this day alone and finished with a final total of 9 under par, tied for 12th, and Park Sang-hyun, who cut 6 strokes, also recorded a tie for 18th with 8 under par.
The Asian Tour will host the International Series Oman (total prize money of 2 million dollars) starting on the 9th, and LIV players such as Brooks Koepka, Louis Ustuzen (South Africa), and Sergio Garcia (Spain) will also participate in this tournament. Reporter Seongjin Kim