As the anticipation builds for the inaugural LIV Golf Promotions event at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club from December 8 – 10, a diverse assembly of golf talents, ranging from emerging prospects to international stars and a major champion, shared their thoughts with the media.
LIV Golf Promotions marks a crucial point during the offseason for the league, where contenders worldwide compete for three coveted spots on the 2024 LIV Golf roster across four rounds of 18-hole stroke play.
Jed Morgan, who competed on the 2023 LIV Golf league with the all-Australian Ripper GC team, enters the LIV Golf Promotions event with heightened motivation, aiming to regain his place in LIV Golf for the next year, alongside Siwhan Kim and James Piot.
Reflecting on his LIV Golf experience, Morgan expressed enthusiasm stating, “Yeah, I think my experience with LIV has been awesome.
Obviously, I turned pro early in 2022. It’s a good opportunity to get back into the field that we were playing golf in was awesome, and the team that I was playing in obviously is where I want to be, and that’s where I want to play golf, so that’s why I’m here.”
Describing his time on LIV Golf, Morgan adds “I just think it’s everything you want in golf I think and more. It’s hard to explain what it’s like until you’re actually there.
Obviously, there’s a bit of music floating around the golf course, the range, the locker room. Everyone is smiling. Everyone kind of gets sick of smiling out there, which has never happened I don’t think in professional golf.”
Jason Dufner, the 2013 US PGA Champion, aims to join fellow US PGA Champions in Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Martin Kaymer in the upcoming LIV Golf season.
Remarking on LIV Golf’s global reach, Dufner stated that he enjoys “going to different places” and “bringing the game of golf.”
He further commented that “people in Hong Kong or in Australia or in Abu Dhabi don’t get to see the best players in the world on a week-to-week basis, so I always thought it was important when I was one of the best players in the world to kind of go and play globally.”
When asked his thoughts on LIV Golf and what it would mean to qualify, Dufner said, “I think for me it would be a new experience, obviously.
It’s a little bit different from what I’ve participated in for the last 23 years or so. I’ve played 18 years on the PGA TOUR. Very grateful for all those opportunities, and I’m very proud of the things that I accomplished on this tour.
I think at this point, maybe something new, maybe something different might refresh me a little bit, and this is an opportunity this week to be part of that golf tour, so that’s exciting to me, and I’m looking forward to the week of qualifying and seeing where I stack up.”
Hong Kong’s rising star, Taichi Kho expressed added motivation for a top-3 finish at LIV Golf Promotions this week, and the prospect of competing in front of a home crowd at LIV Golf Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Golf Club next March.
Aiming to qualify for the 2024 LIV Golf league, Kho commented, “I think myself and pretty much the entire golfing scene in Hong Kong is super excited for LIV Golf Hong Kong. I think Hong Kong Golf Club itself is a great place to have that kind of atmosphere in my opinion.
As you saw in the Hong Kong Open, the International Series Hong Kong Open, you saw a lot of fans out there cheering on Ben with his win and Cam Smith being there was great, as well.
I think it’s a perfect setup to have a LIV event there, and I think from all the great things I’ve heard about playing in LIV events, it’s just an extra motivator for me to have a good week this week because to play in front of my friends and family, my hometown crowd would be really great in that kind of atmosphere”.
Kieran Vincent, whose brother Scott Vincent of the IronHeads GC secured playing privileges for the 2024 LIV Golf league thanks to his final day heroics at LIV Golf Jeddah in October, understands what is required to compete at the highest level and expressed his excitement about the prospect of himself joining LIV Golf in 2024, saying, “Yeah, obviously grateful to have my brother and kind of seen the ups and downs and the rides, enjoyed those moments with him. But yeah, I think it’s just been an awesome opportunity for guys to grow themselves and grow their game.
Vincent, who bypassed the first round this week in Abu Dhabi, talks of his advantage of progressing to the second round ahead of the eve of the LIV Golf Promotions.
He said, “Anytime you get a day off, I think it’s great, no matter what field you’re in. I think it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s a pretty cool opportunity to be in.
Yeah, just gives you an extra day of rest, gives you an extra day to see how people are reacting out there, and at the end of the day, it’s just about figuring out what works for you best and going out there and kind of doing it.
Having a day off will give us that extra time to process through things and figure out a game plan so come Saturday we can go execute it the best we can.”
LIV Golf Promotions will be available globally live and on-demand on LIV Golf Plus, the LIV Golf YouTube channel, and broadcast partners around the world, with live coverage on Friday and Saturday from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:30 – 5:00 p.m. (all times local). For more information, visit LIV Golf Promotions 2023.
The LIV Golf League is owned and operated by LIV Golf Investments whose vision and mission is centred around making holistic and sustainable investments to enhance the global golf ecosystem and unlock the sport’s untapped worldwide potential.