Jazz Janewattananond and Gavin Green set for Tampines test
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Gavin Green from Malaysia are back in action this week after a much-needed break following a long and grueling 2021 that left them both exhausted.
The Singapore International at Tanah Merah Country Club, being played on the Club’s Tampines Course, is the penultimate event of the Asian Tour’s 2020-21 season, and for both players the US$1 million tournament is a chance to evaluate their games ahead of another important year in their young careers.
Said Jazz: “This is my first event of the year, I had a long break. Didn’t touch the golf clubs for 20 days so I’m pretty much trying to get back on track, get back into the groove. It’s [The Singapore International] almost like a warm-up event but hopefully I can create some positive results to move forward.”
Jazz Janewattananond and Gavin Green both competed in the two-leg Asian Tour Phuket Series at the end of last year before taking five-weeks off.
“[At the end of 2021] I felt like my physical ability was not that tired but mentally I was gone,” added Jazz.
“I couldn’t think, I was on the road for a year and a half. With no news of Thailand opening up, I didn’t miss home at all but once they said Thailand was going to do the test and go scheme, it finally clicked that I actually wanted to go home, and I was feeling homesick. So once I arrived in Thailand, my mind wasn’t on golf, so it was good to kind of get away from it.”
Jazz Janewattananond is determined to rediscover the form that saw him win the 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit title, with four victories, and get back into the top-50 in the world but says the Tampines Course ‒ which was re-opened in 2019 after renovations ‒ is an unexpected and difficult challenge to start the year.
He said: “I played the Pro Am yesterday and have to say I found five to six really long holes which I didn’t expect, and this golf course is a beast. It’s built on a very big property. So, I’m looking forward to playing it.”
“I feel stronger now,” said Green ‒ the 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner.
“At least I feel stronger. I was so weak by the fifth month that I was out, and I was out for seven and a half months. By the fourth/fifth month, I was done. I was just done, and it was tough. But I still gave it my best shot as good as I could.”
The 28 year old struggled with his form last year playing in Europe.
“[My game was] very disappointing. I was obviously very hard on myself. As a golfer, it was hard to accept it, that it was that bad. But then again, I’ve had good people around me – my parents, my friends, my coach, we’ve always talked about it. It’s part of the game. You just kind of learn to live with it, learn from it and when it happens again, which it will at some point, just bounce back quicker, don’t dwell on it so much. And I feel like this break was huge. I just feel so much happier now playing golf again.”
Green is also competing in next week’s SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club ‒ the final event of the Asian Tour’s 2020-21 season.
Korean teenager Joohyung Kim, one of the most exciting young players in world golf, is facing two of the most important weeks of his fledgling career as he bids to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit title.
The 19-year-old star in the making competes in The Singapore International, which starts Thursday at Tanah Merah Country Club, and next week’s 2020-21 season-ending SMBC Singapore Open sitting in third place on the Merit list but with every chance of reaching the summit first.
Australian Wade Ormsby leads the Merit list, while Phachara Khwongwatmai from Thailand is second, but Kim is just over US$30,000 behind Ormsby.
“It’s a great chance [to win the Order of Merit]. Two big events, two last big events so hopefully I’ll get a chance this week and play well enough to give me a chance next week as well,” said Kim.
The Korean is the highest ranked player on the Official World Golf Ranking in the field in 132nd place and finished joint second and equal seventh in the two Asian Tour events played in Phuket at the end of last year that preceded this Singapore swing.
“I guess I have just been keeping the competitive fire. I’ve played a lot of events last year and I just kept on playing and I worked hard on my game, and I knew my game really well, so hopefully I can do that second and top 10 again these two weeks,” he added.
Joohyung Kim hit the headlines in 2019 when after earning a battlefield promotion from the Asian Development Tour by claiming three events, the teen titan made an instant impact by winning in just his third start on the Asian Tour at the Panasonic Open in India.
“Actually, I took some time off right after Phuket,” said the Korean, who is known as Tom ‒ a result of loving to watch Thomas the Tank Engine when growing up.
“I stayed a week in Thailand with the family and got back to Korea. Got back to Korea, got out of quarantine. It’s actually pretty cold so it’s really nice to be out in Singapore with a shirt on and some nice heat. My game’s kind of rusty but I’m just trying to get it dialled in before Thursday.”
This week marks the first time the Tampines Course has hosted a major international tournament since its revamp in 2018 and the course has received rave reviews by players.
Joohyung Kim added: “I first took a look yesterday for nine holes and the course with the wind and the layout in general. I feel like it’s going to be tough for all the players this week.
You really have to take advantage when you can and really stick to the game plan for all 18 holes. There’s not really much escape on this course, so you need to get dialled in and I’m looking forward to it.”
Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana, coming off the back of an inspired second half of 2021, is approaching The Singapore International and the season-ending SMBC Singapore Open, in his typically modest manner but there is no doubting it disguises a confident and fiercely competitive appetite for success.
“I just want to make the cut first,” smiled Sadom.
“I will just focus on enjoying the game and not think about the result. If I can make it, I will do my best in the last two days and I hope to finish in the top 10 – that would be great.”
This from a rising star of the game who won five titles on Thailand’s domestic circuits last year ‒ including the Thailand Open.
And at the Asian Tour Phuket Series in November and December, which marked the restart of the Asian Tour after a 20-month gap caused by COVID-19, he was joint second in the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship and equal fifth in the Laguna Phuket Championship.
He is now in seventh position on the Order of Merit and could take top spot with two good weeks.
He said: “During the pandemic I had time to think over what are my weaknesses and what I will have to improve. So, I had more time to practise my short game and it has been improved a lot. I just changed my setup a little bit and tried to learn new techniques. Also, I have been trying to make my body stronger and change my mindset. So, I feel more confident to play.”
PHUKET-THAILAND- Sadom Kaewkanjana of Thailand pictured on Sunday, November 28, 2021 during the final round of the Asian Tour’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship 2021 at the Blue Canyon Country Club, (Canyon Course), with a prize fund of US$ 1 Million. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Sadom Kaewkanjana is already a winner on the Asian Tour, winning the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open in 2019 ‒ having made it through Qualifying School that year to become the fastest graduate to win on Tour.
“This year I aim to play mainly on Thailand’s tours and the Asian Tour. I hope to finish in a better position on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. I will also look to qualify for Japan and Europe – I will have to see their schedule first. However, I will have to be in a good place on the Asian Tour too.”
When he claimed the Thailand Open in November he became only the sixth player from Thailand to lift the famous trophy. No doubt another event where the talented golfer was just trying to make the cut.
It was in January of 2017 when India’s gifted young golfer Shubhankar Sharma last competed in Singapore, at the SMBC Singapore Open ‒ it was his first experience playing one of the great National Opens on the Asian Tour.
Sharma, then just 20, was getting a feel for golf at the highest level and impressively finished tied 11th. At the time he was ranked 454th in the world.
A lot has happened since then: in his career, in the golfing world, and the world in general.
At one point Sharma rose as high as 64th in the world – interestingly in the week of his own National Open, the Hero Indian Open.
And as he rose up the world rankings, he also got a taste of bigger events: including the Majors and the WGCs. Stardom beckoned. He even led the WGC-Mexico Championship after 54 holes in 2018.
“It all happened so fast in a year’s time,” recalled Sharma.
At the end of 2018 he was crowned the Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, and he was straddling between the European Tour and Asian Tour, with a greater lean towards the former.
Yet, he says, and the conversation indicates, his heart holds a huge place for the Asian Tour.
So, Sharma is “super excited” in his own words to come back to the Lion City for next week’s The Singapore International at Tanah Merah Country Club ‒ the penultimate event of the Asian Tour’s 2020-21 season.
He says: “I missed the Asian Tour a lot. I have very fond memories and then it has been two years [since he last played on the Asian Tour], but it feels like yesterday when I played my last event there. All my friends are there. I know the golf courses, I love the cities we play in Asia and the environment is so different from what I have experienced in Europe or in America – it’s a family feeling that you get when you play on the Asian Tour. Personally, I missed it a lot. That’s why I decided to go and play in Singapore and I’m very happy that I’m going.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – FEBRUARY 04: Shubhankar Sharma of India poses with the trophy after winning the Maybank Championship Malaysia at Saujana Golf and Country Club on February 4, 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
“I feel the players are very good; the competition is very high. I genuinely missed it and hence I thought I’ll go and play there. It will be a nice week and at the same time it will be competitive at the start of my season.”
As for any special memories of Singapore? “I have not played as often in Singapore as I would have like to. But I love the city,” he says.
“I also have great memories of neighbouring Malaysia. That [the win in the Maybank Championship in 2018] was life changing for me at that time; to win and go up higher in the world ranking it was something that I really needed at that time to get myself on the European Tour.”
For the past two years Sharma has played in Europe ‒ carefully navigating his way through COVID life.
“With events getting put off in Asia as different countries had different regulations, I decided to go to Europe for a few events,” he said.
“But that initial plan to go for a month or so got extended. There was no way I could get back home so that trip got extended from a month to six and a half months. So, in the beginning there was a lot of struggle, to mentally get used to it, and the bubble was also very strict.
NAIROBI, KENYA – MARCH 16: Shubhankar Sharma of India plays a shot during practice prior to the start of the Magical Kenya Open at Karen Country Club on March 16, 2021 in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
“Then they eased it a little bit after July-August but in the first few months it was very strict and that was really tough for me especially when I wasn’t playing well, so just coming back (to the room), sitting and staring at the walls not knowing what was happening.
“But the second half of the season after the Scottish Open was great. I could figure out a few things in my swing and even mentally I was in a state where I was making lesser mistakes and even if I was making them, I was able to bounce back very quickly.”
He was also able to get back home to India last year and play the Tata PGTI event, where he tied fourth.
He said: “The last time I played an event in India was in 2019 and then in 2020 nothing. So I was very happy to be there. The PGTI event was a relaxed week for me. It was like old times. It was a lot of fun as we are all childhood buddies like Khalin, Chikkarangappa, Honey (Baisoya) and others, who all play on Asian Tour now. I mean all the people that I used to play with were there, so it was just very good and a lot of fun after the round.”
As for the recent off-season, of about four or five weeks, he said: “I spent some time with my coaches Jesse Grewal and Gurbaaz and physical trainer Sagar Diwan and with my physiotherapist Dr. Ravinder. It has put me in good shape, and I am raring to tee it up in Singapore.”
Thailand’s 14-year-old golf phenom Ratchanon Chantananuwat will add another arrow to his quiver this month when he competes in both The Singapore International and the SMBC Singapore Open to mark the first time he has played in professional events outside of his country.
The amateur star made a huge impression on both the Asian Tour and All Thailand Golf Tour last year and has been invited to play in both tournaments, with the first teeing off next week on the Tampines Course at Tanah Merah Country Club from January 13-16, followed by Singapore’s national Open at Sentosa Golf Club from January 20-23.
“I’m very excited,” said Ratchanon, nicknamed “TK” ‒ the first name initials of his father and mother.
“I’m a bit pressured to be honest and definitely nervous as well. But I’m just going to enjoy myself as much as possible. It’s a new experience for me.”
There were few signs of nerves last year when the junior star was regularly in the headlines.
In the Asian Tour Phuket Series in November and December ‒ the two events that marked the restart of the Asian Tour following a 20-month hiatus caused by COVID-19 ‒ he upstaged the field in the Blue Canyon Championship by closing with a 65 to finish 12 under and tie 15th before ending joint 30th at the Laguna Phuket Championship.
Equally impressively, Ratchanon Chantananuwat, who attends Shrewsbury International School in Bangkok, came close to winning on the All Thailand Golf Tour: he was second in the Singha Laguna Phuket Open, equal third in the Singha Thailand Masters and joint fifth in the Singha All Thailand Championship.
PHUKET-THAILAND- L-R- Jaturon Himathongkom – Vice Chairman, Asian Tour and Ratchanon Chantananuwat, amateur, of Thailand pictured with the Low Amateur Award on Sunday, November 28, 2021, after the final round of the Asian Tour’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship 2021 at the Blue Canyon Country Club, (Canyon Course), with a prize fund of US$ 1 Million. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
He said: “I’m really happy with how 2021 turned out. Yes, I could have won but I’m happy with how I managed myself being in contention and putting myself in contention in the first place! I think I’ve done pretty good for the past tournaments. I’m hitting it further and my ball striking is a bit better. Overall, I’ve improved a bit in every component as a player so I’m happy with how I played last year.”
The rising star is grateful for the support he has received from many of Thailand’s big-name players.
“I’m a really lucky kid that I’ve got the experience from playing with a lot of good players like Prom Meesawat and Thongchai Jaidee,” he adds.
“The advice I’ve taken from most of them is to have fun out there. I’m still an amateur and it’s going to be first time playing outside of the country, so I won’t pressure myself too much. My golfing idol is Thongchai Jaidee. I’m lucky I got to practise with him and experience golf with him. He’s not just a great player who has won multiple times on the Asian Tour, he’s also a really nice guy and he definitely tries to share what he has with me, and I think I’m really lucky with that and it’s really very valuable.”
This year’s Singapore Open Amateur champion Ryan Ang and fellow Singapore national squad players Justin Kuk and Brandon Han will be the other leading amateurs competing in the SMBC Singapore Open.
The Singapore International and the SMBC Singapore Open are the 2020-21 season ending events on the Asian Tour.
PHUKET-THAILAND – Ratchanon Chantananuwat of Thailand pictured during an official practice round on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, ahead of the Asian Tour’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship 2021 at the Blue Canyon Country Club, (Canyon Course), with a prize fund of US$ 1 Million. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Singapore’s Abdul Hadi made it a clean sweep of titles on the Singapore Pro Series Invitational Presented by FTAG on January 6, 2022 after claiming the eighth and final leg to secure the fledging circuit’s Order of Merit.
The rising star shot a five-under-par 66 on the Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club to finish the two-day event on eight under and beat countryman Jesse Yap by three shots.
Impressively, it was Abdul Hadi’s third victory in a row on the circuit and he also picked up the special prize for finishing with the most birdies.
The victory is perfect preparation for his participation in next week’s The Singapore International and the following week’s SMBC Singapore Open ‒ the 2020-21 season-ending events on the Asian Tour.
“It’s my hard work paying off!” said former national squad member Hadi, who is affiliated to Sentosa Golf Club.
“I’ve been working hard on my game, my swing, my putting, my mental game and it’s nice to see it pay off in the last three legs of this series. I was just trying to apply what I worked on when I practiced and it came out good.”
Abdul Hadi ended top of the Merit list with earnings of S$12,300 ‒ for which he also received a bonus of S$10,000.
In addition, he won S$3,000 for topping the most of number of birdies table with 61 over the eight legs.
And while Abdul Hadi will be savouring his win today, he is fully aware of how important the next two weeks are: first at Tanah Merah Country Club, and then on the Serapong once more.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster playing well on the Serapong for the last three legs especially, but I just have to not think of what’s at stake and just keep doing what I’m doing,” he said.
“The biggest thing would be to have two solid weeks and hopefully get my Asian Tour card. That’s the biggest thing, to secure playing rights for next season.”
First-round leader Yap shot 70 while Singapore amateur Ryan Ang, this year’s Singapore Open Amateur champion, finished in third place one stroke further behind following a 68.
Yap is also now fully focused on the next two weeks, he said: “I feel like with the shortened season on the Asian tour there’s still a big opportunity to make a big move up the money list, so I’d be very happy with top 10 both weeks. If I can finish in the top five or top three in one of the weeks that would be huge. Just trying not to put too much pressure on myself as well and just trying to take it one shot at a time.”
Singapore’s Gregory Foo was second on the Merit list while his compatriot Mardan Mamat was third.
Charlie Wi is relishing the prospect of what promises to be a nostalgic return to his professional golfing roots this month.
A dominant force on the Asian Tour from the late 1990s through much of the first decade of the new millennium, Korean-born Wi is aiming to turn back the clock during a two-week spell in Singapore.
“I have really fond memories of Singapore and my friends there. It’s such a beautiful country, and I can’t wait to go back. It’s been a while,” said Wi, who last appeared in the Lion City 16 years ago.
At that time, he was a regular presence on PGA Tour leaderboards.
“The last time I played in Singapore was in 2006. It [Singapore Open] was played in the fall and it was really wet. The PGA Tour season had ended. In Singapore, it was wet, the rough was high and there were some very challenging tee shots,” recalled Wi.
While Australian Adam Scott made a successful title defence over the Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong Course, Charlie Wi struggled to acclimatise to conditions and finished 70th.
Although he turned 50 on Monday and has his eyes set on the lucrative PGA Tour Champions, Wi’s immediate focus is on the Asian Tour and back-to-back events in Singapore – The Singapore International at Tanah Merah Country Club (January 13-16) followed by the SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa (January 20-23).
Joint third in the Singapore Open in 2000 and 2001 and equal third in the Singapore Masters in 2006, Wi said: “I am not just thinking about Champions Tour and pretty much want to play full time on the Asian Tour. I want to compete as much as possible as I have not really competed full time since the end of 2016.
ORLANDO, FL – MARCH 24: Tiger Woods (R) shakes hands with Charlie Wi of Korea following the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 24, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
“Golf is a constant challenge. I want to play steady golf and use the events (in Singapore) to make sure my game is ready to compete. I had a chance to win the last time I played in Malaysia (2020 Bandar Malaysia Open).”
Wi’s last three outings on the Asian Tour were joint seventh at the Hong Kong Open, equal 70th at the New Zealand Open and a tied fourth finish at the Bandar Malaysia Open. The two top-10s leave him sitting 18th on the Order or Merit.
Wi doesn’t believe age is a barrier to future success and is adamant he can add to his tally of victories on the continent. He said: “I definitely want to win something. I want to give myself the best chance possible.
“I know the guys in Asia are really good, as they were on the Korn Ferry Tour. Last year was quite eye-opening because players were hitting it 20 to 40 yards by me. The game really has changed a lot.
“I had to step up my game and hit it a little further … but at the same time I don’t want to hit it 10 yards further and lose accuracy. It’s quite a challenge. As you get older, you slow down. I am trying to make sure I maintain my speed and my flexibility.”
A graduate of the University of California, Berkley, Wi attained First Team All American Honours in 1995, boasting the third lowest stroke average, only Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink finishing ahead of him.
Having relinquished his amateur status in 1995, Wi celebrated his maiden professional triumph at the Asian Tour’s Mild Seven Kuala Lumpur Open in 1997.
Between 2001 and 2006, he savoured eight more victories on Asian soil, including the Volvo China Open and SK Telecom Open in 2001, when he placed second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 15: Charlie Wi of South Korea hits a shot on the 11th hole during the second round of the 112th U.S. Open at The Olympic Club on June 15, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
In 2006, Wi won the Maybank Malaysian Open, a co-sanction between the Asian Tour and European Tour, before enjoying his best year on the PGA Tour in 2008 when he posted 11 top-25 finishes, four of which were top-10s.
That same year, in his first career Major championship, Wi was paired with eventual champion Padraig Harrington and runner-up Sergio Garcia in the final round of the PGA Championship. Wi tied for ninth.
By Spencer Robinson, Contributing Editor – Asian Tour.
Paul Casey, the winner of 21 titles worldwide, has confirmed he will compete in the SMBC Singapore Open later this month and make the prestigious tournament his first event of 2022.
The Englishman memorably claimed joint-second place in the event in 2019 and says he is determined to improve on that result this year when the US$1.25 million tournament is played on Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong Course from January 20-23.
“I had committed to play last year before the tournament had to be postponed because of COVID-19 but when I knew the event was back on this year, I was more than happy to renew my intention to play,” said Casey ‒ currently ranked 27th on the Official World Golf Ranking.
He thrilled the galleries three years ago when in his second appearance in the event he finished two shots behind Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond.
“I love the event, the golf course and the city and I definitely have some unfinished business there: I’d love to have my name on that trophy!” he added.
Picture by Paul Lakatos/SPORTFIVE.
“Given the tough two years Asian golf have faced, I felt it was important I continue to support the event. As a global player I feel obligated to help grow the game and impart my knowledge and experiences with the next generation of Asian golfers.”
The 44-year-old Englishman has claimed 15 titles on the DP World Tour and three on the PGA Tour during a stellar career.
He has also represented Europe on five occasions in the Ryder Cup ‒ thrice on the winning team ‒ and won the WGC-World Cup with countryman Luke Donald in 2004.
Casey first played in Singapore’s national Open in 2012 – finishing in a tie for 10th.
The Englishman is no stranger to winning in Asia having claimed the Shinhan Donghae Open in Korea in 2011 and the Volvo China Open and TCL Classic, also in China, both in 2005.
Picture by Paul Lakatos/SPORTFIVE.
On the final day in 2019, playing in the penultimate group, he mounted an impressive challenge for the title and was five under for his round after 14 holes, but his charge was halted by a bogey at 15. Two more birdies followed for a six-under-par 65 but it was not enough to stop Jazz, who also shot 65 for a winning total of 18-under-par 266 ‒ which is the tournament record.
An array of international star golfers has been added to the line-up for next month’s PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers – in what will be the Asian Tour’s strongest-ever field.
With the Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced as the new title sponsor and a field packed with the world’s best players, the landmark tournament is set for a record-breaking edition when it returns to King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, 3-6 February 2022.
2018 Masters Champion Patrick Reed will once again be returning to Saudi Arabia, playing in every tournament since the inaugural event in 2019. Another US Ryder Cup star confirmed is Tony Finau, who finished runner-up to Dustin Johnson last year and will be looking to go one better to kickstart his 2022 season.
Alongside four of the world’s top 10, the tournament will attract several international star golfers, and some new faces with a debut for Matthew Wolff, one of golf’s hottest young talents. Further newcomers to KAEC will be exciting Australian trio Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert. Frenchman Victor Perez will also join a star-studded field competing for an increased prize purse of $5 million and one of the highest OWGR point totals in international golf.
Previously announced players announced include defending champion Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood and Phil Mickelson.
Majed Al-Sorour, CEO and Deputy Chairman of Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation, said: “We have a truly world class international field assembling for the 2022 edition of the Saudi International. The mix of the world’s best players from across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific will make this year our most anticipated yet. Bringing together strong fields for our international men’s and women’s events has shown to play a vital role in driving participation and engagement in the sport in Saudi Arabia. The commitment from our long-term partners at the PIF to take the title position on the event has provided further recognition that the event has reached a level of strategic importance for Saudi Arabia, impacting our schools and grassroots programmes as well as our rapidly improving national teams as part of the long journey we’re on in Saudi Arabia.”
Alongside some of the star names confirmed will be the leading 30 players from the final 2020-21 Asian Tour Order of Merit ‒ which will be finalised after this month’s The Singapore International and SMBC Singapore Open. Wade Ormsby (Australia), Phachara Khongwatmai (Thailand) and Joohyung Kim (South Korea) are the current top-three ranked players.
PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers recently announced a 10-year partnership with the Asian Tour, which will play a key role in helping the Asian Tour to establish itself in the global game and attract international star golfers.
Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and CEO of the Asian Tour, added: “We are under a month to go before one of the biggest events in the history of the Asian Tour. And with our season-ending double-header in Singapore approaching to confirm our top 30 players from the Order of Merit, we are all set for a hugely significant week. The tournament will give our members an incredible opportunity to play with many of the game’s global stars and allow us to further increase our fan base.”
Sport and entertainment is one of PIF’s thirteen priority sectors laid out in the Fund’s 2021-2025 strategy. PIF has supported the Saudi International as a strategic partner for the first three years of the tournament with the event now an international industry leading property and one of the major sporting events in Saudi Arabia. The event is expected to continue to attract international star golfers.
A particular focus of PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers will be enhancing the events current work on sustainability, innovation, women, and youth. A key goal will be to further accelerate the transformation of the Saudi International and be a leading example for golf events globally.
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