Dylan Dethier
A photo from LIV Golf’s Greenbrier event in August.
Getty Images
LIV Golf has added a new member.
The league staged a 36-hole shootout finale to its Promotions event on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, crowning a single winner from a qualifying tournament that had begun with 92 players. Chieh-po Lee, a 30-year-old Asian Tour pro who often goes by “Max,” was low man on the day, beating out an international crowd that included a mix of ex-LIV pros, Asian Tour talents and a well-known American former PGA Tour pro.
The field had been cut to 20 players for Saturday’s back-to-back rounds at Riyadh Golf Club, and Lee shot seven-under 64 in the morning to take a two-stroke lead. Then he shot three under in the afternoon, cementing things with a birdie at the par-3 17th to earn his way onto LIV for the first time. He’ll be the first Taiwanese player on LIV.
“It means a lot to me because I was playing on the Asian Tour many years, and LIV Golf, I think it’s every player’s goal, every player’s target,” Lee said. LIV has maintained a relationship with the Asian Tour, funding its affiliated International Series and promoting the winner of that Series to LIV. “On the LIV Tour, every player I think is very strong. I think I can learn something. I will learn something.”
LIV’S RELEGATED PROS
Lee’s promotion marks the end of the road — for now, at least — for a few of LIV’s relegated players. Branden Grace, Kieran Vincent, Scott Vincent, Kalle Samooja and Bubba Watson were cut at the end of the LIV season but had the chance to earn their way back in via the Promotions event. Grace came the closest, finishing T2 at eight under par. They’ll each get exemptions into the International Series on the Asian Tour for 2025.
A “BUSINESS CASE”?
There’s still one more lifeline available for at least two of those pros, though. LIV has acknowledged that, should a team make a “business case” to keep a relegated player, he could return for the following season. It’s thought that Watson, who didn’t play the Promotions event, will be back as captain of the Range Goats — Masters champs tend to be good for business. But LIV also mentioned in its post-Promotions release that Grace could be back via business case, too. Time will tell for the two-time PGA Tour winner, who has played on the all-South African Stinger GC.
OLLIE’S BID
The week also marked a close call for Ollie Schniederjans, an American pro who spent multiple years as an up-and-coming talent on the PGA Tour. Schniederjans last played on Tour in 2019 — where you’ll remember him as the owner of a fantastic stinger, plus as the rare pro who played without a hat — he’s been in and out of the Korn Ferry Tour the last several seasons and showed he still has plenty of game in playing his way to Saturday and finishing T4 at five under par.
“I’m very confident about where everything is heading, but to come out and do — I had to hit a lot of cool putts and shots under pressure, so it was really nice to see that,” Schniederjans said. “It did give me even more confidence. But I have a lot of confidence in my future.”
He’ll have the option of playing the International Series thanks to his top-10 finish. Australians Brett Coletta and Jack Buchanan, who tied for fourth at five under, Germany’s Max Rottluff, who finished solo seventh at four under and Korea’s Soomin Lee and England’s David Horsey, who finished T-8 at three under will also earn International Series exemptions.
It’s unclear which LIV team Lee will land on; it’s been a relatively quiet start to the league’s free agency period.
WHAT NOW FOR LIV’S PROMOTIONS?
It’s also unclear what the future of the Promotions event will be. It was first contested last season, ostensibly as a way to appease the Official World Golf Ranking’s critique that LIV was a closed shop. There were three spots available last season but, after LIV abandoned its quest for OWGR points, just one this year. Two of last year’s promoted pros — Kalle Samooja and Kieran Vincent — were relegated at year’s end, while the third, Jinichiro Kozuma, finished 45th on the Order of Merit. LIV’s rosters are mostly filled through free agency, so mixing in these promoted pros can complicate team construction.
As LIV’s backer, the Saudi PIF, remains in discussions with the PGA Tour, the league preps for its 2025 season. The first event will be back at Riyadh Golf Club on Feb. 6-8.
Dylan Dethier
Golf.com Editor
Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.
