Kalle Samooja has 12 professional wins worldwide, eight of them on the Finnish Tour. The 35-year-old Finn won LIV Golf Promotions in Abu Dhabi and is now set for a full season on LIV Golf. Golf Digest Middle East exclusively spoke to Kalle at the recent Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

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Kalle, what was your plan at the end of the 2023 DP World Tour season?
I still had status out on the DP World Tour, so I was planning ahead to just a regular 2024 season on tour. Then on Twitter or X as it’s called now, I heard about this qualification event. I’m in the same management company as Martin Kaymer from Cleeks GC and my manager spoke to me and we agreed that I should give it a go and enter it and see where we can go from there. There were a few bits that we had to settle with the DP World Tour about consequences and everything, but in the end, we decided to play and obviously, it went better than expected and I won the whole qualifier which has changed the whole plan for this upcoming year and hopefully my career.

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What was the vibe like for you at the LIV Golf Promotions week in Abu Dhabi?
There was a lot at stake. But I told my caddie that we are in a good spot and the worst-case scenario is that I’ll have a full spot out here on the DP World Tour. And that was also compared to most of the other guys playing. So I wasn’t stressing too much and I knew I was playing good golf. I knew that if I made it to Sunday, I had a chance of getting one of those three cards.

Eventually, it went well, after all the rounds of golf with two birdies to finish and I took the top spot. You can’t ask for anything more.

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Just looking back on the “consequences” you were worried about, there has been a lot of politics around it all hasn’t there?
Yep, a lot of politics – too much in my opinion. At the end of the day we just want to play golf and for me, playing with the best players in the world was my next step. 

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Did you know of any players who had been playing on LIV Golf prior? What feedback did they have?
I had played previously with DP World Tour players Pablo Larrazábal and Adrián Otaegui. They have said, and lots of caddies have said, that it’s a great opportunity to play golf. They said it was a lot of fun and relaxed – and still competitive. So I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Kalle (centre) topped the LIV Golf Promotions event. The two other qualifiers joining him on LIV are Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma (left) and Kieran Vincent from Zimbabwe (right). LIV Golf

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Have you tried to make a schedule of what you’d like to play in?
I would like to still play out here on the DP World Tour, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to. So we will have to see. I’ll have 14 events on LIV Golf, then hopefully I will play in the Olympics for Finland and play a few Majors. I always want to play the Majors so that is a big focus this year. Then we will see once the season is done on LIV in September, whether I am eligible to play back out here on the DP World Tour but it’s not up to me.

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You mentioned how life-changing LIV is going to be?
Well, I can play less and earn more money which is a good thing. I’m going to be playing with some of the best guys in the world, former World Number Ones, Ryder Cup stars, Major Champions, so it’s going to be a different atmosphere for sure to be playing with those guys – that’s what I am looking forward to the most. Once you are playing with the best guys in the world you should be paid well yourself, that’s my deal anyway. It works in all the other sports, it should work in golf also.

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Have you been concerned about the backlash from your colleagues?
I’ve never been worried about the backlash. I know the media is going to write about it, but I’ve been playing on this tour, DP World Tour for five or six years now and have been to some big places so I wanted another challenge. The rest will follow at some point I’m sure.

You have people talking about where the money is coming from, but Saudi Arabia is a major business for Finnish companies as well. Saudi Arabia is the biggest export country we have in this part of the world so I can’t see why athletes can’t do the same. I also am a company and run a business so it’s the same thing.

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What has the feedback been like back in Finland?
I think the dust needs to still settle a bit. It was a bit of a shock for some people. Sami Välimäki got his PGA Tour card and I got my LIV Golf card, so they need to look at the game a bit differently now. We haven’t even ever had a DP World Tour tournament in Finland so that would be a good start in my opinion.

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Would that work on a global tour?
I don’t know if there are any right answers for this but I have always said that tennis is doing their stuff well for example. I don’t know if golf would be the same. But it is a global sport and we should look into it. The PGA Tour plays a big role but so do we. The Asian Tour is growing and LIV is also, so we can’t fight against each other that’s the main thing, we need to find some mutual way forward. I hope they will get to some kind of agreement in the next few months so then everyone can play happily!

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Talking about people being happy, have you had any congratulations from anyone out here on Tour?
Well, the guys that aren’t happy about it just don’t say anything. But I have got lots of players and caddies this week saying congratulations and wishing me good luck for Mexico which is nice to hear. Not everyone is thinking the same, but it seems like they genuinely want me to play well which I appreciate.

Main image: Harry Grimshaw