Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters winner, and 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell join LIV Golf headliners Harold Varner III and Belgian Thomas Pieters for the long-running tournament, first held in 1959, which has a boosted prize fund of $2 million this year thanks to its new status as an International Series event on the Asian Tour.

Other big-name players including 2022 Open Championship winner Cam Smith, two-time Hong Kong Open champion Wade Ormsby, Hong Kong Asian Games gold medallist and the first local player to win an Asian Tour title at the World City Championship in March, Taichi Kho. LIV Golf ‘s 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch and Eugenio Chacarra are also already confirmed in the field for the first Hong Kong Open to be contested since 2020.

For Varner and Pieters, the Fanling date means a chance to re-connect with close friend and RangeGoats teammate Gooch.  Gooch has acknowledged his relationship with HV3 as a key factor in his switching from 4 Aces to RangeGoats on LIV Golf this season.

“HV3 and I first met in college golf. We just hit it off right away and have been close ever since. Then we had a bunch of time together on the PGA Tour, and now on LIV — and now we are teammates so it is fun, and it is a cool opportunity,” said Gooch, who has made history this season as the first player to win three LIV Golf events and won the overall Individual Championship points race on Sunday at LIV Golf Jeddah.

Varner also has some history behind his name. The 33-year-old is only the second American player to win the Australian PGA Championship.  He added a first LIV Golf victory in Washington DC in May and also won the PIF Saudi International last year.

Gooch is confident that Varner and his teammate Pieters are going to quickly become fan favourites at the Hong Kong Open.

“HV is about as fun of a dude that you are going to be around, but he is also a great player. He hits the ball a long ways, and he has a great short game. He plays well all over the world. He is my teammate, but I hope that I whip him that week,” added Gooch.

Pieters has seven wins since turning pro in 2013 and has represented Belgium and Europe in numerous team events including the 2016 Ryder Cup — when he led Europe with four points.

Talor Gooch. LIV Golf

“Thomas is truly one of the great talents that we have in the game,” said Gooch. “You look at him and think why are you not playing a different sport. He looks like a Greek god. He is 6ft, 5ins and a big dude that hits the ball a country mile. Great short game, great hands, just a great player. He truly has the potential to be one of the best players in the game on any given week.”

From friends to friendly rivals, the Hong Kong Open is set to welcome the return of two Fanling — and Ryder Cup — legends in Reed and McDowell.

Reed is no stranger to the excitement surrounding the Hong Kong Open — the nine-time PGA tournament winner having finished T-3 at Fanling on his debut in 2015, behind winner Justin Rose and Lucas Bjerregaard. The 33-year-old Reed has returned twice since then (2016, 2018), and was named in the field for the 2021 tournament, which was cancelled due to the pandemic.

The Texan has also had five top-five finishes on LIV Golf this season. He had a similar showing at this year’s Masters at Augusta, a venue where Reed will forever be remembered for his heroics in 2018, when he shot 15-under-par to win by a stroke.

Northern Irishman McDowell is also no stranger to Fanling — or Reed — as the pair have been part of rival Ryder Cup camps down through the years, representing Europe and America, respectively.

The 44-year-old McDowell counts four top-20 finishes among his previous efforts at the Hong Kong Open, to add to 15 career wins on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour in his career. He has also been an ever-present player on the LIV Golf series.

The Hong Kong Open is the penultimate event of this season’s International Series, 10 marquee tournaments on the Asian Tour calendar. What happens in Fanling could have real bearing on the final standings for the International Series Order of Merit, the year-long race which will guarantee one spot for the overall leader in next season’s LIV Golf League.

Main image: Patrick Reed. LIV Golf

The post LIV Golf’s Reed, McDowell, Varner and Pieters join Cam Smith and Talor Gooch in Hong Kong Open cast appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Belgian native and World No. 35 was announced as one of the latest signees for LIV earlier this week, becoming the fourth member of Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats team along with Americans Talor Gooch and Harold Varner III. The league kicks off its second season on Friday at the Mayakoba Resort in Mexico’s Playa del Carmen area, competing on the El Camaleon course designed by LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman that formerly hosted a PGA Tour event in the autumn series.

I’ve made a big decision for myself and my family. Now, it’s time to keep chasing the little white ball around. And go @RangeGoatsGC https://t.co/pUrQgYgcEa

— Thomas Pieters (@Thomas_Pieters) February 22, 2023

A six-time winner on the DP World Tour, Pieters said he aspired to play for LIV last summer, when the circuit began its eight-tournament inaugural series. The league launched with several major champions on board including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer. As the summer continued, LIV added Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and reigning Open champion Cameron Smith.

But it was not until early LIV recruit and former PGA Tour player Hudson Swafford announced last week he would undergo surgery on his hip, which will sideline him four to six months, that a spot on one of LIV’s rosters came up.

“Hudson got injured, and I had a call saying: ‘Do you want the spot?’” Pieters said. “You don’t wish ill on anyone, and I hope Hudson recovers soon. As a professional you have to take opportunities when they arise. It has been a whirlwind since then, really, sorting everything out and getting everything ready over the weekend.”

Pieters said his move to LIV had nothing to do with a social-media post last week venting frustration at not being given a sponsor’s invitation to the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. He tweeted: “Sad to miss my favourite tournament of the year. Because well as #34 in world, I just couldn’t get in.”

Sad to miss my favorite tournament of the year. Because well as #34 in world, I just couldn’t get in @PGATOUR. #GenesisInvitational

— Thomas Pieters (@Thomas_Pieters) February 15, 2023

“Honestly, I know how it must have looked, but it had nothing to do with it,” Pieters said. “I was talking to my friends, and they were saying: ‘Hey, we can’t wait to watch that pairing with Tiger [Woods] and Rory [McIlroy] and JT [Justin Thomas],’ and I just became a bit angry that I wasn’t playing as world No. 34. [The tweet] was just bad timing, I guess.”

Pieters, 31, said the Ryder Cup and potentially not being able to compete made his decision difficult. He starred for the European team at Hazeltine National in 2016, his only appearance, with a rookie record of four points.

“It was difficult, for sure,” said Pieters, whose last DP World victory came in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Classic in January 2022. “The Ryder Cup has always been an ambition and it was a dream to play in 2016. I’ve been trying to get back ever since. I enjoyed the Hero Cup, but accept the consequences of this choice, whatever they turn out to be.”

He said he has spoken with Europe captain Luke Donald about his LIV move and holds out hope of being able to play in this year’s Ryder Cup in Rome. The possibility of doing so hinges on the outcome of an arbitration hearing that took place earlier this month in London between the DP World Tour and LIV. Last year, Sports Resolutions UK put a temporary pause on bans and fines given out by the DP World Tour to members who had played on LIV. That decision allowed Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Patrick Reed and others to continue playing on the European circuit. The DP World Tour also runs the European side of the Ryder Cup.

Pieters hopes the decision, which is due within weeks, as to whether bans can be implemented goes the way of LIV golfers and that he can then play well enough to warrant one of Donald’s six captain’s picks in September.

“Yeah, we exchanged texts. He’s in a difficult decision, isn’t he?” Pieters said. “I haven’t given up on playing in it again, including this year even. We will have to see the result of the hearing. I could still qualify. I’m in all the majors this year … well, I hope the US Open. Maybe I can play so well it’ll make it very difficult not to pick me. I don’t know. We will have to see, and like said, I accept whatever comes.”

Pieters has never wanted to play on the PGA Tour full-time, given it wouldn’t be possible to be a member while living in Europe. He said LIV’s 14-event schedule of $25 million events ($5 million of which is a team component) this year was appealing for him and his family.

“Of course, with the two young children it is all attractive,” he said. “I’ve struggled playing 26 events a year, to be honest. As a father it suits me to have a lighter schedule.

“I have never wanted to play full-time on the PGA Tour because I don’t think you can do that and live where I want. With LIV, it is [nine] weeks in America, sure, but with 14 [five overseas] in total, that is preferable for me and my game.”

The post Thomas Pieters took last-minute call to join LIV Golf and jumped at the opportunity appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Pieters, 31, is a six-time winner on the DP World Tour, and captured the 2012 NCAA individual championship at the University of Illinois. Pieters is perhaps best known for his performance at the 2016 Ryder Cup, where he scored a team-best four points in a losing effort for the Europeans. He entered the week ranked No. 34 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Pieters’ name had been rumoured to join the circuit since last autumn. However, the timing of Pieters’ departure is interesting. Last month Pieters participated in the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi, an exhibition that serves as a Ryder Cup warm-up for the European squad, signalling Pieters’ intention to remain with the DP World Tour. And earlier this week, Pieters took to social media to complain about not receiving an invite to the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational. “Sad to miss my favourite tournament of the year. Because well as 34 in world, I just couldn’t get in,” Pieters wrote. Pieters had surrendered his PGA Tour membership several seasons ago.

LIV Golf announced eight of its teams earlier this week. The remaining four were originally supposed to be announced on Friday, but on Thursday the league’s Twitter account stated the final rosters and members would be released on Monday. It is not known what LIV club Pieters will join.

The post Report: Ryder Cup star Pieters set to join LIV Golf after snipe at Genesis Invitational appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Actually quite a few points, as it is a Ryder Cup year and he is determined to make Luke Donald’s team when Europe take on the United States in Rome in September.

As the greatest players in Europe vie for those vital points in the UAE this week at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, the Belgian is ticking along quite nicely once again.

A 67 gave him a share of the lead on 10-under alongside Michal Thorbjornsen and Richard Bland, after a game of two halves on Saturday during a belated second round.

“I made the front nine look a bit scruffy,” he said after going out in 37, with three bogeys and a solitary birdie, but it soon picked up with a seven-birdie back nine for 30. “I was not in a good head space. And then I shoot that great back nine… I don’t know how, but my putting seemed to work, and you know, I’ve still got some tough to do on the range because my driving is pretty poor.

“My putting has kind of bailed me out after those bad drives. I can definitely see them rolling in from 15 feet which is a nice feeling. But I’ve got to get a bit more stress free off the tee.”

With 36 more holes still to be played as we  reach Sunday at Emirates Golf Club, Pieters is dialling in.

“Yeah, there’s no stress levels,” he said. “I  was just really angry after that poor first nine. It wasn’t really stress. I was just trying to get back into my round. But it’s nice to see your name up at the top.

“So now I go out, make more birdies. That makes me happy. Sometimes that works.”

His fellow leader is at the other end of the career spectrum, but Richard Bland is no fool around this course, having narrowly missed out on the crown to Viktor Hovland in a playoff 12 months ago.

Two solid five-under 67s have him in contention again, despite being an elder statesman at the age of 49 and old enough to be the dad of some of the players out here.

“The ball wasn’t going too far this morning,” Bland said of the change in the weather, which was still chilly after the rain, and also his creaking bones. “The ball was travelling a little further later, so I got caught out a couple of times. I hit like what I thought was a good shot and it came up with a 20-yard difference.

“But it was nice to play sun on your back at last, something we’re used to in Dubai. I came off a top-10 in Abu Dhabi last week, my first tournament after two months off, so it felt good that I didn’t have to really work on too much and it just about just kind of sharpening my game, and getting match fit as I sort of call it at my age.”

The post Pieters is playing the long game in the UAE appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club drying out at last, there was little separating a whole host of contenders chasing the crown at the 34th edition of the historic Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Thomas Pieters again made a case for a second Rolex Series title in a little over a year after the 2022 Abu Dhabi HSBC Champion blitzed the back nine in 30 on Saturday on his way to his second 67 and a share of the lead with Richard Bland and Michael Thorbjornsen on 10-under.

Strangely, Pieters was still unhappy with his game, as he conceded: “I was not in a good head space early today. Then I shoot that on the back nine. I don’t know how, but my putting seemed to work. I still have some tough work to do on the range as my driving is pretty poor. We’ll have to fix that. But all the rest is in good shape.”

As 87 players made the mark on two-under, there will be a further cut for the second year in a row, to trim the field after three rounds. The leading 72 professionals and ties will contest the final round on Monday.

Yesterday, the underdogs again bared their teeth, and amateur Thorbjornsen thrilled with a brilliant 64, taking him to the lofty heights above so many celebrated golfers.

“It feels good,” the young American said. “I didn’t have the best round yesterday and then the day before, I felt like I missed a lot of putts out there. I thought I had a pretty good game plan but just stuck to it today. I actually made some putts.”

Spain’s Adri Arnaus and Swede Marcus Kinhult are also flirting with the lead alongside Scotland’s Connor Syme, so an upset could be on the Monday cards.

But when you glance over their shoulder, you can see the massive experience of Patrick Reed, Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy all ready to pounce in a packed leaderbaord, so anything can happen to end a week where it already has.

Roll on Sunday!

The post The stars shine in the sunshine at Dubai Desert Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

After adverse weather and a late start, Pieters took a one-stroke lead into Friday morning with three holes of his first round still to play, with Tommy Fleetwood and Daniel Gavins among his closest chasers.

Reflecting on a first day in overcast conditions on the Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course, Pieters said: “I think it played fair. Obviously, they guarded against some of the conditions, and they moved a few tees forward on holes like 12, where you normally are hitting long irons, and you’re hitting short wedges. If you found fairways and had ball-in-hand, it was definitely playable.

“It was tough to judge because the wind was switching the whole day, but I will try to do the same thing when I am out  in the morning. I’m finishing 7, 8, 9 — these are tough holes. If I can finish with three pars, I’ll have a very nice opening round.”

Gavins, who won the 2021 ISPS Handa World Invitational for his biggest win to date, added: “I feel pretty good. I struggled quite a lot off the tee which is a bit frustrating, but my kind of putting kind of held me. I holed quite a lot of nice putts to keep me going. Disappointed with the tee shots but I’ll sort that.”

The post Pieters up for another DP World Tour Rolex Series title push at Hero Dubai Desert Classic appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

So it would make sense that a golfer looking for some short-game advice would turn to Alex Noren. Even a fellow Ryder Cupper like Thomas Pieters. Noren is a 10-time DP World Tour winner, and he’s capable of pulling off shots around the green that would even impress Phil Mickelson.

Ahead of this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Pieters approached Noren for some pitching tips. And boy, is he thankful that he did.

Check it out as Noren offers some hands-on instruction, then watches as Pieters instantly turns into a short-game wizard by hitting a pitch to within inches of the hole. You love to see golf tips click right away like this:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Thomas Pieters (@thomaspietersgolf)

Pretty snazzy. And pretty kind of Noren to help out a competitor on the eve of the first big DP World Tour event of the year. If Noren ever needs help on snapping golf clubs, there’s a big Belgian who owes him now.

The post WATCH: Thomas Pieters gets pitching lesson from Alex Noren in Abu Dhabi, immediately turns into short-game wizard appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By GolfDigestME.com
Defending champion Thomas Pieters will be joined at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Island by former winners Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry for the 18th edition of the opening Rolex Series event of the 2023 DP World Tour season, from January 19-22.

Yas Links will host the tournament for the second consecutive year, which has long been a fixture on the global golf schedule, having first been staged in 2006.

Abu Dhabi Sports Council has confirmed free general admission tickets for all tournament days, giving all fans in the UAE the opportunity to witness the world-class field in person, including Pieters and his fellow Ryder Cup stars Lowry and Fleetwood.

Pieters became the first Belgian to win a Rolex Series event after outlasting a star-studded field in challenging breezy conditions at Yas Links, signing for a level par 72 and a 10-under total, to earn him the coveted Falcon Trophy and a sixth victory on the DP World Tour.

Aref Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said: “We are proud to host the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links following a successful debut earlier this year. We’re delighted this tournament is so well established on the DP World Tour and global golf calendar, and we’re excited to welcome back reigning champion Thomas Pieters, and former winners Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry.”

Tom Phillips, Head of Middle East for the DP World Tour, added: “This prestigious Rolex Series event is always an excellent way to kick off the year and we are delighted to be returning to Yas Links for the 18th edition. Following the success of last year’s move to Yas Island, we have no doubt this year will be another unforgettable tournament with some of the world’s greatest golfers gathering in Abu Dhabi for a four-day festival of golf and entertainment.”

Pieters is eager to defend his title. “I’m looking forward to coming back to Yas Island ,” he said. “Winning a Rolex Series event gave me a lot of confidence going into the 2022 season, knowing you can match it with the best in the world is huge, and it’s always a great feeling to come back as defending champion to any tournament.”

Fleetwood, a two-time winner in 2017 and 2018, added: “I’ve always enjoyed starting the year in Abu Dhabi at this prestigious tournament. I’ve based myself in the UAE, it’s a brilliant part of the world, and a place I’ve been successful on the golf course, so it will be nice to play in front of family and friends to begin my DP World Tour season. Yas Links was a new challenge and I am look forward to coming back to Abu Dhabi once again.”

“Coming back as a past champion is always nice and Yas Island is a world-class destination for sport, plus you add in the amazing fans, and it makes for a winning atmosphere,” added Lowry

Earlier this month, the DP World Tour confirmed all Rolex Series events will have a prize fund of $9 million — an increase of $1million from the 2022 purse.

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The post DP World Tour: Pieters, Fleetwood and Lowry primed for Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship return appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 35-year-old carded a course record-equalling eight-under 64 — which was good enough for a one-stroke lead after Day 1.

De Jager is a five-time winner on his home Sunshine Tourbut has yet to taste success on the European circuit since coming through Q-School in 2018.

On Thursday, he started his day with a birdie on the first and then made five birdies in six holes from the sixth to the 11th. Another birdie on 15 allowed him to join Thomas Pieters at the top of the leaderboard and he then posted his eighth gain of the day to take the outright lead on eight-under.

Pieters made a strong start to his bid for a hat-trick of victories at Albatross Golf Resort in Prague. The Belgian won his first of six DP World Tour titles at this venue in 2015 and was victorious again in the Czech capital in 2019.

The 30-year-old carded birdies on each of his opening three holes and was five under par at the turn. His back nine was bookended by bogeys as he made four consecutive birdies from the par five 12th, eventually signing for a seven under 65.

In a share of third are American Jordan Gumberg, last year’s runner-up Tapio Pulkkanen, Marcel Schneider of Germany and the defending champion Johannes Veerman, while Dubai’s MG Keyser is well in touch thanks to a solid 68, including and eagle-birdie run on holes 1 and 2, which put him in a share of 15th spot.

“I’m very pleased,” De Jager said. “It was quite tricky out there today, the wind was from all different directions but me and my caddie made some good calls out there.

“I’ve been hitting the ball well, but I’ve gone back to old things, old tendencies that I keep falling back to. I worked a bit on those at the start of the week and I hit the ball really well today.

Pieters added: “I made some putts that me and my playing partners thought were going to miss today, the greens were getting very bumpy near the end. I think I got a bit of luck, put some good strokes on it. It was tough putting.”

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Li Haotong of China celebrates after holing a 50-foot birdie putt in a playoff to eventual win the BMW International Open. Stuart Franklin

By John Huggan

Say what you like about Li Haotong, when he wins he does it with some style. Ten months on from nearly quitting the game because he was so frustrated with his form, the 26-year-old from China is, for the third time and for the first time in four-and-a-half years, a winner on the DP World Tour. Leading from start-to-finish, Li, a member of the International side at the 2019 Presidents Cup, claimed the BMW International Open title. An eventful birdie on the first playoff hole was enough to beat Belgium’s Thomas Pieters after the pair tied on 22-under-par 266 at the Nord Eichenried course just outside Munich.

All of which sounds relatively straightforward. But it was anything but for Li, who had plummeted as low as 460th in the World Ranking at the end of 2021, a year in which he made his first halfway cut in October.

With three holes to play in regulation, the eventual playoff protagonists were tied on 20-under along with Ryan Fox of New Zealand. Fox finished with three pars, which wasn’t close to being good enough; both Li and Pieters made two birdies. But if that was exciting enough, it was nothing compared to the extra hole, the 18th, a 568-yard right-to-left dogleg par 5.

After two shots, Pieters was in a greenside bunker maybe 35 yards from the flag. An awkward shot and distance. Li, who got lucky when just missing a tree off the tee then skirting the water short and right of the green with his second, was just off the putting surface facing what looked like a relatively easy chip. Advantage Li.

Following Pieters explosion to around 15 feet (a reasonable effort in the circumstances), Li returned to his 2021 self by thinning his chip across the two-tier putting surface, the ball finishing a good 15 yards beyond the cup. Then, you guessed it, Li made the ridiculous and unlikely putt up and over the slope in the green for birdie, a feat that provoked a poor effort from a clearly stunned Pieters. Suddenly, it was all over.

https://twitter.com/DPWorldTour/status/1541090714989350913

“I don’t have the words to describe how I feel right now,” said an emotional Li, whose last win came at the 2018 Dubai Desert Classic, where he memorably outduelled Rory McIlroy down the stretch. “When I hit that chip, I thought I had given away another chance. I can’t believe it has happened. Ten months ago, I had decided to literally quit golf. Then somehow, where I am now … it is golf and hard to describe. I have no idea how I won this playoff. It was an up-and-down battle. I hit a lot of good putts today, especially on the back nine. I already knew it was going to be super tough. I was just telling myself to hang in there. Win or lose I just wanted to play my best. And luckily, I did.”

That last bit isn’t quite true. Armed with a three-shot lead starting the final round, Li played erratically over the closing 18 holes, his six birdies countered by four bogeys (only one less than he made over the first 54 holes). But 70 was enough (just) to set up the win over Pieters, whose career is similarly resurgent this year. After victory in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links at the start of the year. The 30-year-old Belgian has shown further glimpses of the form that made him the star of the losing European Ryder Cup side at Hazeltine National in 2016. This was his third top-10 DP World Tour finish since that win in the Middle East.

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The post Watch Li Haotong, who nearly quit the game 10 months ago, hole this outrageous birdie putt to win again appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.