LIV Golf Promotions: S. Vincent leads field with 63; Schniederjans wins 6-for-1 playoff
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Relegated LIV Golf player Scott Vincent shot an 8-under 63 to lead the field in Friday’s second round of LIV Golf Promotions, while Ollie Schniederjans earned the final spot by surviving a six-for-one playoff.
Twenty players advanced to Saturday’s 36-hole final day at Riyadh Golf Club, with the leaderboard reset entering the third round that will utilize a shotgun start. Players will be re-paired before the final round, with players starting off the first and 10th tees.
RELATED: Leaderboard | LIV Golf Promotions format, info
The Promotions winner earns a spot in the 2025 LIV Golf League, while the top 10 and ties receive exemptions into all International Series events next year.
Vincent has been a full-time player in LIV Golf since earning exemption through The International Series in 2022. He kept his status by finishing in the top-24 Lock Zone in the first two seasons but was relegated this year. Although his former team, Iron Heads GC, has filled his roster spot, Vincent is hoping to return for a fourth season on LIV Golf.
“It would be amazing,” he said. “I'm going to go out there and compete and give it my absolute best, but I'm going to be just fine either way. That's the approach I'm using.”
One of the 19 competitors he’ll have to beat is younger brother Kieran, who earned one of the three Promotions spots a year ago and played for Jon Rahm’s expansion Legion XIII team before suffering relegation like his brother.
The brothers are sharing an apartment in Riyadh and would love to share the top of the leaderboard late on Saturday.
“We love each other. We want the best for each other,” said Kieran, who shot a 6-under 65 Friday. “We want to compete at the highest level. If it's not you, it's him, that kind of attitude. Obviously, it's super-cool to be playing out there looking at leaderboards and seeing your brother up there. You can't script it any better than that.”
“Of course I want him to do really well,” Scott said, “but at the same time I want to be just one step ahead of him, and I'm sure he wants the exact same thing.”
A third relegated player, Stinger GC’s Branden Grace, also advanced by shooting 66, but the fourth relegated player, Kalle Samooja of Cleeks GC, was eliminated with a 72. Samooja was the top performer at the 2023 Promotions. LIV Golf Wild Card player Hudson Swafford also failed to advance.
The second-lowest score Friday was the 7-under 64 shot by Ben Campbell, the highest-ranked International Series player in the field. Campbell finished third in the season-long race, less than 40 points behind Joaquin Niemann in the final standings. Had Campbell finished first, he would’ve already secured a LIV Golf spot.
“It would be massive to get over the line tomorrow,” said Campbell, who made three appearances as a LIV Golf reserve in 2024, “but there's a lot of golf.”
Australia’s Jack Buchanan was 1 under after a bogey at the par-3 14th but bounced back with three consecutive birdies, the last two from outside 15 feet. He then had to hit off the sand with his approach shot on 18 to secure a par and avoid the playoff with a 67.
Asked what it mean to earn the Promotion spot Saturday, the Adelaide-born Buchanan said: “It would mean everything. I don't even know how to explain it. It would change your life a bit.”
Richard T. Lee was also among the 10 players who shot 67. If he claims the top spot Saturday, he will become LIV Golf’s first player from Canada.
“It's crossed my mind for sure,” Lee said. “If I do make it, I think it would make a big impact on Canada.”
Germany’s Max Rottluff, a former college roommate of Rahm’s at Arizona State, also avoided falling into a playoff by making a 60-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to shoot 67.
“I didn't look at the leaderboard prior to hole 18,” Rottluff said, “… but I had a feeling that 4-under is probably going to put me in a better spot than 3-under.”
Korea’s Hongtaek Kim three-putted the 16th hole to drop back to 3 under. He just missed a birdie attempt on his final hole that would have avoided a playoff. Instead, he joined fellow Koreans Junghwan Lee and Wooyoung Kho, Americans Schniederjans and MJ Maguire and Italy’s Stefano Mazzoli at the playoff hole, the par-4 18th.
Schniederjans and Maguire advanced after the first hole with birdies and then matched birdies again. On the third playoff hole, Schneiderjans’ tee shot finished in the rough next to the edge of the grass.
Given relief via a local rule, he made the most of it with a wedge that finished under the pin while Maguire sent his approach well past. After Maguire missed his birdie attempt, Schniederjans rolled his in to survive and advance.
“I thought for sure I needed probably to birdie it two in a row,” said Schniederjans, who rolled in an 8-foot par putt in regulation at 18 to make the playoff. “I actually felt fortunate that only two of us birdied the first go. So, once it got to two-for-one, I was more nervous at that point.”
Schniederjans, a former top-ranked amateur player, is hoping to take a big step forward in a career that has been beset by injuries.
“I want to play against the best players in the world again,” he said. “I think I'm coming back to I'm fully healthy. I've been through a lot, and I just want to prove myself again and get that opportunity.”
He’ll have 36 pressure-packed holes on Saturday to fulfill that dream.
PLAYERS AWAIT 36-HOLE FINALE
Saturday will start early and continue until late in the afternoon for the final two rounds at LIV Golf Promotions. But the reward to the winner is immense: a spot in next year’s LIV Golf League.
Kieran Vincent went through this a year ago, claiming one of the then-three available spots at the inaugural Promotions event in Abu Dhabi. He even had to play an extra playoff hole.
“Fortunate enough to be in this situation previously,” he said. “We'll try and draw on some of that, try and conserve energy for tomorrow because it's a long day, action-packed, so anything can happen.”
Indeed, fitness will be a big key in deciding the outcome.
“36 holes is something I'm very comfortable with,” said Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho. “I played four years of college golf at Notre Dame, and we played a lot of 36-hole days.
“I understand it's a marathon, not a sprint. You're going to make mistakes, and you're going to make some miraculous shots during the round. It's important to keep yourself level-headed and I guess not to over-try during the round because you have to conserve your energy for the entirety of the day.”
The two English players left in the field are also the two oldest players competing Saturday – 41-year-old Steve Lewton and 39-year-old David Horsey. Lewton had a first-round bye while Horsey has played the first two days.
“It’ll be interesting,” said Horsey, who last remembered playing 36 holes in a day when he was an amateur. “Especially the legs. It’s quite firm ground and you find the legs ache a bit, the calves a bit. Walking on the sand between tees and fairways is quite heavy. Hopefully the legs will hold up.”
SCHNIEDERJANS DROP EXPLAINED
LIV Golf Promotions rules update:
Schniederjans Drop in Second Round Playoff Explained
On the third hole of the Friday playoff, Ollie Schniederjans's tee shot came to rest against the earthen wall that separates the desert and rough. The Model Local Rule that had been adopted for the week is as follows: ABNORMAL COURSE CONDITIONS / IMMOVABLE OBSTRUCTIONS - Rule: 16.1, Earthen Walls: Between the grass and desert is ground under repair if the ball touches or when it interferes with the player's area of intend swing, free relief is available under Rule 16.1, but interference does not exist if the earthen wall interferes only with the player's stance. Schniederjans took his nearest point of complete relief from the wall and dropped correctly within 1 club-length, remaining in the general area.
QUICK LOOK AT THE FINAL 20 PLAYERS
SCOTT VINCENT, Zimbabwe (63) – Played full-time on LIV Golf the first three years, the last two with Iron Heads GC.
BEN CAMPBELL, New Zealand (64) – Highest-ranked player (3rd) in field from The International Series final standings.
KIERAN VINCENT, Zimbabwe (65) – Played for Legion XIII after earning a LIV Golf spot at the 2023 Promotions tournament.
JEUNGHUN WANG, Korea (65) – Four professional wins, including three on the DP World Tour; Rookie of the Year winner in 2016.
GUNN CHAROENKUL, Thailand (66) – Has 12 professional wins across five different tours; finished T14 in last year’s Promotions tournament.
BRANDEN GRACE, South Africa (66) – Won LIV Golf’s first U.S.-based tournament in 2022 as a member of Stinger GC; finished second and ninth in individual points in first two seasons.
JEONGWOO HAM, Korea (66) – Won Korean Tour’s Golfzon-Toray Open in September.
DAVID HORSEY, England (66) – Has six career wins, including four on the DP World Tour.
DAIHAN LEE, Korea (66) – Won Korean Tour’s KPGA Tour Championship in November.
JACK BUCHANAN, Australia (67) – Two-time winner this year on PGA Tour of Australasia; fourth on Order of Merit.
BRETT COLETTA, Australia (67) - Has three career wins, including two since 2023 on PGA Tour of Australasia.
TAICHI KHO, Hong Kong (67) – Became first player from Hong Kong to win on the Asian Tour with his victory at the World City Championship in 2023.
RICHARD T. LEE, Canada (67) – Won Asian Tour’s BNI Indonesian Masters in November; 5th in International Series points.
LEE CHIEH-PO, Chinese Taipei (67) – Won International Series Thailand in October; 7th in International Series points.
SOOMIN LEE, Korea (67) – Won Korean Tour’s KJ Choi Invitational in October; has six career wins.
STEVE LEWTON, England (67) – Won Asian Tour’s Mandiri Indonesian Open in September; finished 20th in last year’s Promotions tournament.
SUTEEPAT PRATEEPTIENCHAI (67) – Won twice on Asian Tour and once on Thailand Tour in 2024.
MAX ROTTLUFF, Germany (67) – Has four professional wins, including two in 2023 on the Challenge Tour.
BORJA VIRTO, Spain (67) – Has four career pro wins, including two on Challenge Tour in 2015; played collegiately at Iowa State.
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS, USA (68) – Former top-ranked amateur from Georgia Tech who has one professional win.