PIF Saudi International boasts strong field with multiple LIV Golf stars

The Asian Tour membership has seized the opportunity to play with many of the greats of the game at this week’s US$5milllion PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.

All of the top 10 from the Asian Tour Order of Merit and 38 from the top 40 are competing at Riyadh Golf Club in the season-ending event on the Asian Tour and The International Series.

There are 42 players from the LIV Golf League in the field of 120, including defending champion Abraham Ancer of Fireballs GC and 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson, a two-time winner here. Johnson won this event in 2019 and 2021 and is joined by other past champions Graeme McDowell and Harold Varner III – the 2020 and 2022 winners, respectively. McDowell played for Smash GC in 2024 and Varner III was on 4Aces GC.

Fellow LIV Golf stars also in the field include Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, Legion XIII's Tyrrell Hatton, Ripper GC Captain Cam Smith, Stingers GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen and teammate Charl Schwartzel, and 4Aces GC's Patrick Reed, who recently won the Link Hong Kong Open.

Newly minted Asian Tour Order of Merit champion John Catlin, a LIV Golf reserve player, leads the field from the Tour along with the other players from the top 10: LIV Golf reserve player Ben Campbell, Richard T. Lee, Lee Chieh-po, Suteepat Prateeptienchai, M.J. Maguire, Miguel Tabuena, Sadom Kaewkanjana, Gunn Charoenkul and Jeunghun Wang.

With the Merit list title having been decided, the focus is now on The International Series Rankings, which is now being led by RangeGoats GC's Peter Uihlein after his victory in last week’s International Series Qatar.

Uihlein, who is also playing this week, took over at the top of the rankings from Catlin, who had led for most of the year.

Uihlein has 1,071.10 total points and leads by 143.64 over Catlin, but with 1,000 points going to the winner and 525 to the runner-up this week, it is truly wide open. Even Pavit Tangkamolprasert, the lowest ranked player here on The International Series Rankins in 65th, can technically win the rankings race. He has 73.36 points but needs the players above him to finish out of the points.

Thailand’s amateur star ‘TK’ Ratchanon Chantananuwat is also competing. He has taken time out from his freshman year at Stanford University to play in the strongest and most lucrative field on the Asian Tour in 2024.