Abraham Anser (Mexico) of ‘LIV Golf’ won the opening game of the 2023 Asian Tour.
Anser shot 2 under par 68 in the 4th round on the final day of the Asian Tour PIF Saudi International held at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club (par 70, 7048 yards) in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia on the 5th. Anser, who recorded a final total of 19 under par 261 strokes, beat Cameron Young (USA), the rookie king of the PGA Tour last season, by two strokes to reach the top. This is the first Asian Tour victory. Anser, who celebrated his victory with a wire-to-wire performance from the first day of the competition, won the prize money of 1 million dollars (approximately 1.25 billion won).
Anser plays on the PGA Tour and won the World Golf Championship (WGC) FedEx St. Jude Invitational in August 2021. However, in June of last year, he left the PGA Tour and moved to LIV Golf, sponsored by Saudi Arabian capital. 안전놀이터
A large number of players from LIV Golf participated in this tournament. This is because the Saudi Arabian Sovereignty Fund (PIF), which sponsors LIV Golf, took over as the title sponsor of the tournament. There is another reason. It is a kind of self-rescue plan for the players active in LIV Golf to raise the world rankings. LIV golf performance is not reflected in world ranking points. Therefore, in order for them to raise their world rankings, they must go through the Asian Tour or the DP World Tour. Against this, a proxy war was concluded on the PGA Tour as young players challenged themselves. As a result, a battle of pride between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour took place, but as a result, LIV Golf was victorious.
Among Korean players, Moon Gyeong-jun (41, NH Nonghyup) tied for 12th with 9 under par and 271 strokes, recording the highest ranking. Park Sang-hyun (40, Dong-A Pharmaceutical) finished the tournament in a tie for 18th after hitting 8 under par and 272 strokes.
Kim Young-soo (34), who topped the KPGA Korean Tour Genesis points and prize money last year, tied for 28th.