Bhullar is at the LIV Golf Promotions Tournament in Saudi Arabia this week
11-time Asian Tour winner and Dubai Golden Visa Awardee, 36-year-old Gaganjeet Bhullar from Chandigarh, was among the Indians in action last week at the Riyadh Golf Club for the $5 million PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, the final part of the International Series events on the Asian Tour.
Bhullar finished T68 as the best-placed Indian, concluding the week at three-under-par with rounds of 70-67-73-7, but that was good enough to put him into the Top 90 of the Annual International Series rankings, which got him into the LIV Golf Promotions event at the same course this week, in Saudi Arabia.
Other Indians, LIV Golf Tour regular Anirban Lahiri (-2) and European (DP World) Tour member Shubhankar Sharma (Par) missed the cut, falling short by one and three strokes, respectively. Interestingly, PIF Saudi International had a higher field rating (123) than the PGA Tour’s Hero World Challenge being played in Bahamas, which means that players in Saudi had more points on offer for the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) than the elite field in Bahamas which included the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, and others.
Joaquin Niemann of Chile, claimed victory in Saudi after a three-way playoff against fellow LIV golfers Cameron Smith and Caleb Surratt, to finish his season atop the Asian Tour’s International Series Rankings.
The three-day, four-round LIV Golf promotions tournament is running this week from Thursday to Saturday, featuring 93 players competing for a coveted ‘Golden Ticket’ to join the 2025 LIV Golf League, across the globe.
On day one, 64 players will compete over 18 holes with the leading 20 players and ties advancing to Friday, where scores will be reset. According to the LIV Golf Promotions Official Rules and Regulations, players exempt from round one will join the field from professional golf tours around the world.
The top 20 players, after a potential playoff if necessary, will advance to the ‘Super-Saturday Shootout.’
Scores will be reset on Friday night for the 36 holes on the final day.
The winner on Saturday afternoon, will earn $200,000 and a highly coveted spot in the 2025 LIV Golf League with the opportunity to be signed by one of the LIV Golf League teams.
In addition, the top 10 finishers and ties, will earn full exemption into all the 2025 events on The International Series schedule sanctioned by the Asian Tour.
Bhullar spoke about the opportunity this week, saying: “There is just one spot available from this week’s field – but for that one person, it is absolutely life-changing. Fingers crossed I can be in the mix come Saturday afternoon.”
Meanwhile, Dubai-born-and-bred Rayhan Thomas will be in action at the PGA Tour Qualifying School presented by Korn Ferry, to be held at TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, starting on Thursday.