Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy is quietly confident that he can continue his rich vein of form and secure a lucrative LIV Golf card for next season.
Kennedy came within a whisker of clinching a DP World Tour card for this term but missed out by a shot at the Final Stage of Q-School and with a full Challenge Tour card secured he feels he is primed to strike at the LIV Promotions event in Riyadh.
“More competition. The Challenge Tour doesn’t kick off until late January, the more competition I can get the better and I feel really good about my game so I just wanted to play in as many events as I can,” said Kennedy who is making his second appearance at the event following a good showing last year.
The Challenge Tour campaign doesn’t get underway until late January with eight successive events in South Africa and Kennedy is eager to make the most of the opportunity this week in Saudi Arabia ahead of a potential professional debut on the DP World Tour next week.
“I’m playing this week and then potentially the Mauritius Open on the DP World Tour, just stick to the process and see how it goes.”
The LIV Promotions event takes place over 54-holes with the top-20 and ties from round one advancing to round two where the top-20 and ties again will advance to a 36-hole shootout on the final day.
Just one LIV Golf League card is available to the winner who will also collect $200,000 from the $1.5m prize purse. But the top-10 and ties will secure Asian Tour cards and full exemptions into the International Series events which are a gateway to LIV.
Kennedy is a huge admirer of two-time US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and is highly motivated to join the best players in the world at the top level, no matter what route he takes.
“I certainly like Bryson DeChambeau I think he’s a great guy and a great influence for golf so Bryson would be my favourite golfer on LIV.
“It gives me a lot of motivation being able to play against the best golfers in the world is something I wanted to do from an early age and having the opportunity to do that this week is definitely motivating and will egg me on to become better.”
While Kennedy has a full term on the Challenge Tour to fall back on if he is unsuccessful this week, there is more pressure on the likes of Mark Power and Alex Maguire while Liam Nolan just has Alps Tour status for next year.
Kilkenny’s Power showed early signs of promise in 2024 but his season fizzled out and now he is looking for some concrete status upon which to build a calendar for next year.
“It’s a great opportunity, a lot at stake for us younger lads starting out, a lot on the line, added pressure but I feel like my experiences in playing big events in amateur golf makes me ready to take the step up,” said the 24-year-old.
“Had a really good start to the year but it flattened out a bit but I learned a lot so hopefully I can bank on some of what I learned over the weekend.
“The opportunity compete with the best in the world and obviously the financial side that comes with it. For me, it’s to try and compete with the best in the world you get treated like royalty. I know it’s only a promotions event but it’s one of the best set ups I’ve experienced so it’s just a really good lifestyle and one I could get used to.”
Growing up watching golf on his television, Sergio Garcia was always a popular figure in the Power household. The Spaniard recently confirmed that there would be an open spot for somebody to join his 2025 Fireball GC team on the LIV Golf League and Power would love to give himself that chance.
“I’ve always been a big Sergio fan growing up I always liked the flair he played with. I know some of the other Spanish guys I would have played with are there as well.”
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