The Anthony Kim return may have dominated the early narrative ahead of LIV’s third 2024 outing, but the established stars will be in mood to see the continue over the weekend after play gets underway on Friday at Royal Greens Golf Club.
Kim’s return from a 12-year hiatus will invite fresh eyeballs, nonetheless, with golf fans with longer memories eager to see how his game stands up against some of his older foes from the mid-to-late noughties and against the new breed of superstars who had yet to make their professional debuts when Kim exited stage left.
As always, the tournament winner will collect $4 million from the $25 million prize fund, but unlike when he last competed on the PGA Tour, Kim is guaranteed to come away with at least $50,000 this week.
In reality, he’s unlikely to feature in the top half of the leaderboard, never mind contend, but Graeme McDowell will be one of the first to get a close look as he joins Kim and Cameron Smith for round one where they’ll start on the 18th tee in the shotgun start format.
McDowell, of course, is a former course winner having won the Saudi International here in 2020 when it was part of the European Tour schedule, and it remains his last tournament victory. After a rather disappointing first two seasons on the LIV circuit, McDowell posted a Tour-best tie for fifth in Las Vegas three weeks ago, shooting the lowest score of the 54-man field in the third and final round which was a significant help as his Smash GC team cruised to team victory, earning the Portrush man his first podium appearance.
A 63 in last year’s final round was further proof that he’s got the ability to compete around the Royal Greens course, even if it should typically favour the big hitters like G-Mac’s team captain Brooks Koepka who is looking to successfully defend for the second time.
Koepka’s victory here last year signalled his return to form and was ominous to his fellow pros as he’d go on to come close at The Masters and win the US PGA Championship over the coming months.
Dustin Johnson was the winner of the inaugural Saudi International back in 2019, and he comes in as the most recent Tour winner after topping the board in Vegas and is in pole position in the season’s rankings. He starts his tournament on the first tee alongside Koepka and Peter Uihlein.
Jon Rahm, a three-time winner in Dubai, has proven to be extremely adept in the Middle-East, as he’s been just about everywhere, and he’ll be licking his lips at the prospect of upstaging Kim and taking his first LIV victory after back-to-back final-round disappointments. Rahm gets a first opportunity to play a LIV tournament round alongside close friend Phil Mickelson and former college coach Tim, Phil’s brother, who caddies for the six-time major winner. Joining them is Joaquin Niemann, fresh off receiving the good news that his global travels have been rewarded and he’ll be at Augusta National in April.
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