
Major winner McDowell leads LIV Golf line-up for International Series Macau
The former Ryder Cup star will be joined by his Smash GC team-mate Jason Kokrak of America, as well as Indian star Anirban Lahiri, the Crushers GC player and seven-time winner on the Asian Tour, for the second of 10 elevated events on the schedule, which takes place at Macau Golf and Country Club from March 20-23.
The event forms part of the Open Qualifying Series, with the top three finishers securing a place in the field for this year's fourth major at Royal Portrush. That news has enticed several up-and-coming youngsters from LIV Golf, with American Caleb Surratt, the Legion XIII player entering alongside Frederik Kjettrup, the Dane who signed for Cleeks GC after winning three times in his first season as a pro on the PGA Tour Americas.
American Peter Uihlein, the Range Goats GC star who won twice on the International Series last season, in England and Qatar, is also in the field as are Australian player Lucas Herbert, who finished third in Macau last year, and his Ripper GC team-mate Matt Jones.
LIV Golf wildcard Anthony Kim, the former Ryder Cup player, has also entered alongside Sam Horsfield of Majesticks GC, Branden Grace of Stinger GC and Torque GC's Sebastian Munoz, further strengthening a field that already features two major champions, Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed of 4Aces GC, and defending champion John Catlin.
Rahul Singh, head of the International Series said: 'With this year's edition of International Series Macau presented by Wynn being confirmed as a qualifying event for The Open, we have taken things to the next level. The addition of this world-class talent demonstrates the appeal of our series, and the opportunity that it is offering to players.
'The International Series continues to offer a world-class stage for top players to compete at the highest level, and the presence of so many LIV golfers, and its status as a qualifier for The Open, highlights the growing significance of these tournaments.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Leaders
28-07-2025
- Leaders
OpTic Gaming Scoop the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at 2025 Esports World Cup Title in a Thrilling Four Game Sweep
OpTic Gaming has won the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at 2025 Esports World Cup, beating Vancouver Surge 4-0 in the grand final to become the 11th unique champion at the Esports World Cup 2025. After strong performances across the four days of competition, OpTic Gaming are the champions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 at the Esports World Cup 2025. The American organisation, which finished in the top four in last year's event, capped off an incredible end to the year with the win. In doing so, they beat Vancouver Surge in a Best-of-Seven without dropping a game, having also beaten them in the Call of Duty League Championship final just weeks ago. The tournament, which is one of the biggest on the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 calendar, saw 18 of the world's best Call of Duty teams head to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to battle it out over a $1,800,000 prize pool, of which OpTic Gaming will now take home $600,000. The win also secures their qualification for EWC 2026. Claiming first Esports World Cup title The victory sees OpTic win their first Esports World Cup title, a welcome victory alongside the CDL Championship win, having faced a tough start to the 2025 season. Struggling to overcome those difficulties, OpTic made two changes between last year's event and this year's, bringing in Cuyler 'Huke' Garland and Mason 'Mercules' Ramsey, who both pulled off big performances in order to deliver their team the trophy. 'Well, last time we played them, we knew we probably should have won 5-1, so. We just honed in on our mistakes and made that look easy,' said Team OpTic's Mason 'Mercules' Ramsey. 'Honestly, once we won against Team Heretics, we knew we were winning it as long as we just played our game. Definitely proud of myself, super thankful to my teammates. You guys are the best in the world.' Anthony 'Shotzzy' Cuevas-Castro was named the SONY MVP following the impressive 4-0 sweep in the final. He will receive an additional $10,000 and the MVP medal to recognise his achievements. 'Undeniably, the players on this team are unbelievably talented,' said MVP Anthony 'Shotzzy' Cuevas-Castro. 'It feels like we are cheating at times!' OpTic Gaming earns 1000 Club Championship points for their victory. This is OpTic Gaming's first victory at the Esports World Cup 2025, and puts them in joint ninth place as things stand. OpTic Gaming still have chances to secure a crucial second top eight finish during the remaining events at the EWC 25. Short link : Post Views: 17


Arab News
28-07-2025
- Arab News
Niemann, Legion XII rule LIV Golf UK by JCB to maintain dominance in 2025
ROCESTER, England: On a day of familiar winners but high drama, Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm's Legion XIII exerted their dominance Sunday at LIV Golf UK by JCB, continuing the winning form that keeps them atop the season-long standings. Niemann won for a record fifth time this season, shooting a 3-under 68 to finish at 17 under and hold off a spectacular back-nine challenge from RangeGoats GC captain Bubba Watson. Legion XIII won their second consecutive and fourth team title of the year, this time led by their youngest player, 21-year-old Caleb Surratt, who earned the first podium finish of his LIV Golf career. With the three-shot victory, Niemann extended his lead in the individual points race to 37.64 points over Rahm and now can clinch the individual championship at next month's LIV Golf Chicago on Aug. 8-10. Niemann becomes the first player to win five times in a season; the 26-year-old from Chile now has seven LIV Golf wins, most of any individual player. 'If I play my best game, I know I can win,' Niemann said. 'I think that's the only thing that kind of matters for me, is to find that A-game more often.' After entering the final round with a six-shot advantage, Niemann admittedly didn't have his A-game on Sunday, but his steady play allowed him to build his advantage to eight shots with 10 holes to play. That's when Watson, the 46-year-old from Florida, produced the best six-hole stretch in LIV Golf history. It started with a birdie at the par-3 ninth when his tee shot landed inside 3 feet. He then eagled the par-5 10th with a brilliant driver off the deck on his second shot that finished inside 6 feet. He followed with birdies at the 11th and 12th hole, then used another driver off the deck at the par-5 13th to set up another eagle from 21 feet. He finished the amazing stretch with a birdie at the par-3 14th from 12 feet. 'It's almost like you black out,' Watson said. 'When that stretch happens, you're just kind of unconscious, right? One of those moments, an hour-long stretch, that was unbelievable. … That was crazy. Throwing in the eagles with two drivers off the deck was pretty special, pretty spectacular.' Watson's 8-under stretch allowed him to move within two shots of the lead going into the par-4 15th. That's when Niemann responded with a terrific approach shot from 140 yards off a difficult lie in the rough, followed by a 5-foot birdie putt that stemmed the tide and gave him some much-needed breathing room. 'I never thought he was in the picture,' Niemann said of Watson. '(Then] he started making those moves, started making a big charge, and I was in a way feeling a little bit more uncomfortable with my lead. … Was able to hit a great shot on 15. That put me back into my place.' Watson ultimately shot 65 to finish solo second at 14 under, while Surratt also shot 65 to finish another stroke back, the best individual results for each player since joining LIV Golf Surratt's play was especially important on the team side, as it sparked Legion XIII to produce another final-round rally with a cumulative 14-under total on Sunday to win by eight strokes over Torque, with Rahm also shooting 65 to tie for fifth. Not only was it Surratt's first-ever top 10 finish on LIV Golf, it was the first time he had led his team in scoring after a tournament. 'It means a lot,' Surratt said. 'Shows me a lot. It's very hard to be at the top of the leaderboard out here, especially for the first time … To be able to do it on a day where I knew it was going to be really, really hard means a lot to myself.' Said Rahm: 'Getting his first top 10 and finishing third is a big deal, a big week.' Legion XIII has now won two consecutive tournaments, and their lead is 46.66 points over Crushers GC. Rahm's team has the opportunity to guarantee itself the top seed in the Team Championship with a good result in Chicago. As for Niemann, he's close to wrapping up the most successful regular season by any player in LIV Golf's young history. Only Rahm or DeChambeau can catch him for the championship now. 'Obviously I want to win the season,' Niemann said. 'I think there is a lot of golf to play yet. Jon, we know how good of a player he is, also Bryson. 'There is not much I can think about other than worry about what I'm doing, how I can improve and get better and play my best golf for the next two weeks. I feel like that's all I'm worrying about it right now.' TEAM SCORES Here are the results and scores for each team after Sunday's Rd. 3 of LIV Golf UK by JCB: 1. LEGION XIII -35 (Rahm 65, Surratt 65, Hatton 70, McKibbin 70; Rd. 3 score: -14) 2. TORQUE GC -27 (Niemann 68, Muñoz 69, Pereira 71, Ortiz 73; Rd. 3 score: -3) 3. STINGER GC -26 (Burmester 66, Oosthuizen 66, Schwartzel 66, Grace 69; Rd. 3 score: -17) T4. FIREBALLS GC -23 (Ballester 65, Garcia 68, Puig 69, Ancer 71; Rd. 3 score: -11) T4. CRUSHERS GC -23 (Lahiri 64, DeChambeau 69, Casey 71, Howell III 71; Rd. 3 score: -9) 6. RIPPER GC -17 (Smith 67, Herbert 70, Leishman 70, Jones 73; Rd. 3 score: -4) T7. CLEEKS GC -14 (Kaymer 67, Bland 68, Meronk 69, Kjettrup 75; Rd. 3 score: -5) T7. HYFLYERS GC -14 (Ogletree 69, Steele 69, Tringale 70, Mickelson 72; Rd. 3 score: -4) 9. SMASH GC -9 (Gooch 66, Kokrak 68, McDowell 70, Koepka 73; Rd. 3 score: -7) 10. RANGEGOATS GC -6 (Watson 65, Uihlein 67, Campbell 70, Wolff 71; Rd. 3 score: -11) 11. 4ACES GC -5 (Reed 66, Varner III 68, Pieters 71, Johnson 75; Rd. 3 score: -4) 12. MAJESTICKS GC -3 (Horsfield 69, Poulter 72, Stenson 72, Westwood 74; Rd. 3 score: +3) 13. IRON HEADS GC +7 (Na 66, Jang 67, Kozuma 69, Lee 74; Rd. 3 score: -8)


Arab News
27-07-2025
- Arab News
Joaquin Niemann running away from field in UK
Joaquin Niemann of Chile has opened up a six-stroke lead heading into Sunday's final round at LIV Golf United Kingdom. The Torque GC captain moved to 14-under par with an 8-under 65 on Saturday at the JCB Golf and Country Club in Rocester, England. He racked up nine birdies with a lone bogey at the par-4 15th hole. Bubba Watson is in solo second at 8-under after a second-round 68. England's Paul Casey (68), Caleb Surratt (68) and Poland's Adrian Meronk (70) are tied for third at 7-under. Niemann, already a four-time winner on the LIV Golf tour this season, is looking to add his to his titles at Adelaide, Singapore, Mexico City and Virginia. 'I had a great time. I made a lot of putts,' Niemann said. 'I was laughing at it sometimes because I'm not used to seeing so many of those going in, and it's kind of cool to see that. 'Other than that, I hit some good shots. Everything felt pretty much under control, off the tee, irons, putting. Yeah, just pretty happy the way I've been going through the last two days.' Niemann had five birdies on the front nine, including three in a row at Nos. 1-3. 'I think it's a great course for my eyes,' said Niemann, who was T2 here last year. 'I feel like there's a lot of blind shots. There's a lot of left-to- right shots, left-to-right, right-to-left. You've got to move it around. You've got to use different types of shots off the tee, as well. I feel pretty confident on this course. Hopefully I can improve one position from last year, and I'll be pretty happy.' Niemann's Torque GC is also in front for the team championship at 24-under, three shots ahead of Legion XIII as it seeks its first team title since 2023. 'We know we can do it. We've been close for a few chances,' Niemann said. .'.. I think it's going to be an exciting day for all of us tomorrow and hopefully see low scores from the four of us.' Watson knows it will take a hot round and perhaps poor weather to keep Niemann off the top of the podium. 'He's playing so good, you don't expect him to do anything, like come backwards,' Watson said. 'Wind direction — I haven't looked at the weather. That can change a golf course or how we play it, pin setups. 'But we're going to give it our all and then hopefully that's good enough, have a round like he's having (Saturday). He shoots like even or 1-under, whatever it is — but we're just going to go out there and do the same thing and hopefully that's good enough or have a really high finish.' Five golfers are tied for sixth at 6-under, including Niemann's Torque GC teammate Carlos Ortiz of Mexico.