The Asian Tour’s International Series continues this week at the Hong Kong Open, featuring a strong field that includes several LIV Golf players.
A number of golf legends have won this tournament since its inception in 1959.
Past winners include the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose, Tom Watson, Ian Woosnam and Greg Norman.
This week, there are 34 players affiliated with LIV Golf in the field, including defending champion Patrick Reed who carded a sub-60 round en route to victory 12 months ago.
Former Masters champion Bubba Watson was supposed to tee it up, but was forced to withdraw after his season ended prematurely after he sustained a finger injury that required surgery.
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Here’s a take a look at the LIV players in the Hong Kong Open field:
Player name
LIV Golf status
Talor Gooch
Full-time
Harold Varner III
Full-time
Full-time
Kevin Na
Full-time
Adrian Meronk
Full-time
Dean Burmester
Full-time
Richard Bland
Full-time
Thomas Pieters
Full-time
Full-time
Matt Jones
Full-time
Josele Ballester
Full-time
Jason Kokrak
Full-time
Sam Horsfield
Full-time
Danny Lee
Full-time
Full-time
Patrick Reed
Full-time
Tom McKibbin
Full-time
David Puig
Full-time
Martin Kaymer
Full-time
Full-time
Full-time
Paul Casey
Full-time
Chieh-po Lee
Full-time
Caleb Surratt
Full-time
Peter Uihlein
Full-time
Ben Campbell
Full-time
Anirban Lahiri
Full-time
Wade Ormsby
Reserve
John Catlin
Reserve
Ollie Schniederjans
Reserve
Maximilian Rottluff
Reserve
Minkyu Kim
Reserve
Yubin Jang
Relegated
Anthony Kim
Relegated
Why are there so many LIV Golf players in the field?
For the first time ever, the winner of the Hong Kong Open will get a spot in fields for the 2026 Masters and The Open.
In August, tournament officials of The Masters and The Open announced plans to align aspects of its qualification criteria.
Related:
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Going forward, invitations to The Masters and Open will be awarded to winners or top finishers of select national opens.
Those tournaments include:
Scottish OpenSpanish OpenJapan OpenHong Kong OpenAustralian OpenSouth African Open
Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley previously said of the decision: The Masters Tournament has long recognized the significance of having international representation among its invitees.
“We, along with The R&A, have a shared commitment to the global game and are proud to work together.
“Today’s announcement strengthens our organisations’ collective vision of rewarding top talent around the world who rise to the top of historic national open championships.
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“We hope this formal recognition shines a bright light on these players and the events they will represent at the Masters and The Open, beginning next year.”
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