With this season’s International Series Rankings race going down to the wire, Japan’s Yosuke Asaji is taking inspiration in many different forms from the big-name stars he is plotting to join on the LIV Golf League next season.
Asaji currently sits second behind Rankings leader Scott Vincent going into the final marquee event of the campaign, the US$5 million PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers which runs from 19-22 November at Riyadh Golf Club.
The 32-year-old shot up the rankings after putting together a late-season run that included an impressive T2 at International Series Philippines presented by BingoPlus and a stunning play-off win over Jeunghun Wang of Korea at the Moutai Singapore Open last time out on the series of elevated events on the Asian Tour calendar.
With the Saudi showpiece offering elevated points, Asaji has a great chance to capitalise and secure a life-changing place on the roster for next season.
To do that, he will need to stay ahead of a hungry chasing pack that includes Philippines champion Miguel Tabuena, Jakarta International Championship winner Wade Ormsby and Ollie Schniederjans, the American who won the season-opening International Series India presented by DLF.
Asaji should know what he must do to stay on track with his nearest rivals – he has been drawn in a group with International Series Morocco champion Vincent and Philippines winner Tabuena, sitting one and three in the Rankings, going out at 11:40 for Wednesday’s first round.
Ahead of the Riyadh Golf Club event, Asaji admitted he had taken advice from “his best friend” on LIV Golf – and was constantly looking to learn technical aspects from some of the most famous names in world golf lining up in an elite-level field this week.
He explained: “Jinichiro Kozuma (the Japanese Iron Heads GC player) is my best friend, and he always says to me that LIV Golf is the best. At this week’s event we will be playing with a lot of LIV Golf players, and it is very important for me to experience that level and standard of golf every day.”
Asaji has already experienced life at the elite level – he finished second in the Philippines, behind Tabuena and tied with his compatriot Kazuki Higa, ahead of a stacked field that included former world No.1 Dustin Johnson and Major champions Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.
However, there are specific players he will be looking out for this week in Saudi. Asaji singled out Ripper GC skipper Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open champion for his putting prowess. He also highlighted Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann, the defending champion in Saudi and a five-time winner this season as a must-watch. Asaji praised the reigning International Series Rankings champion for his perfect swing technique.
He said: “I always want to learn more skills from the top LIV Golf players, and I always watch them on TV for technique. I watch a lot of Cameron Smith on Instagram – I am always checking his putting technique on there. Putting is actually something I am working more on at the moment anyway, I have been putting more focus on it than ever before. And with Joaquin Niemann, I think his swing is on a different level – his swing and process is always perfect.”
Elevated points in the series finale mean there is still plenty at stake for the field, with rankings places counting towards qualification for the third edition of the LIV Golf Promotions event in January 2026, with two additional golden tickets to the LIV Golf League up for grabs in Florida.
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