LIV Golf Promotions ends in crazy playoff packed with a drop discussion, a topped shot and night lights

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[PHOTO: Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf]

It had a rules question. It had a clutch putt. It had a topped shot.

It had lights?

Indeed, the finish to the inaugural LIV Golf Promotions event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club had plenty of everything, much of it a bit bizarre. Maybe that should have been expected given the stakes involved: the top three finishers would earn spots in the 2024 LIV Golf League. Considering the 48th-place finisher on the 2023 LIV points list cashed $US1.5 million, there was a lot financially on the line for the 20 pros playing the 36-hole finale.

Kalle Samooja, a 35-year-old from Finland who needed almost a decade to earn a DP World Tour card, then claimed his one and only title in 2022, walked away the medallist at eight-under par; he shot 65-71 on Sunday, with birdies on his the last two holes to take top honours.

“Once I came here, I knew this was the only thing I wanted to achieve,” Samooja said. “It’s a big step forward in my career.”

Three players – Kieran Vincent, Jinichiro Kozuma and Laurie Canter – tied for second at seven-under, resulting in a playoff to determine who would claim the other two spots.

On the first extra hole, the par-5 18th, Kozuma, a 29-year-old from Japan, pushed his drive right with the ball ending up in a lake. As Kozuma was looking to take his drop, Canter and Vincent appeared to question where he was looking. Eventually, Kozuma appeared to take his drop further back than his initial spot.

Kozuma got back to the fairway with his third shot and then hit his fourth to roughly 15 feet, leaving himself this tricky par putt.

https://twitter.com/livgolf_league/status/1733842457513611748

Vincent, a 26-year-old from Zimbabwe, was also in a tough spot off the tee, punched out with his second shot, but made a par, too. Canter, despite hitting the green in two, could do no better than a par himself after missing a six-footer that would have secured his card.

Canter’s missed opportunity became even more haunting on the second playoff hole, another playing of the 18th – only this time under lights to offset the rapidly setting sun. The 34-year-old Englishman who played in 11 LIV events in 2023 as a reserve and filled in for an injured Sam Horsfield, hit his drive right, the ball ending up just short of rolling into the water. While the rocks near the ball made the lie less than ideal, it looked like Canter would be able to play his second shot. However, it didn’t turn out the way he’d hoped.

With Canter essentially out of the hole, Vincent’s birdie and Kozuma’s par allowed them to grab the final two spots.

https://twitter.com/livgolf_league/status/1733848984337195516

“I don’t think the tears are doing it justice,” said an emotional Vincent, who joins elder brother Scott as a LIV Golf member. “Obviously watching my brother the whole year, seeing how life-changing it can be, I just hope that this propels my career to a whole new level.”

The three players emerged from the pack of 73 entrants in LIV Golf’s inaugural Promotions tournament that offers a pathway into the league. Kozuma played all four rounds – with scores reset after each of the first two rounds – while Samooja and Vincent played three rounds after meeting the eligibility criteria for the first-round bye.

Twenty players competed in Sunday’s marathon finale. LIV Golf’s global appeal was reflected with the top three coming from three different continents.

“I think we had the best three guys from the field to get their cards,” Samooja said.