Stage set for Close House International Series England event

A healthy number of LIV Golf League personnel have crossed the Atlantic after the Bedminster event in New Jersey and will line up for the $2 million International Series England tournament at Close House near Newcastle that tees off on Thursday.

LIV Golf Bedminster runner-up Anirban Lahiri, third-placed Abraham Ancer of Mexico and fifth placer Dean Burmester of South Africa head the list of the heavy hitters at the Asian Tour’s International Series event that will continue on to Scotland and the St Andrews Bay Championship next week.

The two UK events are fifth and sixth in the International Series schedule.

At Newcastle, Lahiri will be joined by a long list of fellow LIV golfers that includes England’s Ian Poulter, Richar Bland and Lee Westwood, Bedminster team winners Jediah Morgan and Matt Jones of Australia, Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, Americans Pat Perez, James Piot, Brendan Steele and Jason Kokrak, and several others.

The Asian Tour’s Order of Merit is almost fully represented as well with the top five, Andy Ogletree of the US and Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines, Zimbabwe’s Keiran Vincent, and Australian Wade Ormsby all lining up for a crack at the lucrative prize purse.

India will mark a sizeable presence at both International Series events. Besides Lahiri, past tour winners Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia and Gaganjeet Bhullar are confirmed entries in the 156-strong field.

They will be joined by the likes of Rahil Gangjee, Rashid Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Viraj Madappa, Veer Ahlawat, Karandeep Kochhar, Shiv Kapur, Chikkarangappa S., Honey Baisoya.Kartik Sharma, and Khalin Joshi at the Lee Westwood Golf Course at Close House.

Up next on the Asian Tour’s 2023 ‘UK Summer Swing’ is the inaugural $1.5 million St Andrews Bay Championship to be played at the Sam Torrance-designed Fairmont St Andrews from August 24 to 27.

Before the Scotland sojourn, the Newcastle event will give those trailing the Asian Tour’s top five a chance to catch up with Australians Brendan Jones and Kevin Yuan, Taichi Kho of Hong Kong, and Sadom Kaewkanjana and Gunn Charoenkul of Thailand all gunning for points.

Said Asian Tour commissioner and chief executive Cho Minn Thant, “With only a week to go before the St Andrews Bay Championship tees-off, anticipation is building for what is another notable landmark in the Asian Tour’s history. It’s testament to the significance of this championship that we have such a fantastic turnout from Asian Tour members.