Poulter salutes Vincent brothers

LIV Golf League veteran Ian Poulter is confident the rising stars on the Asian Tour, who include Zimbabwean brothers Scott and Kieran Vincent, are benefiting from the “extra pressure” they are feeling when playing for high stakes on The International Series.

The set of 10 elevated events on the Asian Tour offers a direct pathway onto the LIV Golf League and Poulter, co-captain of Majesticks GC, has seen firsthand the talent from all around the world emerging from this route.

Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent and American Andy Ogletree are on the IronHeads GC and HyFlyers GC teams, respectively, after winning The International Series Rankings race in 2022 and 2023. Vincent impressed with a top 24 Lock Zone finish in his first season, and Ogletree has shown his capabilities with a T3 in Adelaide and T6 last time out in England.

Scott’s younger brother Kieran has been on the winning team for Legion XIII four times this season after gaining his place in a nerve-jangling playoff at the LIV Golf Promotions event last season, where over 30 players from The International Series Rankings and Asian Tour were part of the 74-man field battling it out for three golden tickets.

The International Series has also provided the alternates for this season’s LIV Golf League, to cover for injury. John Catlin, this season’s rankings leader, has impressed in four straight appearances for Crushers GC, with a seventh-place finish in Nashville among the highlights, while Ben Campbell and Wade Ormsby have also played well when stepping in on different occasions.

Catlin will also represent Smash GC in Greenbrier this weekend.

There’s a real desire among the cream of the Asian Tour to prove their worth and make that life-changing leap to LIV via the elevated events on The International Series, and Poulter said: “It means a lot – it is very financially rewarding for the guys to make it in and that will be hard to compete under that pressure.

“But that puts them in the right frame of mind to understand what that really means, and to go out there and try and grab hold of one of those fantastic spots.”

Referring to the crop who have graduated from the Asian Tour, he said: “Those guys themselves have really shown what is possible, and how impactful it really is to them. It is a terrific opportunity.

“At the end of the year, if their position on the rankings is good enough, they will get straight into LIV. If not, there’s obviously the season-ender event, which created amazing drama last year – especially with the way that the format worked (four rounds in three days with cuts on day one and two). It was obviously a lot of pressure for the guys to make it in or miss out.”

Poulter missed International Series England last week because of a foot injury, but the field was still packed with top talent. That is key to the development of the Asian Tour talent, according to the Ryder Cup legend who made seven appearances for Team Europe. – LIV Golf/Sports Reporter.