Singapore is the landing spot for the series this week, with major winner Patrick Reed among the players teeing it up after being banned by the PGA Tour since joining LIV, with a strong Australian contingent also teeing it up.
Set to be expanded next year and rumored to head to Australia, the International Series is part of the Asian Tour schedule with increased prize money on offer, the Singapore event marking the third of third of four on the circuit’s calendar for 2022.
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Inaugural event.
COURSE: Singapore has been a regular destination for tournament golf, with Tanah Merah Country Club and its Tampines Course hosting the Asian Tour this week.
Measuring a tick over 7,500 yards for the week and playing to a par of 72, the course is ranked No.3 in Singapore and shares the property with the club’s Garden Course.
Designed by Max Wexler in the 1980s, the Tampines underwent a redesign in 2017 at the hands of Phil Jacobs Design that re-opened for play in early 2019.
RIGHT: Scott Vincent won the most recent International Series event held in England. PHOTO: Aitor Alcalde/LIV Golf/Getty Images.
Large greens are a feature of the course, that traverses undulating terrain with water in play on a significant number of holes.
One such hole is the 626 yard par-5 18thth that sees water run down the left side, with players able to shorten the hole the more they are willing to risk a watery grave.
Bunkers sit on the opposite side of the fairway in the driving zone, with more sand challenging players’ lay-up skills and an enormous greenside bunker sitting right of the almost rectangular green.
PRIZE MONEY: US$2,000,000
RELATED: So-called expert golf tips for this week
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Patrick Reed is the first of the big name LIV Golf signees to make their way to the Asian Tour in the off weeks of the new circuit run by Greg Norman, with plans to play this week and next in Korea.
Reed was fifth in the last LIV event at Bedminster, which came after a share of 47th at The Open.
Reed owns a spectacular short game that will work well around this venue, and is the kind of golfer that thrives when in the news as he was for his decision to play on the Asian Tour when many of his fellow LIV players sighted the want to play less golf for their decision.
Sihwan Kim continues to lead the Asian Tour Order of Merit, but his play has fallen away since an early season burst of form and a clear liking for the International Series of which he won the debut event and finished sixth in the second.
The Tampines Course has undergone a redesign in recent years and will challenge the Asian Tour’s best this week. PHOTO: David Cannon/Getty Images.
Kim is very comfortable playing across Asia, but a missed weekend in Indonesia last week suggests he doesn’t have his best stuff of late.
Queenslander Anthony Quayle gets back to business for the first time since his share of 15th on major debut at The 150th Open Championship.
The Aussie will be full of confidence after his week in St. Andrews where he was something of a crowd favorite and has long been tipped for a successful career in America, a goal he is determined to achieve this year.
Another Aussie will be worth watching this week Brett Rumford steps of the teaching tee at Wembley in Perth to head back to Tour golf.
Known for one of the best short games in the history of the game, Rumford is always interesting to watch and he produced some solid results at home earlier this year after numerous injury battles.
AUSTRALIANS IN THE FIELD: Anthony Quayle, Jed Morgan, Junseok Lee, Brett Rumford, Blake Windred, Scott Hend, Wade Ormsby, Andrew Dodt, Todd Sinnott, Travis Smyth, Jake Higginbottom, Josh Younger, Daniel Fox, Kevin Yuan, Cory Crawford, Will Heffernan and Sam Brazel .
TV TIMES*
Round 1: Thursday (Fox Sports 503 3pm – 7pm)
Round 2: Friday (Fox Sports 503 3pm – 7pm)
Round 3: Saturday (Fox Sports 505 1pm – 5pm)
Round 4: Sunday (Fox Sports 505 1pm – 5pm)
*AEST, check local guides
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