‘Asian Tour Rookie of the Year’ Kim Bi-o "Marching Toward Victory in Saudi"

'Oil Money' Debuts in New Year at Saudi International
Smith, Mickelson, Koepka, DeChambeau, Reed Compete

‘Asian Tour Rookie of the Year’ Kim Bi-o heads to Saudi Arabia.

Starting from the 2nd (local time) for four days, Kim Bi-o will compete in the 2023 season opener PIF Saudi International (total prize money $5 million) held at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club (par 70, 7,048 yards) in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. A total of 126 players are participating, and the defending champion is Harold Varner III (USA).

Kim Bi-o aims to win at the Asian Tour PIF Saudi International.

Hosted by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund (PIF), this tournament began in 2019 as part of the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour). After the launch of LIV Golf supported by PIF last year, relations between the DP World Tour and PIF soured, leading to the event becoming part of the Asian Tour. It is an exceptional tournament on the Asian Tour with a total prize fund reaching 6.18 billion KRW.

Kim Bi-o is a leading figure in Korean professional golf (KPGA) with a total of eight wins on the Korean Tour. He joined the Asian Tour through the 2020 Qualifying (Q) School. Last year, Kim played his first full season on the Asian Tour. He finished second in prize money ($599,609), including a victory at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open held in Korea. Kim showcased his presence by winning the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year award last year. He is the second Korean player to receive the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year award since Park Sang-hyun in 2018.

This year’s tournament is notable for the large number of world-class players who joined LIV Golf participating. Cameron Smith (Australia), last year’s Open Champion and world No. 4, makes his first appearance this year. Phil Mickelson (USA), the ‘oldest major winner,’ also chose this as his first tournament of the year. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson (all USA), Lee Westwood (England), Sergio Garcia (Spain), and Henrik Stenson (Sweden) are also on the roster.

Korean players also appeared in large numbers to earn ‘oil money.’ In addition to Kim Bi-o, eight players including Park Sang-hyun, Moon Kyung-jun, Lee Tae-hee, Kim Young-soo, Jang Yi-geun, Ok Tae-hoon, and Kim Min-gyu joined the field. Attention is focused on how Korean players who compete on both the Korean Tour and Asian Tour will perform in the Saudi tournament.