Josele Ballester announced himself on the world stage today by winning the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, in just his 10th start in the professional game.<\/p>\n
An accomplished final round six-under-par 65 saw the Spaniard record a fine three-shot victory over last year\u2019s joint runner-up Caleb Surratt from the United States, who shot a 69 \u2013 here at Riyadh Golf Club.<\/p>\n
South African Dean Burmester, who beat Ballester in extra-time at LIV Golf Chicago in August, returned a 71 to claim third, while England\u2019s Richard Bland fired a 68 to settle for fourth.<\/p>\n
American Anthony Kim recorded far and away his best result since returning to the game after a 12-year break. He signed off with a 70 to tie for fifth.<\/p>\n
In what was the final event of the season on The International Series, Zimbabwe\u2019s Scott Vincent wrapped up The International Series Rankings.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the second time he has won the Rankings, having claimed the inaugural edition in 2022, and means he will make a popular return to the LIV Golf League next year.<\/p>\n
He will be joined on the franchise by Japan\u2019s Yosuke Asaji who held on to second place despite missing the cut this week. Filipino Miguel Tabuena came agonisingly close to dislodging Asaji after finishing in a tie for 11th, following a 69 \u2013 just 25.25 behind points the Japanese golfer, in third place.<\/p>\n
Ballester, the winner of the US Amateur last year who joined Sergio Garcia\u2019s Fireballs GC team mid-way through this season, started the day one behind third-round leaders Surratt and Burmester.<\/p>\n
However, by the turn he was one ahead of both players, whom he was paired with, following three birdies and no dropped shots.<\/p>\n
He continued in the same vein on the next nine making three more birdies, the final one on the 16th, to cruise home unchallenged in just his second event on the Asian Tour and The International Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, thank you so much. I\u2019m super happy,\u201d said Ballester, aged 22.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been everything, right? Like at the end of the day, being a young boy dreaming about this moment, winning your first professional career. This is why I worked so hard every day. It\u2019s been really cool, to finally get this done. It\u2019s going to make me keep working even harder to accomplish all the things I have.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut right now I\u2019m really happy and thankful for all the people that have been there supporting me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been great these past few months. It\u2019s been a lot of learning. When I joined LIV, I was not playing great, and it was a learning process. I had to become better. It\u2019s been really cool to see that in this brief time I\u2019ve gotten so much better and that I can compete at the highest level with the best players in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surratt was also chasing his first win. It is the third time he has finished runner-up on The International Series \u2013 including losing to Joaquin Niemann from Chile in a play-off last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s hard,\u201d said the 21-year-old, who played for Legion XIII on LIV Golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cI finished runner-up at this event last year. So, it\u2019s tough. I feel like I\u2019m overdue on my first win. I definitely had that in my mind today. Just getting off to a bad start really hurt me. Josele was beating me by four shots today through three holes. He\u2019s an amazing player, props to him. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll have many, many good battles.\u201d<\/p>\n
He got off to a poor start, dropping shots on the first two holes, but fought back with three birdies on the front side. Two birdies and a dropped shot on the second half saw him just fall short once more.<\/p>\n
Vincent started the day just five shots off the lead, comfortably ahead on the rankings. He shot a 75 today, to finish eight under to tie for 42nd place, not quite what he had hoped for but still good enough for him to top the rankings with 335.11 points. Asaji finished second on 285.3 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s still settling in,\u201d said Vincent, winner of this year\u2019s International Series Morocco.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, all I want to do is go see my family. Yeah, we\u2019ll head towards them tonight and can\u2019t wait to see them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke up at about 4:30, which was two hours before I was hoping to. Then you start playing all the different scenarios in your head, which was not what I was hoping for.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I kind of just \u2014 I wanted to come out here and just play freely and give it my best, but yeah, I was nervous. Obviously not knowing and not trying to look at leaderboards, you don\u2019t know how much of a cushion you have. You don\u2019t want to be the guy who\u2019s ahead and loses, all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tabuena needed a top-six finish to catch Asaji and got off to the perfect start by going out in three under to sit in the top four. However, he made bogey on the 12th, and although he recovered with a birdie on the 15th, a bogey on the next ended any hopes of him being the first golfer from the Philippines to play on the LIV Golf League.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Kazuki Higa has kept the lead on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, after tying for 65th. Vincent is second and Tabuena third, with two events remaining.<\/p>\n
The Asian Tour heads to India next week for the Bharath Classic at Kensville Golf Resort in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The inaugural tournament will be played from November 27 to 20 and will be joint sanctioned with the newly formed Indian Golf Premier League.<\/p>\n
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