The Saudi International returns for its fifth outing at Jeddah's Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, and, as in the previous four years, some of the world’s best players are in the field.
The tournament is sponsored by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund – the same organisation that bankrolls LIV Golf. Last year, some of the PGA Tour players in the field offered an indication as to who would sign for its bitter rival. Among those was the eventual winner of the tournament, Harold Varner III and two of LIV Golf’s highest-profile initial signings, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. All three are also in the field this year.
As well as 2022 victor Varner III, who holed an incredible eagle putt of 92ft to clinch the trophy, and Johnson, who won the tournament in 2019 and 2021, another player who would eventually join LIV Golf, 2020 winner Graeme McDowell, also appears.
The highest-ranked player this year is World No.3 Cameron Smith, who also joined LIV Golf last August. Other players on the Saudi-funded circuit who are appearing include Smith’s compatriot Marc Leishman, Mexican-American Abraham Ancer, and 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau. Four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka and two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson, who Varner III edged out by one shot last year, also play.
Henrik Stenson, who was stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy when he defected to LIV Golf, also plays, as do former World No.1 Lee Westwood and Ryder Cup legend Ian Poulter, who were part of the the Greg Norman-fronted organisation’s original intake of players. The LIV associations don’t end there - another high-profile signing was 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, and he also tees it up. Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who claimed victory at Augusta National the year before Reed, and Englishman Paul Casey, are two other big-name LIV Golf players appearing.
Recently it was reported that Cameron Young is among the PGA Tour players being lined up for this year’s Saudi International, along with Lucas Herbert and Cameron Champ, and all three are confirmed in the field.
Overall, the field features all 48 players who competed in LIV Golf's season-closing Team Championship in 2022, while there are appearances from other players who competed in its tournaments through the inaugural season. In total, almost half of the 126-man field will comprise players who competed for LIV Golf last year.
As well as the event's $5 million prize purse, an added incentive for LIV Golf players is the availability of Official World Golf Ranking points in the tournament. The winner is projected to receive 26 ranking points - a potentially valuable haul given LIV Golf’s ineligibility to offer its players points.
The final line-up for the 2023 Saudi International is to be confirmed, but below is the list of players committed to appearing so far.
Saudi International Prize Money 2023
| Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| 1st | $1,000,000 |
| 2nd | $525,000 |
| 3rd | $315,000 |
| 4th | $250,000 |
| 5th | $205,000 |
| 6th | $166,500 |
| 7th | $142,500 |
| 8th | $122,500 |
| 9th | $107,000 |
| 10th | $95,500 |
| 11th | $87,250 |
| 12th | $81,250 |
| 13th | $75,750 |
| 14th | $72,250 |
| 15th | $69,250 |
| 16th | $66,250 |
| 17th | $63,250 |
| 18th | $60,250 |
| 19th | $57,750 |
| 20th | $55,750 |
| 21st | $54,500 |
| 22nd | $53,000 |
| 23rd | $51,500 |
| 24th | $50,000 |
| 25th | $48,500 |
| 26th | $47,000 |
| 27th | $45,500 |
| 28th | $44,000 |
| 29th | $42,500 |
| 30th | $41,000 |
| 31st | $40,500 |
| 32nd | $39,000 |
| 33rd | $38,000 |
| 34th | $37,000 |
| 35th | $36,000 |
| 36th | $35,000 |
| 37th | $34,000 |
| 38th | $33,000 |
| 39th | $32,000 |
| 40th | $31,000 |
| 41st | $30,250 |
| 42nd | $29,250 |
| 43rd | $28,250 |
| 44th | $27,250 |
| 45th | $26,750 |
| 46th | $26,500 |
| 47th | $25,500 |
| 48th | $24,500 |
| 49th | $23,500 |
| 50th | $22,500 |
| 51st | $21,500 |
| 52nd | $20,500 |
| 53rd | $19,500 |
| 54th | $19,000 |
| 55th | $18,500 |
| 56th | $18,000 |
| 57th | $17,500 |
| 58th | $17,000 |
| 59th | $16,500 |
| 60th | $16,000 |
| 61st | $15,500 |
| 62nd | $15,000 |
| 63rd | $14,500 |
| 64th | $14,000 |
| 65th | $13,500 |
Saudi International Field 2023
- Issa Abouelela
- Shergo Al Kurdi
- Othman Ibrahim Almulla
- Saud Alsharif
- Abraham Ancer
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat
- Gaganjeet Bhullar
- Richard Bland
- Danthai Boonma
- Baha Boulakmine
- Adam Bresnu
- Itthipat Buranatanyarat
- Laurie Canter
- Miguel Carballo
- Paul Casey
- Filippo Celli
- Eugenio Chacarra
- Cameron Champ
- Ervin Chang
- Yikeun Chang
- Ratchanon Chantananuwat
- Matthew Cheung
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Taylor Dickson
- Louis James Dobbelaar
- Andrew Dodt
- Hennie Du Plessis
- El Mehdi Fakori
- Oliver Fisher
- Sergio Garcia
- Talor Gooch
- Branden Grace
- Oihan Guillamoundeguy
- Kosuke Hamamoto
- Justin Harding
- Scott Hend
- Berry Henson
- Lucas Herbert
- Sam Horsfield
- Rikuya Hoshino
- Tomoyo Ikemura
- Yuki Inamori
- Aguri Iwasaki
- Hiroshi Iwata
- Jazz Janewattananond
- Dustin Johnson
- Matt Jones
- Sadom Kaewkanjana
- Tirawat Kaewsiribandit
- Takumi Kanaya
- Shiv Kapur
- Rashid Khan
- Phachara Khongwatmai
- Matt Killen
- Bio Kim
- Sihwan Kim
- Yeongsu Kim
- Minkyu Kim
- Ryosuke Kinoshita
- Brooks Koepka
- Chase Koepka
- Jason Kokrak
- Jinichiro Kozuma
- Jbe Kruger
- Anirban Lahiri
- Richard Lee
- Taehee Lee
- Marc Leishman
- Tom Lewis
- Steve Lewton
- Stefano Mazzoli
- Graeme McDowell
- Phil Mickelson
- Kyongjun Moon
- Jediah Morgan
- Sebastian Munoz
- Zach Murray
- Kevin Na
- Joaquin Niemann
- Andy Ogletree
- Taehoon Ok
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Wade Ormsby
- Carlos Ortiz
- Sanghyun Park
- Mito Pereira
- Pat Perez
- Turk Pettit
- James Piot
- Ian Poulter
- David Puig
- Angelo Que
- Naraajie Ramadhanputra
- Patrick Reed
- Quinn Riley
- Faisal Salhab
- Ajeetesh Sandhu
- Charl Schwartzel
- Shubhankar Sharma
- Chan Shih-chang
- Trevor Simsby
- Todd Sinnott
- Cameron Smith
- Travis Smyth
- Ian Snyman
- Henrik Stenson
- Sarit Suwannarut
- Hudson Swafford
- Pavit Tangkamolprasert
- Hideto Tanihara
- Nitithorn Thippong
- Jack Thompson
- Jarin Todd
- Cameron Tringale
- Peter Uihlein
- Harold Varner III
- Scott Vincent
- Rattanon Wannasrichan
- Bubba Watson
- Ding Wenyi
- Lee Westwood
- Bernd Wiesberger
- Matthew Wolff
- Suradit Yongcharoenchai
- Cameron Young
- Kevin Yuan
Who Won The Saudi International In 2022?
Harold Varner III won the 2022 tournament following an incredible finish that first saw Bubba Watson produce a birdie-eagle finish to head to the clubhouse with the lead. That left Varner III needing a similar finish to beat Watson outright. He duly birdied the 17th and followed that up with a stunning 92ft eagle putt on the final hole handed the win to Varner III for his first tournament victory in six years.
How Much Does The Winner Of The Saudi International Get?
The purse for the 2023 Saudi International is identical to last year at $5m. Of that, the winner will receive $1m. Perhaps more importantly for the LIV Golf players in attendance, the tournament offers world ranking points, with a projected 26 on offer to this year's winner.
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