Caleb Surrat (-14), the young 21-year-old American and member of the Legion XIII team of LIV Golf, maintains the lead in the PIF Saudi International after signing a card of 66 strokes on the second day, with a one-stroke advantage over Belgian Thomas Pieters (-13), and three over Spaniard Josele Ballester (-11), the indomitable Englishman Tyrrell Hatton (-11) and, notably, a revived Anthony Kim (-11).
The American deserves a special mention, as to his notable 67 strokes on Wednesday he added a brilliant 64 today, reminiscent of the scores he used to produce almost effortlessly in his distant glory years. Is Kim back at forty years old and more than fifteen years after his last victory at the Houston Open in 2010? It’s too early to say, but these two rounds have certainly sparked worldwide interest. Today’s 64, seven under par, is undoubtedly his best score since returning to competition in 2024 with LIV, both in the Saudi league and in the tournaments he has played on the Asian Tour.
Ballester, with only one bogey in the first 36 holes and an 86 percent greens in regulation hit in these first two rounds (31/36), maintains a good birdie pace at the Riyadh Golf Club in the Saudi capital. The Spaniard, like Surrat, is seeking his first professional victory and it wouldn’t be a bad week to achieve it, with all the top players of LIV in action this week, although some of the main figures of the Saudi league have already been knocked out today by failing to make the cut…
This has been the case for Joaquín Niemann (-1), for example, as well as Sergio García (-1), Cameron Smith (PAR), Talor Gooch (PAR) or Dustin Johnson (+2). Japanese Yosuke Asaji (+2) also failed to make the cut, arriving at the event in second position in the International Series ranking, which concludes this week. It should be noted that the top two in this ranking earn a place in LIV Golf, so the Japanese player’s stumble opens the door for many candidates. The leader of the ranking, Scott Vincent (-8), however, is defending his position confidently so far, with two cards of 67 strokes keeping him on the tournament leaderboard just outside the top ten.
Noteworthy is the spectacular final sprint of Luis Masaveu (-4) to comfortably make a cut that was becoming complicated, finishing on the 9th hole of the Saudi course with four birdies in his last five holes. Also in action over the weekend is David Puig (-4), who today signed a card of 70 strokes, currently placing him far from the hot zone.
