Borja Virto (-2) was on the verge of the International Series. A poor third round at the LIV Golf Promotions, especially with the putter, prevented him from achieving one of the two goals at stake this week at the Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia.
The first was to win this school and secure a spot in LIV Golf, which went to Taiwanese player Chieh Po Lee, and the other was to finish in the top ten and ties to earn the rights to play the International Series. Virto finished in twelfth place, just one shot away from that second and enticing goal.
Remember that the International Series consists of ten tournaments held within the Asian Tour calendar, each distributing one and a half million dollars.
This Saturday, 36 holes were played to decide both things at the home of the LIV Golf owners. The day started off poorly for Virto. His putting, brilliant in the last holes on Friday, cooled off. He began with a bogey on the 12th hole, a par 5, made another on the 4th, birdied the 5th to regain some ground, and finished with a bogey on the 8th. The rest were pars. Several birdie opportunities went astray.
With a score of +2 in that third round, the path became very steep for the Navarrese player. In fact, he started the fourth round from 18th place out of a total of 20 players. Far behind, four shots from the tenth place and nine from the leader at that time, Chieh Po Lee (-7).
Virto did not throw in the towel. He started the fourth round on the 10th, determined to climb positions and at least get into the top ten. His start was a birdie on the 12th hole, the same one where he had bogeyed in the morning. The wind had changed. He made two more birdies on the 15th and 16th and was three under for the day, closing in on the top 10.
A bogey on the 17th slowed his progress but did not make him lose hope. He made another birdie on the 18th and one more on the 2nd. Suddenly, he was at -2, just one shot away from the goal. Again, a setback. He bogeyed the 4th and was once more two shots away from that tenth place. A great final push was needed. He birdied the 8th hole, where only Max Rottluff also managed to birdie on this final day. He had the 9th left and needed the birdie. It wasn’t to be. Virto finished with a par and one shot away from opening some interesting doors. In any case, next year he will play the Challenge Tour with the main goal of finishing in the top 20 and regaining the DP World Tour card. Certainly, his golf deserves it.
As we said, Chieh Po Lee is the player entering LIV through the School. Now, they will have to assign him a team. He is not exactly the most striking or glamorous name from this school. He is a 30-year-old golfer from Taiwan, whose career has developed without much glory on the Asian Tour. This year in Thailand, he finally achieved his first victory on the Asian circuit, in an International Series. It has been the best year of his career, although he is ranked beyond 200 in the world ranking.
Lee won the battle against Branden Grace and Taichi Kho, who finished in second place tied, two shots behind the winner. These three, along with Ollie Schniederjans, Brett Coletta, Jack Buchanan, Max Rottluff, Somin Lee, Prateeptienchai, David Horsey, and Scott Vincent secure the International Series card for 2025.
Of all of them, it seems that only Brendan Grace could still manage to sign with a team. We’ll see. At least, the South African had no problem getting down to the nitty-gritty and competing in the LIV School, delivering a brilliant performance even though he missed out on the final prize.
