Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi)

The breakaway LIV Golf League, led by the legendary Greg Norman, has been working overtime to include talented and proven players in their family.
At the Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Sunday, after an intense 72-hole shootout over three days, three more members joined the clan where one of the richest purses in sport is being offered; the latest being world No. 3 Jon Rahm of Spain.
Yet, for Kieran Vincent, the family feeling will be a lot stronger as the Zimbabwean joined Finland’s Kalle Samooja and Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma as the talented trio to make the cut into the league where four players get relegated and promoted each year starting in 2024.
Andy Ogletree, as winner of the International Order of Merit Series, has automatically joined field of 48 players before the three chosen ones from the LIV Golf Promotions event in Abu Dhabi. Among those 48, divided into teams of four players, is Scott Vincent, the elder brother of Kieran.
In a span of just 18 months, the younger of the Vincent brothers, has gone from turning pro to ensuring on Sunday that the brothers collect at least $4 million (Dh15m) in wages by playing 14 events on the LGL, irrespective of what they do with their golf clubs on the courses.
Samooja produced the lowest score of the marathon final day at the National Course at 8-under, fuelled by a morning round of 7-under 65. Vincent and Kozuma each shot 7-under on the day to make a three-man play-off for the final two spots that also included Laurie Canter.

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Vincent birdied the second play-off hole and Kozuma parred it to join Samooja as LIV Golf’s newest members. They also got a fancy gold coin to boot. “I don’t think the tears are doing it justice,” said an emotional Kieran Vincent.
“Obviously watching my brother the whole year, seeing how life-changing it can be, I just hope that this propels my career to a whole new level.” Vincent was one of LIV Golf’s reserves in 2023, while Kozuma made three starts during the beta-test 2022 LIV Golf Invitational Series.
“I wanted to come back again for sure,” Kozuma said, “and to be real now, it’s like a dream”. The three players emerged from the pack of 73 entrants in the pathway tournament. Kozuma played all four rounds – with scores reset after each of the first two rounds – while Samooja and Vincent played three rounds after meeting the eligibility criteria for the first-round bye. Twenty players competed in Sunday’s marathon finale.
Kieran paid tribute to Scott and his family. “My brother, and the rest of my family, have just been huge role models for me. Without them, I wouldn’t be anywhere close. The hard work by him has inspired me and his support for me … that was all instilled in him from my family.
“I am going on a tour where you can learn so much from so many cool guys. And with Jon Rahm recently signed, it really doesn’t get much better than that,” Kieran said.
As immediate gratification, even the pathway event carried a total prize money of $2 million with Samooja walking away with a cheque of $200,000. Canter missed out but he split the pot with Kozuma and Vincent, each taking away $108,333. The players finishing 11-20 flew out of Abu Dhabi with $17,500 in their pockets.