The 19-year-old Thai, who won the Thailand Open on the All Thailand Golf Tour last week and the Aramco Invitational on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) the week before, shot a final round seven-under-par 64 for a four-round-aggregate of 18-under 266.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson raced through with a 65 to secure second place while Travis Smyth from Australia was third after a 67 – in an event that brought to a conclusion the Asian Tour’s 23-event, US$35 million season.

Phachara Khongwatmai from Thailand, the overnight leader, signed off with a 70 and tied for fourth, five behind the champion, with his nation’s brilliant young amateur Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwant, in with a 66, and Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma, who closed with a 67.

Denwit also has the distinction of becoming the first player to win the final events of the year on both the Asian Tour and ADT, as the Aramco Invitational was also the season-ender.

“It is an unbelievable feeling because it is incredible winning three weeks in a row. It is like magic!” said the Thai youngster who won US$180,000 and leapt into 21st place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit from 133rd.

“I was really confident before coming to this week because I just know my game. I hit my drives good, my irons and putting were also good, so my goal this week was to win. Fortunately, I made it.”

This is only Denwit’s 15th start on the Asian Tour, and he mirrors the performance of American Henson back in 2011 by winning on the Asian Tour a fortnight after claiming an ADT event.  

Three weeks ago, on the eve of the Aramco Invitational, he was 30th on the ADT Merit list and facing an uncertain future before a life-changing month of golf.

He said: “[At Aramco] I told my caddie that there is nothing to lose now. If we didn’t make this tournament we had to go to Q School but I just tried to play my best and hopefully just make top three but luckily I won it.”

2016 Open champion Stenson, playing in the third from last group out, made a valiant late run making four consecutive birdies from the 12th and another on 17 but he ran out of holes.

He said: “It’s been a good week here in Riyadh. It’s been my first trip to the capital, it’s been nice to see something else than Jeddah as well in that sense, where we played a lot of golf both the Saudi International and the LIV tournaments. So nice visit, a lot of friendly people. I came in with two months off, so it was a good opportunity for me to kind of see where we’re at and what needs to be worked more on when we start preparing for next year in the middle of January.”

Joshua Grenville-Wood from the UAE finished in a tie for 12th at 10-under 274.

Golf Saudi CEO Noah Alireza said: “Congratulations to Denwit Boriboonsub for his display on the golf course, he is a deserving winner of the Saudi Open presented by Public Investment Fund following an exciting four days at Riyadh Golf Club. 

“It was particularly pleasing to see a young golfer win this event. We are committed to growing the game of golf both in the Kingdom and in the Gulf region, and Denwit’s victory in an Asian Tour event at 19-years-old will prove an inspiration to many youngsters. 

“I am also delighted to see three of the golfers invited by the Arab Golf Federation, who we partnered with for this tournament, compete over the weekend. Congratulations to Othman Raouzi, Soufiane Dahmane and Saleh Alkaabi for their performances. 

“This is the first time that the Saudi Open presented by Public Investment Fund has been an Asian Tour event and the quality of the golf was exceptional. I look forward to welcoming the players, officials and fans back to the next edition in 2024.” 

The battle on the bubble to finish in the top-65 and secure Asian Tour cards for 2024 as expected saw a close finish with those playing this week.

Kozuma made the biggest move from 76th to 53rd after his fine finish, Björn Hellgren from Sweden also made it through to next year after tying for 18th to go from 60th to 57th.

Koreans Yongjun Bae and Yeongsu Kim also managed to stay on the right side of the top-65 cut-off mark, moving from 63rd to 59th and 62nd to 61st respectively.

South African Jbe Kruger who was in the 65th and final spot coming into the week moved up to 63rd after a tense weekend that saw him end in a tie for 18th.

Image: Paul Lakatos / Asian Tour

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The total prize fund for the season will be €34 million, including a purse of $5 million at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF, which will be played at Riyadh Golf Club for the first time.

“The 2024 schedule will give our talented athletes a platform to show their best,” said LET CEO Alexandra Armas. “Our tournaments will showcase star-studded fields and entertainment in 20 different countries and there will be significant global opportunities for our players to transcend a traditional golf audience. It’s an exciting time, with Olympic golf coming to Europe and another thrilling Solheim Cup on the horizon. We look forward to sharing the journey with our fans worldwide.”

The season will once again kick off with the Magical Kenya Ladies Open in February, before travelling to Saudi Arabia and then visiting Morocco for the Lalla Meryem Cup.

In March, the LET travels to the United States for the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – USA. Later in March, the prestigious Magenta Shores Golf and Country Club will host the New South Wales Open for the first time, followed by the Australian Women’s Classic at Bonville Golf Resort as part of a fortnight down under.

In April, the Tour will travel to South Africa for the Joburg Ladies Open and the Investec South African Women’s Open, which will be played at a new venue, Erinvale Country and Golf Estate, in Cape Town.

In May, the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – Seoul, will be played in the Republic of Korea, followed by the Amundi German Masters, the first tournament of the year in Europe.

The Jabra Ladies Open will once again be played at the renowned Evian Resort Golf Club in France.

In June, the LET will enjoy a fortnight in Sweden with the Dormy Open Helsingborg, being played at Allerum Golf Club for the second consecutive year and the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, which will move to nearby Vasatorps Golf Club.

The LET will then play another soon-to-be announced event in Europe, followed by the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open, the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open and the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – London.

The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in France, where countrywoman Céline Boutier raised her first major trophy in 2023, is back in July, followed by the Dutch Ladies Open, powered by Golf.NL.

LET athletes will have the opportunity to compete for their home countries at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games at Le Golf National in August via the Olympic Golf Rankings.

The Tour then continues to Scotland, the home of golf, for the Women’s Scottish Open and the AIG Women’s Open, to be played on the famed Old Course at St Andrews for the third time.

Next up, the O’Meara course at Carton House will be the new setting for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.

Then, in September, a year on from the dramatic showdown between the United States and Europe in Spain, the Solheim Cup returns to the United States at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va, where Team Europe will attempt to keep the trophy in European hands for the fourth time in a row.

The LET then returns to Golf Barrière Deauville for the Lacoste Ladies Open de France, followed by the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – Asia. After that, there is the Hero Women’s Indian Open and the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – Riyadh.

The season concludes with a fortnight in Spain, starting at the Mallorca Ladies Golf Open before rounding out the year at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España for the fifth year in a row.

In total, 25 events will be televised, either via highlights packages or with a full live world feed in 2024.

Main Image: Supplied

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Englishman Popert teed off on Thursday morning at Riyadh Golf Club in a field containing LIV Golf stars Henrik Stenson and Kevin Na, as well as a number of Asian Tour stars. 

The Englishman suffers from cerebral palsy and has undergone 10 operations during his lifetime, but he has not let that stop him from chasing his dreams. Now, with the support of Golf Saudi, Popert is enjoying the opportunity to compete in his first professional main tour event. 

Popert said: “Having the support of Golf Saudi allows me to play the sport I’ve dreamt of playing as a kid. I have practiced for years and years to have this opportunity, to play in my first main tour pro event, it’s exciting. 

“It doesn’t matter what event I am playing, the golf ball doesn’t move and I am still playing the same shots. I want to play the biggest events I can and compete against strong fields and test myself. I love challenges, I love feeling uncomfortable and this is why I’m here. 

“I played very solid. I did what I wanted to do, which was to stay composed. I hit it well and if you play golf long enough you have days where you don’t feel too happy. I know I’m going to have a lot of good days to come.” 

Popert is a determined character and knows that his presence in the field in the Kingdom this week will inspire people with a disability across the world to pick up a golf club and play the game. He has been backed throughout his career by his family and encouraged all children with disabilities to never limit their expectations. 

Popert added: “If I spent my whole life limiting myself to what other people’s expectations are of me, I wouldn’t be here. I’m extremely fortunate to have the family I have, they never bubble wrapped me and always pushed me. If you have your sights set on something, then just do it. 

“My grandad always used to say: ‘press on’. Any challenges you have or setbacks, just press on. I took on that mantra. It’s a very simple mantra and that’s what I’ll do this week: hit a shot and press on. That is how I live my life and I am absolutely honoured to be here.” 

Popert was aiming to enjoy himself this week, no matter the outcome, and knows it is a great opportunity to talk to experienced professionals and to try and make improvements to his game. 

He said: “I haven’t played in many Asian Tour events or know the guys too well, but I have spoken to Henrik to try to and pick his thoughts as much as I can. Whatever this week threw at me, I wanted to play some solid golf, shoot some OK scores and it’d be a nice present to enjoy myself. In my life, I’ve always had challenges and I’ve always pushed myself to be uncomfortable. That is what I want to do. I want to be given the toughest challenge and see if I can rise to it.”

Image: Golf Saudi

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He leads on 12-under from compatriot Denwit Boriboonsub here at Riyadh Golf Club – in the Asian Tour’s season-ender.

Australian Travis Smyth carded a 64 and is a further shot back with Indian Veer Ahlawat, who returned a 66, and Todd Sinnott, also from Australia, who came in with a 69.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson gave himself a shot at the title tomorrow after shooting a 67 and is tied for sixth with three other players on nine-under.

All eyes will be on Phachara as he attempts to win his second title on the Asian Tour. It was two years ago that he claimed his maiden title, the 2021 Laguna Phuket Championship, before a stream of near misses followed.

He began the day in a share of the lead with Denwit and Sinnott and later took control with three birdies from the 10th for a three-shot advantage. Wayward approach shots on 16, where he made a bogey, and 17, where he saved a par, stopped his momentum.

“Today started very good, until like the end,” he said.

“All driver, all putting, all chipping, perfect until like the end. I struggled with my iron on last couple of holes.

“I missed the par-five 15th, hit it big right, and maybe after that feel like I am not trust myself, but I just tried to keep score, not lose my mind.  If my game is like today I still have a chance tomorrow because today I hit perfect, make a lot of birdie.

“Today I played safe instead of try and reach the green with one shot. I can make birdie with two shots to green. Maybe tomorrow will be same plan.”

In-form Denwit missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the last to draw level with Phachara. He is bidding to complete the hat-trick tomorrow having won the Aramco Invitational, also in Saudi Arabia, two weeks ago on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), followed by the Thailand Open last week.

He said: “Today the first nine was quite nervous for me, because it was my first time playing in the final group on the Asian Tour. And then I made double on the 10th, so that double just changed my mentality. Just play it, whatever happens it happens, and after that double it got better and better.

“I’m very happy because before I’ve never played this well. So, to be here, just in like seven eight weeks, it’s a big improvement for me.”

After his 64, the second-best round of the day, Smyth said: “Yeah, it was amazing. You know, for the last three months I feel like the putter has been letting me down, and today yeah, I hit some okay shots, but I was getting lucky, I’ll be honest. I was holing like 20-footers, 40-footers, I think I even holed a 50-footer as well. So it was a little bit of luck, but it felt amazing, especially with the last few months that I’ve had it just felt unreal.”

Thailand’s amateur star Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat came in with a 67 and is eight under in a tie for 10th.

Image: Paul Lakatos/ Asian Tour

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His young amateur compatriot Ratchanon ‘TK” Chantananuwat, brimming with confidence having recently been accepted to Stanford University next year, is in second following a 66, along with Mexico’s Luis Carrera, while American Kevin Na, Korean Jung Chanmin and Australia’s Todd Sinnott shot 67s – on an unexpectedly windy here at Riyadh Golf Club.

Forty-year-old Chapchai, who claimed the last of his four Asian Tour titles in 2014, threatened to win the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open two weeks ago, leading at the halfway mark before a final day 75 saw him slip back into a tie for 11th.

“Today so happy,” said the Thai golfer, who started on 10 and made an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys.

“The wind is so strong. I had to keep the tee shot in the fairway. I was lucky. I started on the back nine. I was three under for the nine, that was good.”

Having been in the golfing wilderness for several seasons, he has bounced back this year and is 31st on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. A third-place finish in The DGC Open presented by Mastercard in March being his best performance in five years.

He added: “I am not thinking about my game too much, I am in a good place.”

TK, aged 16 and the region’s most exciting young golfer, birdied 17 and 18 to complete his best round on the Asian Tour for a considerable period, as following his sensational victory in the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup on the Asian Tour last year, his focus has been on his studies.

“I haven’t shot anything better than a four under in an Asian Tour event for quite some time so it’s really refreshing to see myself play good golf,” he said.

“I had lots of fun out there. I think the wind made it super interesting.  It’s been dead for the past three days so for it to have wind I am super happy.”

He didn’t drop a single shot today, making a birdie on the second, before further gains on 10 and 15.

His relief at finally mounting a challenge was palpable.  

He added: “It has been very busy for the past two years, actually. Ever since I decided I wanted to go to Stanford it has just been super hectic. Just school and golf. I barely had time to breathe. 

“Now that I have been accepted obviously the workload is still there and I have to graduate high school with pretty much three top grades, but the fact that I can let the world know, I can confirm it … I know I am going, I have got that acceptance letter, it relieves a lot of the pressure, mentally mostly.”

Five-time PGA Tour winner Na came into this week feeling his game is in a good place and backed that up today with a strong start.  A missed six-footer for birdie on the last costing him outright second place. 

“I played really good. The front nine I played winds were low,” said the 40-year-old, now enjoying life on the LIV Golf League, where he is captain of Iron Heads GC. 

“I took advantage of that and shot four under. At the turn the wind started pumping. There were some balls moving 20 plus yards in the cross winds. Made it difficult. 

“Overall, I played good. Made a couple of mistakes. I was a little disappointed about that six-footer lipping out on the last hole, but we have three more days to go.

“My game felt good coming into this week. Took some time off and thought about my golf game. I made a couple of minor little changes that I felt could be good for next year and I wanted to test it out. First round it felt pretty good out there.”

Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai, Gunn Charoenkul, Panuphol Pittayat and Tirawat Kaewsiribandit plus Korean Seungtaek Lee fired 68s.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, one of the event’s marquee players, came in with a 70. UAE national’s Joshua Grenville-Wood and Sam Mullane are in a tie for 49th, while Saudi amateur Khalid Walid Attieh is currently the highest placed Saudi national.

Image: Asian Tour

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The Saudi Games are a national competition for various Saudi sports organised by the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with 41 competitors from Canada, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Tunisia taking part.

Al-Mulla not only picked up the first placed prize at Riyadh Golf Club last week, but 1000,000 Saudi riyals in doing so.

A two-shot victory for the inaugural professional Saudi Arabian golfer who scored rounds of 70, 69 for a five under par, 139 36-hole tournament total.

In second spot with the Silver Medal was his countryman Saud Al-Sharif on three under par, who pocketed 300,000 Saudi riyals. As Faisal Salhab made it a clean sweep for Saudi Arabia in the Men’s Medal’s by collecting Bronze and 100,000 Saudi riyals.

All three Male Medal winners are competing in this week’s US$1 million Saudi Open presented by Public Investment Fund  at Riyadh Golf Club with amateurs Khalid Walid Attieh, Ali Alsakha and Prince Khalid Saud Al-Faisal also flying the flag for the Kingdom.

In the Ladies Division, Belgium’s Alexandra Van Oordt, a Saudi Arabian resident, won the gold medal via a play-off win over fellow Saudi Arabia resident Ghozlene Saki from Tunisia.

While collecting the Bronze Medal was again Saudi Arabia resident, Lujain Khalil from Canada.

Ladies Division Winners in 2023 Saudi Games – Golf Saudi

Images: Golf Saudi

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The Asian Tour rookie, who had a two-stroke lead at the start of the day, shot a fine four-under-par 68 to finish on 19-under here at Taifong Golf Club – in the second from last event of the season on the Asian Tour.

Thailand’s Atiruj Winaicharoenchai fired a 66 to finish second with Malaysian Shahriffuddin Ariffin who came in with a 69. It is the best performance by both players on the Asian Tour.

Pavit Tangkamolprasert from Thailand and Korean Seungtaek Lee tied for fourth, after they both returned 68s.

Five birdies in a row from the third set up Suteepat for the win and allowed him to stroll to victory exactly one year after he came second in this event to wrap up the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit (OOM).

Thirty-year-old Suteepat, a professional since 2017, burst onto the scene last year with three ADT wins, all in Indonesia, which helped earn him his place on the Asian Tour as the top-10 finishers from the OOM secured their cards.

He had enjoyed as strong debut season on the main Tour with five top-20 finishes before putting the icing on the cake today.  

“Really happy, I love this place,” said Suteepat, who won US$72,000 and leapt into 24th place on the Asian Tour OOM, from 53rd.

“I won the ADT title here, I got my Asian Tour card from here, yeah, I love it. I just stuck to my game plan and my putter got really hot with those five birdies in row. None of the putts were short really, the shortest was 10 feet.”

With a substantial lead heading into the back nine he could afford to make three successive bogeys from the 14th before he restored order with a birdie on 17.

He added: “I didn’t chip well on those holes. I missed all those greens and could not get up and down.”

Atiruj and Ariffin have both taken giant steps forward to securing their Tour cards for 2024, with the former moving into 55th place on the OOM, from 80th, and the latter into 60th position, from 91st.

The top-65 earn their playing rights for the new season, with just one more event remaining, the Saudi Open presented by Public Investment Fund at Riyadh Golf Club from December 14-17.

“I was thinking about the Order of Merit all day to be honest, but I have been in this situation before, so I have experience,” said Atiruj.  

“I just kept my head down and concentrated. I felt a bit nervous on the last few holes. It was a long week and a tough year. I just changed my swing with my coach and the results have now come.” 

Said Ariffin: “It’s a big relief. The top five was my target so I am really happy to have done better than that. When he [Suteepat] made those five birdies in a row I knew we were playing for second. Just need to play well in Saudi.”

American Andy Ogletree’s confirmation as the Asian Tour Order of Merit champion will have to wait, as Filipino Miguel Tabuena, who is second on the Merit list, is considering playing in the season-ending event in Riyadh. The Filipino can catch the runaway leader but only if the wins and Ogletree misses the cut.  

Nearly 30 members of the Asian Tour will head to the LIV Golf Promotions event this week at Abu Dhabi Golf Club from December 8-10. The top-three finishers there will secure passage onto the LIV Golf League next season.

Image: Asian Tour / chung500

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Over 100 competitors from 12 countries took part across five categories; Under 15 Girls, Ladies, Under 13 Boys, Under 15 Boys and Under 18 Boys.

Golfers from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Tunisia and the UAE all joined the hosts Saudi Arabia, in an event which marked a significant moment in the global golfing calendar as it furthermore showcased the expanding talent there is in golf across the Arab world.

Division Winners:

Under 13 Boys: Egypt – Abdelrahman Aldefrawy

Under 13 Boys Teams: Egypt – Adam Aboshabana, Abdelrahman Aldefrawy, Adib Shabana

Under 15 Girls: Morocco – Noha Ghadi

Under 15 Girls Teams: UAE – Sara Abubaker, Maya Gaudin, Aasiya Saleem

Under 15 Boys: Tunisia – Mehdi Ben Youssef

Under 15 Boys Teams: Tunisia – Mehdi Ben Youssef, Selim Haouala, Ghaith Rhimi

Under 18 Boys: Morocco – Kamil Bensouda

Under 18 Boys Teams: Morocco – Kamil Bensouda, Aberrahmane Fakori, Sinan Melhi

Ladies: Morocco – Sofia Essakali

Ladies Teams: Morocco – Sonia Bayahya, Malak Bouraeda, Sofia Essakali

Thanks must go to Riyadh Golf Club and the Saudi Golf Federation (SGF) for hosting this prestigious event under the umbrella of the Arab Golf Federation (AGF). It is the SGF’s commitment to promote golf in the region and it was clear to see that with the Pan Arab Championship, it has highlighted the emerging talent there is within golf from various Arab nations.

The achievements in each category reflects the high level of competition and the promising future of these Arab golfers.

Images: Golf Saudi

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Rickie Folwer delves deep, with his coach Butch Harmon, into how he found his swing again. Have a big rundown of everything that happened at the DP World Tour Championship where Rory McIlroy and Nicolai Højgaard both came away with silverware. We have prepped the ultimate golfers trip to Ireland, which includes three of the best championship golf courses on the Emerald Isle. If you are looking at getting fitted for a new set of golf clubs, Club Lab Golf in JLT is the newest state-of-the-art facility in Dubai. LIV Golf is landing in Abu Dhabi with some big names lined up and we grab an exclusive ‘Quick 9’ with The Godfather of Dubai Duty Free, Colm McLoughlin.

All this and much, much more in the December 2023 edition of Golf Digest Middle East.

The issue is again free to our loyal audience. You can scroll through the ISSUU link provided here or download to your favourite device for later. Alternatively, pick up a copy at your favourite club. Whatever option you take, we hope you enjoy the read.

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The Egyptians ran away with the 36-hole tournament, in a format where the two best stroke play scores from each team are combined at the end of each day. They matched their opening days combined round of 155 with the same on Thursday for a tournament total of 310.

Second place in the Division went to Tunisia followed by Oman, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and finally Libya.

In the events other divisions, which have the final round today, the UAE Junior Girls 15 & Under are still leading their group with Maya Gaudin, Sara Ali, and Aasiya Saleem having set a very high bar with a fantastic combined team score of one over par.

Tunisia are in second spot followed by Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Morocco have overtaken the UAE in the Ladies Division after their best two combined second rounds of 67 and 72 to sit at five under par.

In third is Lebanon with Tunisia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia finishing out the six teams competing.

The Junior Boys 15 & Under Division is being led by Tunisia with Egypt and Saudi Arabia completing the top three as we head into the final day.

While in the Junior Boys 18 & Under the Moroccan Team are running away with their division after a stunning tournament score of ten under par with just 18 holes remaining.

The UAE Team of Mohammad Skaik, Rashed Al Jassemy, and Rayan Ahmed are in second spot with Egypt currently in third.

These exceptional achievements not only highlight the individual talents of these Pan Arab champions but also underscore the growing standard and competitiveness in the championship.

Main Image: Egyptian Golf Federation

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