(Tanah Merah Country Club, Singapore – 10 October 2023) American star Andy Ogletree strengthened his grip on The International Series Order of Merit with his T3 at the International Series Singapore, as LIV Golf rising star David Puig registered a first-ever career win on the testing Tampines Course at the Tanah Merah Country Club.
Ogletree earned a US$ 113,000 pay cheque for his 12-under finish, which was helped by a hole-in-one at the par-three fourth hole.
The American has won three International Series events, with victories in Qatar and England adding to the title he claimed in Egypt last season. This weekend’s efforts took him to US$ 1,028,832.50 on the Order of Merit, ahead of Torque GC’s Puig, who raced from 28th into second (US$ 468,216.67) after his five-shot win generated a bumper US$ 360,000 pay day.
Ogletree was delighted with the result, and the way he was able to ‘grind’ his way round without being in top form. He said: “I didn’t hit it great at all, I had to grind it out. But I still scored well and got a good finish on a week where I felt I didn’t actually play very well. To be able to do that at all made it a pretty good week overall.”
Ogletree now turns his attention to the LIV Golf League, where he will take his place as reserve in the field for consecutive weeks at LIV Golf Jeddah and the LIV Golf Team Championship, Miami.
With just three International Series events left on the schedule this season, he also edges closer to the Order of Merit title for 2023, a step which would secure that coveted golden ticket for next season’s LIV Golf League.
Last season, Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent won The International Series Order of Merit and has gone on to play for Iron Heads GC in the LIV Golf League.
Scott’s younger brother Kieran Vincent (US$ 433,568.33), International Series Vietnam champion, climbed up to third in the standings above Japanese star Takumi Kanaya (US$ 426,233.33) after a T39 on the Tampines.
Otherwise, the top 10 stays the same with only Gunn Charoenkul of Thailand adding US$ 25,500 to his earnings this weekend with his 14th-placed finish (US$ 363,056.54).
It is as you were for Wade Ormsby (US$ 416,724.40), Charoenkul, Anirban Lahiri (US$ 319,300.00), Kevin Yuan (US$ 297,043.75), Eugenio Chacarra (US$ 288,500.00) and Matt Jones (US$ 288,150.00).
But with US$ 5 million in prize money still to play for over the three final lucrative events, there is plenty of drama left to unfold in the 2023 edition of The International Series.
Runner-up Jaewoong Eom of Korea was one of the biggest movers after the weekend, rocketing up from 54 to 11th (US$ 283,483.00) thanks to a -14 total which left him closest challenger to superb Spaniard Puig, but still five behind the maiden winner.
Thailand’s Poom Saksansin, T3 on -12 alongside Ogletree, rose from 55 to 22nd in the standings (US$ $174,495.00) while Japan’s Tomoharu Otsuki, alone in fifth on -11, jumped up to 32nd (US$ 102,875.00) thanks to his $82,000 pay day.
Recent Asian Games gold winner Taichi Kho from Hong Kong underlined his talent with a T6 on the Tampines which moved him up to 33rd from 56 (US$ 118,358.33). Filipino Miguel Tabuena (US$ $218,433.33) moved up one spot to 17th while America’s Berry Henson is now in 14th ($270,344.04), after the trio picked up a cool US$ 57,533.33 each for finishing T6.
Next up on The International Series schedule is a three-week run of premier events, starting off with the Volvo China Open (2-5 November) before moving on to the Hong Kong Open (9-12 November) and the final event of the season, the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta (16-19 November).
For more information about International Series Singapore, please follow the link here to the Asian Tour website.
