Josele Ballester Breaks Through - Two New Players Join LIV Golf League
Josele Ballester wins the 2025 PIF Saudi International at -22, while Scott Vincent and Yosuke Asaji secure LIV Golf exemptions through the International Series Order of Merit.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
- Ekpharit Wu's First Asian Tour Victory
- What the Win Means for Wu and Hung
- PIF Saudi International: The Final Showdown
- International Series Standings and Stakes
- Points Allocations and What Each Player Needs
- How to Watch
Through 10 holes in the final round, Asian Tour rookie Ekpharit Wu found himself trailing the local favorite for the Taifong Open, Hung Chien-yao.
Ekpharit would find two birdies by the 14th hole, and Chien-yao would bogey 16 and 17, giving Ekpharit Wu the win by two strokes for his first win on the Asian Tour! The two were well clear of the rest of the field, with the third place finishers trailing Ekpharit by eight shots when all was said and done.
This was a pivotal result for both of the top two finishers.
For Ekpharit Wu, he leaps to 28th in the Asian Tour Order of Merit and secures him a spot in this week's PIF Saudi International, which boasts a $5 million pool. As for Hung, he'll move to 57th in the Order of Merit, which all but guarantees his spot on the Asian Tour for the 2026 season.
I just talked to myself throughout the day. I just wanted to relax. I did not know about the future, but I knew that every shot I hit, I needed to stay within myself… just trust myself and hit the shot. Don’t think who was doing what, and who was in the lead.
Ekpharit will be looking to carry this momentum into next week, which will present an even bigger life changing opportunity.
PIF Saudi International
The PIF Saudi International is the final event of the 2025 International Series, which means the stakes are as high as they've ever been.
What exactly are the stakes?
First and foremost, it's a $5 million purse. More than double any other Asian Tour event this year.
But importantly, the top two players in the International Series Order of Merit (an OOM dedicated just to the IS events) will be awarded full spots on LIV Golf for the 2026 season.
And I don't suspect these will be just regular wild card spots as they were last year. It's looking more and more likely that each player earning their way into the LIV Golf League for next year will be part of a "Wild Card Team" and have the opportunity to cash in on the (elevated for 2026) team prize pool.
The current standings are here (note: these don't reflect the full International Series Rankings, just the players that are eligible for the LIV Golf spots):
Points Allocations for PIF Saudi International:
- 324
- 198
- 113.4
- 90
- 73.8
- 59.94
- 51.30
- 44.10
- 38.52
- 34.38
Notes:
- Scott Vincent has a solid cushion here. He's going to want to get some points this week, but it's looking very likely that the former Iron Heads GC member will be returning to LIV Golf for the 2026 season. Any finish in the top 5 effectively guarantees his spot.
- All of the players in the top 5 are able to guarantee their place on LIV Golf for 2026. Vincent and Asaji only need to finish 2nd to accomplish that, but the others will need to win the event outright.
Everything comes down to the final week, and this time (thankfully) the spots are guaranteed. The spots cannot go to contracted LIV Golf players, or players who have played less than 3 International Series events.
The International Series concludes at Riyadh Golf Club, starting on Wednesday night and available to be viewed on NBC Sports, which I'm told (but admittedly have not tested) does not require a subscription.
Good luck to all of the participants!
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