Saudi Success for Bonallack Trophy Standout

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Josele Ballester, the standout individual at this year’s Bonallack Trophy, announced himself on the world stage by winning the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, in just his 10th start in the professional game.

An accomplished final round six-under-par 65 saw the Spaniard record a three-shot victory over last year’s joint runner-up Caleb Surratt from the United States, who shot a closing 69 at Riyadh Golf Club.

South African Dean Burmester, who beat Ballester in extra-time at LIV Golf Chicago in August, returned a 71 to claim third, while England’s Richard Bland fired a 68 to settle for fourth.

In what was the final event of the season on The International Series, Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent wrapped up The International Series Rankings.

It’s the second time he’s won the Rankings, having claimed the inaugural edition in 2022, and means he will return to the LIV Golf League next year.

He will be joined on the franchise by Japan’s Yosuke Asaji who held on to second place despite missing the cut. Filipino Miguel Tabuena came agonisingly close to dislodging Asaji after finishing in a tie for 11th, following a 69 – just 25.25 behind points the Japanese golfer, in third place.

Ballester, the winner of the US Amateur last year who joined Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC team mid-way through this season, started the day one shot behind third-round leaders Surratt and Burmester.

However, by the turn he was one ahead of both players, whom he was paired with, following three birdies and no dropped shots. He continued in the same vein on the next nine making three more birdies, the final one on the 16th, to cruise home unchallenged in just his second event on the Asian Tour and The International Series.

Ballester was the outstanding individual in January’s Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy in the United Arab Emirates. Although he had a 100 per cent record, winning all five of his matches, he was unable to prevent the European Golf Association suffering defeat against an inspired Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) team.

The field in Riyadh also included five members of the triumphant APGC Bonallack Trophy team from 2023 in Spain. Japan’s Yuta Sugiura and China’s Sampson Zheng were among those in a share of 20th place, while Australian Jack Buchanan ended equal 65th.

Missing the cut were Korean Jang Yubin and Australian Harrison Crowe, winner of the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

Reflecting on his Saudi success, 22-year-old Ballester said: “As a young boy, you dream about this moment, winning your first professional title. This is why I worked so hard every day. It’s been really cool, to finally get this done. It’s going to make me keep working even harder to accomplish all the things I want.

“But right now I’m really happy and thankful for all the people that have been there supporting me. It’s been great these past few months. It’s been a lot of learning. When I joined LIV, I was not playing great, and it was a learning process. I had to become better. It’s been really cool to see that in this brief time I’ve gotten so much better and that I can compete at the highest level with the best players in the world.”