Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Fuelled by nine birdies in the morning and a clutch tee shot in the late afternoon, Lee Chieh-po won the gruelling 36-hole LIV Golf Promotions to claim the coveted spot in the league’s 2025 season.
The 30-year-old Lee – a four-time participant in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) – becomes the first player from Chinese Taipei to earn full-time status in LIV Golf. He hopes his victory and presence in the league will inspire other golfers from his country.
“It means a lot for our players,” said the Asian Tour regular, who won for the first time at this year’s International Series Thailand. “LIV Golf, I think it’s many players’ dream. I go there and they will come.”
Lee – also known by his English name, Max – shot a two-round total of 10-under at Riyadh Golf Club to win by two strokes over Asian Tour player Taichi Kho and relegated LIV Golf player Branden Grace in the 20-player final-day field. A total of 92 players began the week hoping for a chance to join LIV Golf.
All players finishing inside the top 10 will receive exemptions to all 10 tournaments on The International Series in 2025. Six players on the final leaderboard previously did not have that status: American Ollie Schniederjans and Australians Brett Coletta and Jack Buchanan, who shared fourth at five-under; Germany’s Max Rottluff, solo seventh at four-under; and Korean Lee Soo-min and England’s David Horsey, part of the four-way tie for eighth at three-under.
Lee Chieh-po took part in the AAC from 2011 to 2014. He made the cut on all four occasions with a best finish of tied 25th at Nanshan in China in 2013. Lee Soo-min, Taichi Kho, Coletta and Buchanan also played in the AAC during their amateur days.
In his three appearances, Korean Lee Soo-min finished runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama in Singapore in 2011, was sixth in 2012 and tied fourth in 2013. Hong Kong China’s Kho was runner-up to Keita Nakajima in Dubai in 2021 while Australian Coletta finished second to compatriot Curtis Luck in Korea in 2016.
Buchanan placed 45th on his only AAC outing at Royal Melbourne in 2023 and was a member of the APGC team that triumphed over the European Golf Association in the Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy in Spain last year before turning pro.
In Riyadh, they were all chasing Lee Chieh-po after he shot a seven-under 64 in his morning round that included nine birdies, including four in his final five holes. That gave him a two-shot lead over Schniederjans, who posted a bogey-free 66.
Lee remained in control throughout the afternoon, making the turn with a one-shot lead over Grace, who had just made his fourth birdie of the day at the 11th hole.
Lee seemed to be pulling away with a three-stroke lead late in the round. But a bad approach at the par-four 16th resulted in a bogey. “I hit it poorly to the left, and I was laughing, like, what am I doing?” Lee said.
When Grace and Kho finished with birdie at the 18th, his lead was reduced to a single shot going into the par-three 17th, the most difficult hole on the back nine this week.
That’s when he stepped up and delivered the biggest shot of the day, his tee ball nearly rolling into the cup. After making birdie, he stayed away from trouble at the 18th to close it out. “Just tried to reset my mind,” Lee said. “Hole number 17, that shot was very important. I hit a very good tee shot.”
Grace was watching in the clubhouse as Lee finished his round. He was hoping to regain his spot with Stinger GC with a win this week, but the team could still make a business case for keeping him in the line-up. “Played good, gave it everything,” Grace said. “It was a good go. Now I’ll go home and have a holiday.”
Schniederjans, the former top-ranked amateur who is playing his way back from injuries that slowed his career, was encouraged by being in the mix this week.
“I’m very confident about where everything is heading,” he said. “I had to hit a lot of cool putts and shots under pressure, so it was really nice to see that. It did give me even more confidence. But I have a lot of confidence in my future.”
As for Lee, his confidence is sky-high. A hip injury last year forced him into swing changes, but a consistent stretch of play this season that culminated in the victory in Thailand – he rallied to overtake LIV Golf player Peter Uihlein – is an indication of his talent.
Now he’s ready to compete in LIV Golf and ready to embrace everything the global league has to offer. “On the LIV Tour, every player is very strong,” he said. “I think I can learn something.”