Caleb Surratt and Adrian Meronk rekindled their magic with Riyadh Golf Club today, shooting nine-under-par 62s to take the first-round lead in the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.
Related: Yosuke Asaji is the toast of Singapore Open
They lead from Belgium’s Thomas Pieters who returned a 63 while Kiradech Aphibarnrat from Thailand shot a 64 – in the final event of the season on The International Series, and the third from last stop on the Asian Tour calendar.
Both Surratt and Meronk have history at this venue. Surratt shot a course record 61 in this event last year in the third round before going on to lose in a play-off, while Meronk claimed the LIV Golf Riyadh title here in February.
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Surratt, who was beaten by Chile’s Joaquin Niemann in extra-time 12 months ago, was comfortably on course to break his course record when, after starting on 10, he played the back nine in seven-under-par 29.
He birdied six on the trot from 11 and made birdie on the last, before two more birdies followed on holes one and two. That put the American on 59 watch, before that was stood down after a bogey on the fourth. He closed with a birdie on nine.
“It was a great day,” he said. “I’ve been working really, really hard the last few weeks. This is my fifth week traveling, so I’ve learned a lot. I’ve had to fight a lot of battles, so it was kind of nice to win today’s battle. I’m very pleased, but it’s just the start of the tournament.”
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The 21-year-old from North Carolina joined the LIV Golf League soon after turning professional and plays for Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team.
He is yet to win but has come close several times. As well as tying for second here last year he was also joint second in the International Series England earlier in 2024 and was equal third in the International Series Morocco before that.
“It’s been a much better year. I believe I’m one of the best players, and I truly have shown myself that, especially towards the back half of the year. I’m really starting to learn my process, learn what I need to do to play well,” he added.
“I think it’s an everlasting process to learn how to be more consistent. I feel like my good golf is more than good enough, but what makes all these great players so good is they can bring it nearly every week.”
Meronk’s victory here at the start of the season was his first on the LIV Golf League – which he debuted on last year.
“I don’t know. It just seems like it [Riyadh Golf Club] suits my game,” said the Polish golfer, who plays for Cleeks GC.
“I really like it. I think I kind of know how to play this course already, and I like the greens. They roll nicely. I see the break nicely. Yeah, I just enjoy playing here. Excited to be here again.”
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Pieters birdied the last two holes to close in at the end. The 4Aces GC man arrived here in encouraging form after top 10 finishes in both the Link Hong Kong Open and the Moutai Singapore Open.
He said: “I putted unbelievable today. I think I had 24 putts. Usually, I don’t make a lot of putts from 10 to 15 feet, and today I made all of them.
“I was putting on Sunday night on my putting green at home, and I was just kind of messing about with different models and stuff. I always like to tinker with putters. This one is an old one that I got eight, nine years ago, never used it, but it did a good job today.”
Kiradech, the Asian Tour Order of Merit winner in 2013, also clearly likes the course, as he was joint third in the Saudi Open presented by PIF early last year.
He said: “I’m quite pleased with the way I’m playing the past couple months. Starting really good, just can’t get everything going through the weekend. But I just keep knocking on the door, and hopefully everything is coming together.
“I’ve been playing here not often, but this is my third time playing in this place, and I would say the green conditions is one of the best compared with the last two I played before.”
South African Louis Oosthuizen and England’s Paul Casey are tied for fifth following 65s, along with Korean Seonghyeon Kim and Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz.
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Defending champion Niemann has work to do after a 72, while Australian Cam Smith, who was also in the play-off last year, came in with a 71.
The race to finish in the top two on The International Series Rankings to secure a place on the LIV Golf League moved one step closer.
The leading three players in the rankings, Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe, Yosuke Asaji from Japan, and Filipino Miguel Tabuena were paired in the same group.
Vincent and Tabuena both carded 67s, while Asaji fired a 72.
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Vincent leads the Rankings, with 325.59 points, ahead of Asaji in second, on 285.3, with Tabuena third, having earned 232.28 points.
However, with the winner this week set to earn 324 points, the race is wide open, meaning players further down on the Rankings also have a chance to grab one of the places at the very end.
