This week’s Saudi International kicked off today at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, playing host to an impressive field of star Tour pros.
English golfer David Horsey lead a field that includes the likes of world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Tony Finau, and Justin Rose. Johnson, who won the inaugural Saudi International two years ago, is one of four top-10 players at the tournament and opened with a bogey-free 67 to be six shots off the lead.
Dustin Johnson in Saudi Arabia this week for the Saudi International.
The Saudi International, presented by the Public Investment Fund, offers a purse of €3,019,002 ($3,630,712.19), and is the flagship golf event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is looking to expand the sport in the Kingdom, eying an expansion to 13 public-access courses by 2030, up from just five today.
Horsey got to the par-5 18th hole needing an eagle for only the second ever 59 in the tour’s history but couldn’t reach the green in two, and wound up with a par to tie Dustin Johnson’s leading score from 2019.
Before the tournament began, oddsmakers set Johnson as the favorite to win.
More than 60 countries across six continents will broadcast the tournament.
As the AP reports, after a calm morning at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, “the wind picked up and made for much tougher playing conditions for the afternoon starters. They included Patrick Reed, who shot 69 coming off a win at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines that saw him at the center of a rule controversy.”
Paul Casey, who also won Sunday at the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, followed Reed in shooting 69.
