Saudi International: Abraham Ancer continues to dominate the leaderboard
02/03/2023 by Elena Reiter
On day 2, Abraham Ancer continues to lead the field at the Saudi International. Bernd Wiesberger fights for a place in the top 20.
Abraham Ancer at the Saudi International 2023. (Photo: getty)
On the second day, Abraham Ancer remains in first place at the Saudi International. Behind the LIV player is one of the few PGA Tour players in the field, Cameron Young, just one stroke behind. Sharing 3rd place are Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen and Sadom Kaewkanjana. The tournament in Jeddah is again hosted by the Asian Tour, but is unofficially almost considered a LIV Golf event, no wonder many LIV Golf Series players use the event as their season opener.
LIV golf elite miss the cut
A number of LIV golfers are among the big names competing, but not all can take advantage of the season opener. Cam Smith, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau are about to miss the cut. With above-par scores among all four players, it won’t be enough for two more rounds at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club. At least Mickelson announced in the run-up that he was in top form and wanted to really get going again this year. Bryson DeChambeau faced a big change this week. The longtime Cobra player teed it up with the TaylorMade Stealth Plus 2 driver instead of his usual Cobra driver. The reason for that, however, is just the expiring contract and current renegotiations with the brand. Meanwhile, the “Hulk” is probably trying his hand at other drivers.
Things are looking good for Bernd Wiesberger at the moment. The Austrian could improve with five birdies and only two bogeys and climbs into the top 20. Also on the shared 19th place is LIV-colleague Brooks Koepka, he holed the same round of 67 as Wiesberger.
Defending champion Harold Varner III topped Wiesberger’s performance by one stroke and is now just outside the top ten. Sergio Garcia, meanwhile, was unable to repeat his strong performance from Day 1 and drops back to 11th place with an even par round on Day 2. Patrick Reed also joins the ranks. The American and “Ace” teammate of Dustin Johnson holed out for a two-under round of 68.
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