This week will see the LIV Tour head down to Hong Kong for its third tournament of the season.
It’s been a year of surprises so far on the LIV circuit with Adrian Meronk and Joaquin Niemann emerging as the winners of LIV’s first two events and as the players jostle for early position in the individual standings, some of LIV’s big guns will hope to kick start their season with a victory.
Ahead of the tournament starting, here is everything you need to know.
The Course
The action this week will take place at the Hong Kong Golf Club and will be held at the Eden Course.
Often regarded as one of Asia’s most premier courses, a unique layout awaits this week. Measuring at just over 6,700 yards, the fairways are tight and the targets can be small and if anyone veers offline, saving par can be tough.
Whilst the course will challenge your everyday golfer, it’s a different story when the pros come to town. Often able to be overpowered, expect a birdie fest this week. The Eden Course is no stranger to exceptional scoring as demonstrated by Patrick Reed’s 59 which he recorded when landing the Hong Kong Open back in 2019.
The Favourites
As is often the way when Jon Rahm turns up to LIV events, he will start as the overwhelming favourite and it’s easy to see why.
Still yet to finish outside of the top ten in any event that he has started and finished, Rahm finished sixth in Adelaide and second in the seasonal opener down in Riyadh.
A winner of two events last season, Rahm will be keen to kick start his individual LIV success from last season with a victory in the Chinese city.
The next two weeks, here and in Singapore will take on added significance for Rahm who will be hoping to play his way into form ahead of the Masters.
Last year Rahm was largely a non-factor at the four majors and his Masters defence barely got off the ground. He will want to turn that all around this year and flip his poor major form on its head. Expect to see a fired up and focused Rahm this week, when that happens he usually isn’t too far away from victory.
Joaquin Niemann comes next in the betting and for the second year in a row the Chilean has gotten off to a superb start.
The winner in Adelaide thanks to a thrilling final round, Niemann has had a great few weeks with his win and securing an invite to the 2025 Masters.
Since moving to LIV, Niemann has justified all of the hype and it’s easy to see why he is so highly regarded in the game. Last year he came within a whisker of winning the outright individual championship, only just being pipped to the post by Rahm.
The two have now developed a fantastic rivalry and on current form are easily the two best players in LIV. Niemann would have been delighted that he got the better of the Spainiard in Australia and he will be hopeful of repeating the feat once again in Hong Kong.
Rounding out the top three in the betting is Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII teammate Tyrell Hatton and it’s a sign of just how great a player Hatton has become that he is viewed as more of a threat than both Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
Hatton has enjoyed a sensational few months with a pair of DP World Tour wins at the Alfred Dunhill Links and Dubai Desert Classic.
Another who has tasted success with his LIV victory coming at LIV Nashville but so far he is really yet to feature.
A 23rd place finish in Adelaide has been paired with a sixth place finish in Riyadh and he will hope to be in contention with the leaders this time around.
With a focus on accuracy needed this week, Hatton will hope that his strengths match up and he performs far better than the 21st place finish he achieved at this tournament last year.
Other Players to Watch Out For
The one man that most people will be getting behind is Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau has completely changed his image around and is now widely seen as one of the most popular players around.
Despite having millions of followers on his YouTube channel, DeChambeau hasn’t enjoyed a tremendous level of success in the LIV arena despite his U.S. Open victory last year.
Having gone through all of 2024 without a title, DeChambeau has suffered a mixed start to 2025 with an 18th place finish in Adelaide but a 6th place finish in Riyadh.
DeChambeau will want to get back inside the LIV winner’s circle as quickly as possible and with his supreme power off the tee, he could firm the Eden course ripe for the picking.
Brooks Koepka will be one of the LIV contingent that heads to Augusta and the five time major champion will be hopeful of adding a green jacket to his impressive haul of trophies.
Koepka has admitted that nothing gets him going quite like the majors, but being the competitor that he is, few would be surprised if he wasn’t driven to surpass Jon Rahm as the individual champion of the tour.
A former champion in Riyadh, he was miles off the pace this year, only being able to finish in 33rd place. He then bounced back in Adelaide with a seventh place effort. Koepka will want to come to the boil nicely with the Masters now on the horizon but has plenty of form to find.
If dialled in this week he is another that could blaze through the course this week but needs to quickly rediscover his best game and form.
Abraham Ancer was the winner of this tournament last year, winning courtesy of a dramatic four hole playoff.
So far through the first two tournaments of the year, he has finished in a tie for second on each occasion and would have been left bitterly disappointed that he was unable to power his way to victory in Adelaide.
A solid player, Ancer often flies into these tournaments under the radar but could well be the value option of the week.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
