Ceremonial start to International Series Oman at Al Mouj Golf

Muscat: The US$2 million International Series Oman tournament was officially opened at Al Mouj Golf, with His Highness Sayyid Azzan bin Qais Al Said playing the ceremonial first shot during an official practice day on Tuesday ahead of the start of the four-day event on Wednesday.

Sayyid Azzan was given the honour of playing a chip shot onto the 18th green of the iconic coastline course, in front of VIPs and guests assembled on the hospitality platform, ahead of the four-day event from Thursday to Sunday.

This year’s event features a host of world-class names, Major winners and LIV Golf players including recent LIV Golf Mayakoba winner Joaquin Niemann, 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and the cream of the Asian Tour.     

Sayyid Azzan said: “It was a great feeling, I had lots of adrenaline. Usually, the first tee shot is the ceremonial start but this time it was a chip. It was a lot of fun, and I managed to keep it on the green so I am very happy about that.”

International Series Oman is the first of ten tournaments on The International Series, the Asian Tour-sanctioned pathway onto the LIV Golf League.

It is the second edition of the event, with Japan’s Takumi Kanaya defending the title he won by four shots last year.