International Series a route to the big time, says Olesen

Danish golf star Jakob Skov Olesen has already shown the world how talented he is by winning The Amateur Championship and making the weekend cut at The Open Championship in Royal Troon this year.

The 25-year-old [main picture after winning The Amateur Championship] hopes to take his career to the next level at the Black Mountain Championship in Thailand. This is one of 10 high-level events on The International Series, which is put on by LIV Golf.

The Asian Tour events are a way to get on the LIV Golf League squad through the end-of-season rankings.

Olesen used to go to the University of Arkansas. Right now, he is leaving his options open by going on a number of tours with Q School soon.John Skov Olesen. The picture comes from Octavio Passos/Getty Images.

But he knows enough about the road players like Andy Ogletree took to think about the Asian Tour as a possibility. Ogletree is a famous US golfer who won The International Series Rankings race in 2023 and got a coveted spot on the LIV Golf League.

He said, "I'm not required to play in The International Series next year because I won The Amateur Championship. That's a great chance for me, and I'm very open-minded."

"I'll also be playing in the DP World Q School and the PGA Tour Q School next year. It's great to have so many options and chances."

As for where I am and what my plans are, there are many things I don't know. But it's always good to have choices.

Olesen has also played in the Arnold Palmer Cup, which is a yearly team competition for college and university golfers. He thinks that the next generation of golfers are really thinking about the chance to play in The International Series.

The only people who have taken the path to LIV Golf so far are Ogletree and 2022 winner Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe.

It's clear that rising stars like Rayhan Thomas, Leo Oyo, and Jonas Baumgartner have paid attention.

The three Oklahoma State players all played in the International Series Morocco. They joined Peter Uihlein and Eugenio Chacarra, two former students who became stars in the LIV Golf League and now play regularly on The International Series.

It's clear that a lot of people are interested in this, especially now that The International Series has bigger prize pools, Olesen said. Also, this event does seem to be run very well.

"That's what ends up here." People will want to play if they know the events are well run and have nice courses and places to go.

"This is something you can think about after seeing it and hearing from other guys who have done it." I think there will be a lot more guys from the US and Europe coming over to play as well.

Along with Olesen, other bright young golfers in the field include Santiago De La Fuente of Mexico, who won the Latin America Amateur Championship, and Sampson Zheng of China, who came in second place at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

Sampson has done very well on the Asian Tour since he turned pro in the middle of 2024. He finished tied for fourth at the International Series England and tied for second at the Mandiri Indonesia Open.

From October 17th to October 20th, the Black Mountain Championship will be held at the Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, Thailand.