Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy has big ambitions but he’s focussed on taking it one shot at time as he makes his professional debut by spearheading a five-strong Irish challenge in the LIV Golf Promotions event in Saudi Arabia.
Kennedy (22) got through two rounds at the event in Abu Dhabi last year, but he’s hoping to go all the way this week as the winner after four rounds at Riyadh Golf Club will earn a lucrative spot on a LIV Golf team while the top 10 qualify for the Asian Tour’s International Series.
There’s just one problem. You have to hit the gas from the very first hole.
Only the players who finish in the top 20 and ties after round one advance to round two when scores are reset and they are joined by the automatic qualifiers.
The top 20 after round two will then advance to the final day, where scores will be reset again for a 36-hole shootout.
“I definitely learned a lot from last year,” said Kennedy, who won a Challenge Tour card at Q-School last month, missing out on his first card by just one stroke. “It was a different experience to anything else I’ve ever played in having a cut after each day.
“You’re put under a little bit of pressure to perform on every single hole. You can’t really slip up anywhere. And you’ve got to really go from the start. You’ve got to attack the golf course from the start. So knowing that, knowing the feeling that that you need to be able to do well out here, I would say, definitely gives me an advantage.
“There are a lot of really good players here. And in order to make that top 20 every single day, you’re going to have to play really good golf, and if you shy away from anything, then you’re probably not going to make it. So I’ll definitely be a little bit more aggressive this week than usual, and we’ll see how it goes.
Kennedy, who is joined in Riyadh by 2023 Walker Cup players Alex Maguire, Liam Nolan, Mark Power and amateur Matt McClean, knows he can’t afford to get ahead of himself but he has big goals in his professional career
“This is my first week as a pro, and my vision for the end of 2025 would be having full status on the DP World Tour and or the PGA Tour and getting two professional wins along the way,” he said.
As for this week, who knows he must remain focussed and not start dreaming of what might happen.
“I will stick to my process, stick to my routine, not getting too far ahead of myself, just staying one shot at a time,” Kennedy said of thoughts of winning a LIV Golf spot or an exemption into the International Series. “You have to let everything just take care of itself. And if that happens, it’d be fantastic. I’d love to be able to play on LIV, but again, just sticking to the process.”
Kennedy is joined in Saudi Arabia by Power, Maguire, McClean and Nolan and any status they earn will be an improvement on what they already have.
Power has limited status on the Challenge Tour and he’s keen to get more regular golf in 2025 while Nolan is also looking to add to the Alps Tour status he won last month.
McClean tees it up as an amateur, waiting to see what doors might open while Maguire is seeking any improvement in his situation after failing to win Challenge Tour status this year.