How many LIV Golfers are playing at the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open? Full list explored

The ISPS Handa Australian Open is back this week at the Kingston Heath Golf Club and The Victoria Golf Club. The four-day event, co-sanctioned by DP World Tour and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, will tee off on Thursday, November 28, with 156 players. The golfers will compete for the $1,700,000 prize purse on offer.

Notably, the upcoming edition of the Australian Open will feature four big-name LIV Golfers along with the DP World Tour regulars. Australians Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, and Marc Leishman will join the stacked European field. Interestingly, the event’s reigning champion and LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann will also return to defend his title.

The Saudi-backed series players will join PGA Tour stars including event favorite Min Woo Lee, Cameron Davis, and Harry Higgs, among others at the competition.

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LIV Golfers at the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open

#1 Joaquin Niemann

Joaquin Niemann won the ISPS Handa Australian Open 2023 by beating Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino in a playoff. The Chilean golfer played his A-game at the Kingston Heath to take the $382,500 prize money paycheck. The golfer is now returning to defend his title.

It is pertinent to note that Niemann is one of the favorites to win the competition. The 26-year-old comes into the event on the back of a stellar LIV Golf season, with two wins at Mayakoba and Jeddah. He backed the wins with T2 finishes in the United Kingdom and Chicago and T3 at Adelaide and Nashville. The two-time PGA Tour champion also managed a T22 finish at the Masters and T9 at the Men’s Olympic golf.

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#2 Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith at LIV Golf UK - Source: Getty

Cameron Smith is the local fan favorite. The Aussie star joined LIV Golf in 2022 just weeks after being named the PGA Player of the Year. The ace golfer has since been a big part of all events in his home country. The 31-year-old golfer had a good season on the breakaway circuit managing seven top-10 results, including T2 finishes in Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Smith finished runner-up to 22-year-old Elvis Smylie at the BMW Australian PGA Championship last week. Coming off the back of a second-place finish, the ace golfer will be eyeing a major comeback at the Australian Open this weekend.

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#3 Marc Leishman

Marc Leishman at LIV Golf Houston - Source: Getty

Another Aussie star from LIV Golf, Marc Leishman had six PGA Tour wins before joining LIV Golf in 2022. Leishman, who plays on Smith’s Ripper GC on the Saudi-backed circuit, is yet to win any tournament this year. His best result of the year came in Singapore, where he tied for second. A T4 finishes at Miami and Greenbrier backed it up.

Coming off the back of a T3 finish at last week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship, Leishman is a strong pick for the Australian Open.

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#4 Lucas Herbert

Yet another Ripper GC player, Lucas Herbert is one more Aussie star to watch at the ISPS Handa Australian Open. For the unversed, the 28-year-old had mixed results in 2024. He managed T6 finishes in LIV Golf events at Houston, Greenbrier, and Chicago. These were his best results as his only other top-10 finish came at the LIV season-ender at Dallas.

Unlike his LIV teammates Smith and Leishman, Herbert struggled at the BMW Australian PGA Championship last week. He finished T43 in the competition. Owing to the result, the ace golfer will be desperate for some big rounds at Kingston Heath this weekend.

More details on the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open will be updated as the event progresses.