Amateur Kennedy keeps LIV dream alive with bogey free 67 in Abu Dhabi

Royal Dublin amateur Max Kennedy kept his hopes alive of joining Jon Rahm in the LIV Golf League next year when he fired a bogey-free 67 to cruise through the first qualifying round of the LIV Golf Promotions event in Abu Dhabi.

The University of Louisville star (21) birdied the seventh, ninth, 10th, 14th and 18th to finish in a seven-way tie for third and make the top 20 and ties who will join 13 exempt players in Saturday's second round at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. 

The scores will be reset in round two with only the top 20 (no ties) going on to Sunday's 36-hole shootout for three spots on a LIV Golf team next season.

"I played well at the end of the round," Kennedy said. "I started out slowly enough. But I didn't get too ahead of myself. 

"I stayed patient and I stayed with each shot, and it paid off in the end.” 

As (fellow amateur) Taichi (Kho) said (after also shooting 67), we have played together in the past, and we really enjoyed it out there. We fed off each other making putts, and it felt really easy, so that was kind of nice."

Maynooth University's Ryan Griffin (23) shot a five-over 77 to miss the two-under qualifying mark by seven strokes, finishing tied 57th in the 60-man field.

Kennedy was thrilled with his accomplished performance but he knows he will have to keep making birdies with 29 qualifiers joining the 13 exempt players in round two.

"Yeah, it's been fantastic," he said. "This is probably one of the biggest tournaments I've played in so far just because it's a professional event and I've only played one other professional event, so the support has been amazing, and I'm grateful for that.

As for his mindset and the mental battle he faced, he added: "Yeah, that's something that affected me in the past, trying to make the cut and just trying to be average. 

"But you can't have that mindset in professional golf if you want to be at the pinnacle. You've got to think about winning each round. 

"Especially in this event, you've got to think of winning each round and sticking to your strategy and staying disciplined and patient. That's all it takes."

His goal now is simple.

"Just make birdies," he said. "That's all it takes."

The 13 exempt players include former PGA champion Jason Dufner, International Series qualifiers - India's Gaganjeet Bhullar, New Zealand's Ben Campbell, Thailand's Gunn Charoenkul, Australia's Wade Ormsby and Zimbabwe's Kieran Vincent - and three players who were relegated from LIV this year in Jed Morgan and Americans Sihwan Kim and James Piot. 

In addition, reserve Laurie Canter will also start on Saturday.

"Yeah, I mean, they're there for a reason," Kennedy said. "They're in the second round for a reason. They're very good players.

"I think there's less players tomorrow, so that might make it a little easier, but again, you've got to play good golf to get through. 

"It's not going to take anything but good golf. If you do that, you'll be through to Sunday's round." 

As for the leading qualifier, New Zealand's Kerry Mountcastle impressed as he shot an eight-under 64 to top the leaderboard by two shots from American Seungsu Han. 

Seven players finished at five under, including Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen, who used an 8-iron for his hole-in-one at the par-3 15th.  

Of the 12 players who advanced on the number, seven needed birdies on the par-5 18th: Settee Prakongvech, Zach Murray, Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, Braden Thornberry, Luis Carrera, Bio Kim and Lucas Bjerregaard. 

Two others were at two under entering the 18th and bogeyed the hole -- Guntaek Koh and Chris Stroud - to miss out. 

Qualifiers for round two (par 72) at Abu Dhabi GC

64 Kerry Mountcastle, New Zealand

66 Seungsu Han, USA 

67 Junghwan Lee, Korea; Jinichiro Kozuma, Japan; Taichi Kho, Hong Kong;  

Max Kennedy, Ireland

Tapio Pulkkanen, Finland; Poom Saksansin, Thailand; Sadom Kaewkanjana, Thailand 

68 Jaco Ahlers, South Africa; Jeongwoo Ham, Korea; Steve Lewton, England; Miguel Tabuena, Philippines

69 Zach Bauchou, USA ; Kazuki Higa, Japan;

Phachara Khongwatmai, Thailand; Grégory Bourdy, France

70 Suteepat Prateeptienchai, Thailand; Settee Prakongvech, Thailand; Zach Murray, Australia; Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, Thailand;  

Suradit Yongcharoenchai, Thailand; Kevin Yuan, Australia;  Braden Thornberry, USA; Joel Stalter, France; Luis Carrera, Mexico; Bio Kim, Korea;   Martin Trainer, France; Lucas Bjerregaard, Denmark

Non-qualifiers included:

77 Ryan Griffin, Ireland.