LIV Golf star on brink of completing Olympic ‘dream’ after earning US Open start

LIV Golf starlet David Puig has set his sights on competing at this summer’s Olympic Games alongside fellow LIV member, and Spaniard, Jon Rahm at Le Golf National in Paris.

Puig was one of the breakaway league’s lesser-known names when signing on the dotted line with Greg Norman and co. The 22-year-old opted to leave college golf and turn professional in order to join the LIV setup, and the youngster has not looked back since.

The Fireballs star has ben one of the Saudi-backed series’ busiest members over the past year, having turned his attention to the Asian Tour outside of his LIV commitments in a bid to earn himself Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.

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In doing so Puig has moved from outside the top 1000 players in the world to as a high as 104th in the world rankings, having impressed on the Asian Tour. In the past eight months, the youngster has found himself inside the winners’ circle on two occasions, with his maiden pro win coming at the International Series event in Singapore last October.

He added win No. 2 at the Malaysian Open four months later, to continue his important rise up the world ranking list, with his starts on the LIV setup still going ahead without OWGR points on offer. His hard work away from the mega-money league looks set to come with a reward too, as he chases one of two vacant spots on the Spanish Olympic team.

The top two players from each country in the OWGR list will get the chance to represent their nation in Paris, and as things stand, Puig’s efforts on the Asian circuit ensure he currently occupies one of the spots alongside two-time major champion Rahm. The youngster will get the chance to cement his spot next week, having qualified for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

And with this summer’s Games going closer, Puig opened up on the prospect of becoming an Olympian at LIV Houston this week. “Right now I’m in,” Puig said of his Olympic status. “There’s two Spaniards that are trying to catch me because everything is pretty tight.

“Obviously I wish them luck, but yeah, I think the deadline is right after the U.S. Open, so I have a little chance there in case they get past me this week in Sweden [on the DP World Tour] where they’re playing. Yeah, it would be great to play alongside Jon at the Olympics. It would be a dream come true for sure.”

For now though his concentration will lie solely on the task in Houston, with the Spaniard one of four players joint at the top of the leaderboard with 18 holes to play. The 22-year-old will chase down his first win on the breakaway circuit in Sunday’s final round, but will have to shrug off co-leaders Adrian Meronk, Paul Casey and Carlos Ortiz, as well as a hefty chasing pack.

Rating his chances against a stacked leaderboard, he said: “Yeah, obviously these guys are very good. That’s why they’re on top pretty much every week. But I know I’m good, as well. I just haven’t had my chances yet, but I know I’m good. I know I have the game. At the end of the day I just need to execute the best game I have for tomorrow, and I think if I play my best game, I know that’s going to be enough. But obviously I’ve got to perform very good.”