For the International Series’s fifth event, the Black Mountain Championship, the Asian Tour moved to Hua Hin, a small village in Thailand. After the ten events in the series conclude, the Asian Tour will announce the one leading the Order Of Merit (OOM) standings, who will get a one-year membership on the LIV Golf.

Last year, Andy Ogletree, the defending champion of the Black Mountain Championship, who is missing from the field, received the same exemption into the breakaway circuit. But before that is announced, golfers will have to play five more events and cross the Black Mountain Golf Club’s challenge.

This year, there will be much attention on the appearances of two golf influencers, Luke Kwon and Tae-Wook Koh, aka Taco Golf. Their inclusion is an attempt to grow the game. Commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant explained that their appearance offers “a way in which we can grow the game and grow our audience while gaining better brand awareness through different mediums including the influencer space.” With all that in the kitty, let’s take how the tournament is going to fill the pockets of the participants.

The winner of the event will bag $360,000 from the $2 million total prize purse. Moreover, there will also be 7.9089 Official World Golf Ranking points on the line. Other than this, the runner-up will get a check for $220,000 while the golfer finishing third will bag $126,000. Here is the detailed prize money break-up for you:

Winning the International Series is a tougher challenge than it looks. Although the field strength is not as high as the other men’s events on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, or even LIV Golf, the events are still arduous. And there are still 18 holes left for the Asian Tour to announce the 2024 Black Mountain Championship winner. So, who will it be?

One player who might shine bright in the Black Mountain Championship

If you take a look at the Black Mountain Championship’s leaderboard, the lead has been taken up by India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar, but following him just two strokes behind is John Catlin. Although Bhullar is the leader, there is a better chance of Catlin taking away the trophy. How, you ask? Well, this year, Catlin had been playing on two different tours, one the Asian Tour and the second, LIV Golf.

He has made six starts on LIV Golf as a reserve player and even helped Brooks Koepka’s team to win at the LIV Golf Nashville. So, undoubtedly, Catlin knows how to play even in a tough field. Then, at the Asian Tour, the American pro has already won two times this year.

At the start of the year, Catlin won two back-to-back events on the Asian Tour, the International Series Macau and Saudi Open Presented by PIF. With 17 under 199 after 3 rounds, Catlin had shown that he wasn’t gonna back away and would give anything to win the third event of the year.

After all, he is the leader on the International Series Rankings and has expressed that he wants to join LIV Golf in 2025. After winning the third event, Catlin may extend his lead and confirm the 2025 berth, but for that, we all have to wait. Will John Catlin gear up and win his 7th overall Asian Tour title? It remains to be seen.