THE FLATS – Ollie Schniederjans is taking full advantage of his entry into the LIV Golf Promotions event last December, winning his first International Series event over the weekend and now filling in for Phil Mickelson to play his first LIV Golf event this week … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
SCHNIEDERJANS CASHES IN ON LIV PROMOTIONS FINISH
Ollie Schniederjans completed a remarkable comeback victory at International Series India presented by DLF, in front of a captivated audience packing out the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, just outside Delhi.
The American, lifted by an outrageous chip in for birdie on 13, fired a three-under-par 69 for a four-round aggregate of 10-under.
It gave him a surprise 4-shot victory over reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, his nearest challenger – in the opening event of the year on The International Series that brought crowds flocking to Gurugram.
The two-time major winner and captain of Crushers GC pulled out all the stops with a 7-under round of 65, but it wasn’t enough to cancel out an eight-shot gap that Schniederjans had built up over him going into the final round, and he finished on six under for the week.
Abraham Ancer of Fireballs GC finished joint third on two under after a level-par final round, alongside reigning International Series Rankings champion and Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann, with only four players finishing under par on the testing Gary Player-designed course.
“It means a lot to me,” said the 31-year-old Schniederjans, ably supported by his middle brother Ben as caddie this week. “This golf course is very challenging, and back in the day I would have had a hard time out here, so to come out and shoot those scores now, with everything I have been through, my game is a lot better than it ever was. This was proof this week.”
The final leaderboard for International Series India presented by DLF 🇮🇳
Ollie Schniederjans finished four shots clear of Bryson DeChambeau to become the champion on his International Series debut 🏆#InternationalSeries #ThisISEverything #TimeToRise pic.twitter.com/PE4ywsgKO4
— International Series (@intseriesgolf) February 2, 2025
SCHNIEDERJANS TO JOIN FORMER TECH STARS OGLETREE, TRINGALE IN LIV EVENT
After making a successful debut in The International Series season opener in India, LIV Golf reserve player Ollie Schniederjans now gets the opportunity to ride that momentum into the league’s season opener this week at LIV Golf Riyadh.
Schniederjans will replace injured HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson, the team announced Monday. It will be the first time the World Golf Hall of Famer has missed a LIV Golf event after joining the league in 2022 as one of its original – and certainly most accomplished – players.
The 54-year-old Mickelson said he plans to return for next week’s LIV Golf Adelaide in Australia.
He’ll join Andy Ogletree, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale on the HyFlyers for this week’s event in Riyadh, which starts Thursday under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club. The HyFlyers will be looking for their first team victory.
Ollie Schniederjans seals the deal at the International Series India presented by DLF! 🏆👏🏼 #InternationalSeries #ThisISEverything #TimeToRise #DLFlifestyle pic.twitter.com/rJv7vY9eSi
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) February 2, 2025
GAME “BETTER THAN IT EVER WAS” FOR SCHNIEDERJANS
Two years ago, Ollie Schniederjans called it a “long-term play.”
He was on the verge of returning to competitive golf, at the Korn Ferry Tour event in Savannah, Georgia in March 2023. It marked his first tournament action since January 2022, as a slew of injuries, all stemming from a bothersome left hip, had limited him to just five rounds in the preceding 18 months.
Patient and introspective, Schniederjans wasn’t about to make some big proclamation.
“I can’t treat it like nothing happened yet,” Schniederjans said then. “I’m still building up, and it’s still very fresh in process.”
The revival had its highs and lows – six top-25s in 24 starts the next two seasons on the KFT, but also 12 missed cuts. Schniederjans, the former top-ranked amateur in the world while at Georgia Tech who had risen as high as No. 77 as a pro, lost his status, but not his will.
He eventually redirected his comeback path internationally, teeing it up in LIV Golf’s Promotions, a joint-fourth showing earning him a reserve spot on the Saudi-backed tour and exemptions into the Asian Tour’s International Series, where the 31-year-old Schniederjans debuted at this week’s event at DLF Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, India.
Now, he can finally declare himself back.
Ollie Schniederjans won his first tournament since 2016 on Sunday in India.
To do it, he beat Bryson DeChambeau by 4 shots.@BrentleyGC on why Sunday’s win was so remarkable:https://t.co/iXqYT33tdH
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) February 2, 2025
CHARACTERS IN GOLF: CHARLIE RYMER
Player-turned-broadcaster-turned-course-management-executive, Charlie Rymer is still making a living—and more—from golf.
Rymer was struck by what looked like a giant bowl of cream in the sky below.
The first time he visited McLemore Resort atop Lookout Mountain in northwest Georgia in 2019, it was during a temperature inversion, in which cold air is trapped at the surface under a layer of warmer air. Perched on the cliff-edge above that bowl of clouds, Rymer felt like the proverbial cherry on top and recalled thinking, “this is the most incredible place I’ve ever seen.” He turned to his host, Duane Horton, president of Scenic Land Company, and said, “I want to be on your team. Let’s figure it out, but I’m in.”
That’s how Rymer, 57, became executive vice president of the McLemore golf course and resort development, beginning the third (at least) act of a colorful career that has revolved in one form or another around golf.
Rymer, a Cleveland, Tenn., native who was raised in Fort Mill, S.C., excelled at the game from a tender age, becoming the first-ever three-time South Carolina junior champion, winning the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, and twice being named an All-American at Georgia Tech alongside David Duval.
“I thought I was going to be winning about five PGA Tour events a year, play my way into the Hall of Fame, and all of that. It didn’t quite work out that way,” he says.
Over 5 years now with the amazing team @The_McLemore The game of golf has been so kind to me. One door closes and another opens. So many wonderful people in our industry. #Grateful https://t.co/7Jt411TUmL
— Charlie Rymer (@CharlieRymerPGA) February 3, 2025
