LIV GOLF RIYADH

February 2, 2026

Ben An

Riyadh Golf Club

Korean Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us for the second of today's press conferences at ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh. We're pleased to be joined by one of the league's newest stars, Ben An, who joins us as captain of Korean Golf Club.

Ben, just to start us off, you step into this season as the new captain of Korean Golf Club, a new team for the league, as well, leading a refreshed lineup with Song and MK and Danny Lee also returning. How does it feel to take on the mantle of captaincy, and what are some of your priorities as you shape the team this season?

BEN AN: Well, the priority is to play good golf. I've known it for a long time, so it didn't feel awkward with me a couple weeks ago in the media week. We're all good friends. I've known them for a long time. So I feel very comfortable even though it's my first week, or it's my rookie year.

It's nice to have. I know a lot of players because as a team we will travel together a lot, we will spend time together a lot. If you don't do that with people you like, then it's going to be hard.

I'm looking forward to it. We're all good friends, and hopefully we can play good golf. I'm very excited for the season. It's my first year; feels like the first school year.

Q. The team have got a couple of new partners on. What does that say about some of the reception in Korea and some of the backing from our partners?

BEN AN: I think it's massive, yeah, especially the Hanwha PLUS joining us this year. We really appreciate it because that shows the support in us and the belief. We can't disappoint them. They're on board with us, and they expect good golf on and off the course.

I'm very excited. We're very grateful that they're on board, and hopefully we can have many more coming.

Q. You're no stranger to team golf yourself. You've represented the International Team on the Presidents Cup. How do you think your experience in playing some of these events will help you going into LIV Golf Korea?

BEN AN: It does because, like I said, just spending time together with your team, that could be different because in individual sports you usually travel by yourself, you go places by yourself. But in the Presidents Cups or LIV Golf Tour you kind of sit together, eat together. You spend more time with other players.

I think that'll help, and also it's an individual sport but you also play for a team. Your score counts every day.

The responsibility, I think that part will definitely help me playing in the league.

Q. What are some of your impressions of the course here at Riyadh Golf Club, and how are you going to approach the challenge of playing under the lights?

BEN AN: I played yesterday, nine holes. It was very interesting. On the range it was kind of light and it got dark, but it was okay. Once I got to the course, standing on the tee box, I'm like, this is pretty cool. That was my first impression.

I was playing nine holes, and it was really cool, I think. It makes the course different at night. I played in sim back at my house a couple days ago just to see the course, and obviously it looks completely different in the dark. Not dark, but night golf.

It was cool. It's just little things. It doesn't really look the same because the depth and perception of it, it looks a lot longer than what it is, so I have to trust whatever the number that me and my caddie comes up. I think that's the biggest thing.

Putting, some people say it's hard to see the line, but I do AimPoint anyway so I don't read it. Just getting comfortable with the yardage, I think that's big for me this week.

Q. What do you think are the main responsibilities that you see as being captain?

BEN AN: Good golf. I have to play good golf. That's the only thing I was worried and kind of looking forward to because I never played in the league. I don't know what the level of player they are.

I have a little bit more pressure on the shoulder that I'm giving to myself, also as a captain, because I want to play good golf, be a good example, but anything else, getting the team together is not really the role because we're all friends. We know what to do.

It's not much for me to do, I think. They don't expect for me to do anything different. We'll just go out, play together, do the practice round together, and hopefully I can keep the good vibe going. That feels like it could be one of my roles because I'm one of the oldest guys on the team, and I played the Tour a very long time. That could be my role, but we'll see. We'll see the first couple weeks. We'll see what I have to do.

Q. I was going to ask you about the vibe. What kind of vibe would you like to create within the team?

BEN AN: That's a good question. Probably relaxed and chill. I've known them for a long time. They are very chilled, hard workers.

Danny is an interesting one. If you know, you know. He's a guy I would love to have on the team because he's the one that lights up the team a little bit. He's funny, everyone loves him. He might be the one when you're having a bad day, maybe he can light it up a little bit.

But I want to keep it as light and relaxed as possible just to make sure everyone is in good vibe, fun and relaxed instead of too much pressure on ourselves because it's not a good mood for the team because we're all together every week.

I want to keep it the same as we've been doing the last couple days at the training camp I had in Orlando a couple weeks ago and even yesterday. Just keep that throughout the season; I think that's probably the vibe I want on the team.

Q. Was there one or two things at that training camp that kind of stand out in your mind, like hey, this is cool, this is the team concept, this is going to be a lot of fun?

BEN AN: Yeah. Like I said, we're all friends, so it didn't feel weird to spend time with them. I played a practice round with them at The Open last year. So it doesn't feel weird to have a practice round with them, spend time together, eat together. There's nothing odd about it.

Nothing really stood out. Just feels like you're playing a practice round with friends and traveling with them.

Q. Have you sought out any advice or counsel from some of the other captains in terms of, hey, how does this whole thing work? Have you picked the brain of anybody? I know you've only been on the job for a few weeks now, but just wanted to see if you were reaching out to anybody just in terms of how this whole thing is going to go down.

BEN AN: Not really. I live in the same neighborhood as Poulter and G-Mac and Tyrrell, so I've been seeing them the last couple weeks on the range. I never asked them about those, but I did ask about the logistics. That was about it.

Q. There's no event in South Korea on the LIV schedule this season. How important is it for you to see LIV return to South Korea in the near future? And how significant do you think South Korea is as a market for the growth of golf?

BEN AN: Oh, yeah, it would be massive to have it in Korea. It's the third biggest market in golf right now. I think it is.

We love golf. Everybody from younger generations to older, we love golf. It's such a small and tiny country, but we have a lot of good golf courses, and people crave having golf tournaments and playing golf.

Whatever we can bring out there would be great. Last year I heard it was a great success having it in Korea. Nothing is confirmed, but I really hope that we go back. Wherever we might be playing, we'll bring some good golf but also bring some positive plans for the future, as well.

That was one of the reasons I was here is I want to grow golf -- it's already big, but not the market-wise. But also for those who want to be a pro, because I know they're capable of many -- a lot of good golfers, you already see on other tours in the world. Hopefully we can inspire some of the young golfers to come out and join, and it would be fun.

Q. How do you look forward to the season knowing that all the events have to be played as opposed to preparing yourself on different tours and having to choose and know which ones to best prepare for? How are you looking forward to that this season?

BEN AN: Yeah, there will be a lot of traveling than I did the last 10 years, a lot of different countries, different time zones.

But I'm kind of used to it. I started on the Challenge Tour and played on DP World Tour back in 2014, early days of my pro career, so I'm kind of used to traveling, which I love traveling to different countries, getting to see different cultures, different countries, having different types of food.

That's what I was looking for the most the beginning of the season was traveling. Yes, it might be hard on my body. I'm 10 years older than back then, so I don't know how much I can handle. But I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll enjoy every moment of it.

I'm definitely ready for all the travels and playing golf because we only play two to three weeks max in a row, so I'll be fine.

Q. In your opinion, what will be difficult about this year's season?

BEN AN: Like I said earlier, the traveling. I'm looking forward to that the most, but also that might be the hardest thing because I haven't done a lot of travel the last few years. I have to adjust my body. I have to kind of find a way to adjust to the jet lag and getting ready for -- getting my body ready for the week.

I think that'll be the hardest part of playing the league in different countries.

Other than that, obviously competing against the best players in the world. There's a lot of good players. That will be challenging, too, obviously on the golf course. But off the golf course, just getting my body for every week of travel, I think that'll be the key for me.

Q. What would you like to say to the Saudi fans who are going to be part of this event and coming to this event? What can they expect?

BEN AN: Well, expect some fantastic golf. I've never been in Saudi before. I didn't get to play the European Tour when it was here a long time ago -- not a long time ago, a couple years ago. But so far, it's been great. Everything has been smooth. All the logistics, all the food we've been getting, it's been great.

I'm excited to play in front of the Saudi fans for the first time. Obviously night golf, so I think that adds the character to this event is the night golf, I think. I've never done it before. It's like a bit of night racing in F1. I always liked night racing, so I thought golf would be cool in the nighttime, too. I think we get enough lights out there, too, so it doesn't make it too difficult.

I think the night golf playing in front of Saudi fans, I think that will be awesome. Hopefully my score can show that.

Q. You touched just now on how difficult it is to move and travel. How do you stay fit across all of that, and how do you keep your fitness?

BEN AN: I use ChatGPT and Gemini. I put in my flight schedule and everything, what time of day we're playing because it's set every week because it's a shotgun. I try to utilize that a lot because I don't know much about how to get my body ready. Especially this week, I put in all the flights and numbers and everything, so it's like, all right, sleep at this time, try to do this and that to maximize the performance on the golf course at 6:05 p.m. That's what I did, and I'll probably do that again the next couple of events because we'll be go different time zones, and with the longer flights, it helps, and with the physio on our team. We'll probably utilize that a lot because we've got the resources and all the info is out there, so I'll try to use that as much as I can and hopefully get my body ready for the tournament days.