Family first for Zimbabwe’s Vincent brothers despite LIV Golf team rivalry

By Reuters

Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent and younger brother Kieran may be on different LIV Golf teams but “family trumps everything” for the siblings who have earned the chance to compete on the same tour.

Scott, 31, retained his spot last year in Jeddah, where they will tee off on Friday, while 26-year-old Kieran qualified through a promotion event playoff in Abu Dhabi in December.

“Seems like I can’t get rid of this guy, so whichever tour I go on he seems to follow and do pretty good,” Scott told reporters on Thursday. “That’s annoying at times, but at least from a family perspective it gives us something to talk about.”

“(Being on different teams) gives us a break from each other because sometimes it’s a bit much,” he said joking.

Despite taking digs at his younger brother, Scott added that they were grateful for the opportunity to compete.

“How cool is this that 10 years ago we were in Zimbabwe playing golf together on a random golf course just having a great time,” he added.

“And 10 years down the road there’s two of us on one of the best tours in the world right next to each other competing and encouraging each other on.”

While Kieran was competing in a qualifier, Scott, who was in Denver, was woken up by his wife at 4 a.m. before they watched his brother’s progress at the last few holes via a video call.

“I wouldn’t say we’re too competitive, the fact that we want to wring each other’s necks,” Kieran said. “I think that kind of happened in the early years of our life and we’ve got to a stage now where necks have been wrung enough.

“We’re just out here to support each other the best we can. So whether we’re on different teams or whatever it might be, I think family trumps everything.

“So the fact that we can be out here, be one family, I think that kind of steers us in a way to motivate and help each other the best we can.”

Although the pair constantly tease each other when discussing who is the better player, they have finished tied in the first two starts of the season at Mayakoba and Las Vegas.

“We don’t want the family to have favourites, so we try and play it equal so they can cheer for both of us knowing that we’re going to finish the same. It’s been good so far,” Scott said.