Open Contender Set For Latest LIV Golf Start

From the west coast of Scotland to Uttoxeter – that’s the route LIV Golf players will be taking this week, hoping to swap the wet and windy conditions experienced at The Open for some sunnier weather in Staffordshire.

One of those players making the 300-mile trip south for LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf & Country Club, is America’s John Catlin, who will be feeling confident after finishing tied 16th at The Open. Only one of his fellow LIV competitors finished higher at Royal Troon, Spain’s Jon Rahm.

By the sounds of it, the three-time DP World Tour winner, who currently leads the Asian Tour rankings, will still be buzzing.

“It's just such an amazing event,” an excited Catlin said after finishing the week at two over par, a fine result given the testing conditions.

“I was walking up the last, and I was in that greenside bunker and I still couldn't help but smile. It's just such a cool walk. It's so unique to the Open. That's something I'll always cherish.”

Catlin, who won his three DP World Tour titles in a seven-and-a-half-month spell, is playing as a stand-in for Charles Howell III on Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers’ team.

After his strong week at The Open, the 33-year-old American revealed that his main goals this season are win the Asian Tour Order of Merit and lock down a LIV spot for 2025.

“To win that, it's a pretty storied list of champions that have won that Order of Merit, so to be on that list would be something truly special,” said the 2020 Irish Open champion.

Catlin’s finish at The Open should come as no surprise, for he’s been in superb form this season.

In March, he shot 59 at the International Series Macau, the first sub-60 round in Asian Tour history, and went on to beat David Puig in a playoff.

As well as winning the Irish Open, he’s a former Andalucia Masters and Austrian Open champion, and he has six Asian Tour titles to his name. 

LIV Golf is returning to England for the third successive year, this time to JCB Golf & Country Club, which has replaced Centurion Club on the schedule.