ROCESTER: Two years ago, American Andy Ogletree made his first appearance in the LIV golf tournament in London but struggled with a hip injury and after the previous year he finished last and struggled for playing time.
Ogletree returns to action this week at the LIV Golf in England, where he is recovering from another injury, but this time his position on the leaderboard is markedly different.
Ogletree shot a bogey-free 65 to finish 12-under and take a two-shot lead in Sunday's LIV Golf UK final round at JCB Golf and Country Club. Smash GC and Legion XIII are four shots ahead of Ogletree's HyFlyers GC, Stinger GC and Torque GC.
Not only is Ogletree seeking his first LIV Golf championship and the biggest win of his career, he’s also hoping to create a miraculous redemption story.
“It makes for a perfect trip,” said Ogletree, who joined Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers after winning the LIV Golf title this season as the 2023 International Series champion.
“It’s a crazy path. I don’t know exactly what it means. We’ll see. But right now, just focus on tomorrow, focus on taking care of what I can control, and we’ll go from there.”
Ogletree, who has been forced to adjust his swing this season to compensate for a left wrist injury, can’t look too far ahead. His closest pursuers are two of LIV golf’s top players.
Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith is hoping to claim his second consecutive LIV Golf title in England after triumphing at London's Centurion Club last year. Legion XIII star Tyrrell Hatton recently claimed his first LIV Golf title in Nashville and has been one of the league's most consistent players since joining.
Smith and Hatton were tied at 10-under, but both appeared content with a 5-under 66 in the second round.
Smith appeared to break away from the pack after his eighth birdie of the day gave him a two-shot lead, but a mishit drive at 16 followed by a dipping ball at the island-green 17th resulted in consecutive bogeys.
“Probably the most disappointing 5-under score of my life,” said the three-time LIV Golf winner. “It felt really good until a couple of wild swings.”
Hatton made bogeys throughout the round, as did Ogletree, and played well from tee to green, missing only two greens in regulation. But his putter didn't heat up until his final 10 holes.
“Played great golf and felt like a floating putt,” he said later. “It didn’t feel like there was a hole there. I had to wait until the 10th hole to make the putt.”
Smith and Hatton will play in the final group on Sunday against Ogletree, but seven other players are within five points of the leader, including Legion XIII captain Jon Ram and Crushers GC’s Paul Casey, who are tied for fourth; 2023 individual champion Thaler Gooch is tied for sixth with Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen; and Gooch’s Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka is tied for eighth with RangeGoats duo Matthew Wolff and Peter Uihlein.
It's a big task for Ogletree to beat them all, but given the road he's had to go through to get to this point, he's up for the challenge. He currently sits 38th in points, but if he can win, he'll move into the top 24 in the Lock Zone with just two more regular-season races left.
“I think I’ll be nervous, but I’ll look forward to it,” he said. “I’ll run into the pressure and accept it, and I think everyone will be nervous at the end. Whatever happens, I’ll accept it, learn from it and move on.”
Scoreboard and score tally for Saturday's second round:
The three best scores of each team will count towards the first round and all four scores will count towards the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds will win the team championship.
T1. Smash GC-21 (Gosh 66, Kopka 68, Cocrac 69; 2nd round score: -10)
T1. Legion XIII-21 (Hutton 66, Suratt 68, Rahm 70; 2nd round score: -9)
T3. Torque GC -17 (Niemann 67, Ortiz 67, Munoz 68; 2nd round score: -11)
T3. Stinger GC-17 (Oosthuizen 67, Schwartzel 67, Grace 70; 2nd pt: -9)
T3. Highflyers GC-17 (Ogletree 65, Tringale 70, Mickelson 72; Round 2 Score: -6)
T6. GC-16 crusher (DeChambeau 65, Casey 66, Catlin 71; 2nd round score: -11)
T6. Fireball GC -16 (Puig 68, Chacarra 70, Garcia 70; 2nd GC: -5)
T8. Range Goat GC -15 (Uilen 67, Wolff 68, Watson 72; Round 2 Score: -6)
T9. Clean GC-13 (Bland 68, Samuja 68, Meronque 69; Round 2 Score: -8)
T9. Ripper GC -13 (Smith 66, Ormsby 71, Herbert 72; Round 2 Score: -4)
T11. Majestic GC -10 (Poulter 68, Stenson 69, Horsfield 70; Round 2 Score: -6)
T12. GC -8 iron head (Vincent 66, Kozuma 69, Na 70; Round 2 Score: -8)
T12. 4Ace GC-8 (Reed 68, Perez 69, Johnson 69; Round 2 Score: -7)
