ROCESTER: Two years ago, American Andy Ogletree was part of the inaugural LIV golf course in London. It didn’t go well. After battling lingering hip and back injuries the previous year, he finished last and found himself struggling to find playing opportunities.
This week, Ogletree will play a LIV Golf event in England again, and again he is recovering from an injury. But this time, his ranking is decidedly different.
With a bogey-free 65, 6-under, Ogletree is at 12 under and will take a two-shot lead entering Sunday's final round of LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf and Country Club. As for the team, Smash GC and Legion XIII share a four-shot lead over Ogletree's HyFlyers GC, Stinger GC and Torque GC.
Not only is Ogletree seeking his first LIV Golf title and the biggest win of his career, he is also hoping to complete a remarkable story of redemption.
“Complete the journey,” said Ogletree, who joined Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers after earning a spot in this season’s LIV Golf as the 2023 International Series champion.
“It's been a crazy road. I don't know exactly what it's going to mean. We'll see. But for now, just focus on tomorrow, focus on taking care of the things I can control, and we'll move on from there.”
Ogletree, forced to modify his swing this season to compensate for a left wrist injury, can’t afford to look too far ahead: His closest pursuers are two of LIV Golf’s top players.
Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith is hoping to win a LIV Golf title in England for the second consecutive season, after winning last year’s London event at the Centurion Club. Legion XIII star Tyrrell Hatton recently won his first LIV Golf title in Nashville and has been one of the league’s most consistent players since joining.
Smith and Hatton are both at -10 under, but neither looks entirely satisfied with their second-round 66 at -5 under.
Smith appeared to be pulling away from the pack after his eighth birdie of the day left him two up. But an errant drive on the 16th hole followed by a water ball on the island-greened 17th hole produced back-to-back bogeys.
“Probably the most disappointing 5-under I’ve ever had,” said the three-time LIV Golf winner. “I was feeling really good until a couple of slow swings.”
Hatton, like Ogletree, made no bogeys in his round and hit well from tee to green, missing only two greens in regulation. But his putter didn’t warm up until the final 10 holes.
“I played some really nice golf and felt like I was putting into nothing,” he said afterwards. “I didn't feel like there was a hole out there. It took until the 10th hole for a putt to fall.”
Smith and Hatton will play in the final group on Sunday with Ogletree, but there are seven other players within five shots of the leader. They include Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm and Crushers GC's Paul Casey, who are tied for fourth; 2023 individual champion Talor Gooch, tied for sixth with Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen; and Gooch's Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka, tied for eighth with the RangeGoats duo of Matthew Wolff and Peter Uihlein.
It will be a tall order for Ogletree to keep them all at bay, but given the path he has taken to get to this point he is up for the challenge. He is currently 38th in the standings, but a win would move him into the Lock Zone top 24 with just two regular season tournaments remaining.
“I think I'll be nervous, but I'm looking forward to it,” he said. “I'm going to run toward that pressure and embrace it, and I think everyone's going to be nervous coming in. Whatever happens, I'm going to accept it, learn from it, and move on.”
Standings and score count for Saturday's second round:
The top three scores from each team count in the first two rounds, while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.
T1. DEFEAT GC -21 (Gooch 66, Koepka 68, Kokrak 69; Rd. 2 Score: -10)
T1. LEGION XIII -21 (Hatton 66, Surratt 68, Rahm 70; Rd. 2 score: -9)
T3. GC PAIR -17 (Niemann 67, Ortiz 67, Munoz 68; Rd. 2 Score: -11)
T3. GC STING -17 (Oosthuizen 67, Schwartzel 67, Grace 70; Score Td. 2: -9)
T3. GC HYFLYERS RANKING -17 (Ogletree 65, Tringale 70, Mickelson 72; Rd. 2 score: -6)
T6. GC-16 CRUSHERS (DeChambeau 65, Casey 66, Catlin 71; Rd. 2 score: -11)
T6. FIREBALLS GC -16 (Puig 68, Chacarra 70, Garcia 70; Score 2: -5)
T8. GRAZING GOATS GC -15 (Uihlein 67, Wolff 68, Watson 72; Score Rd. 2: -6)
T9. GC KEYS -13 (Bland 68, Samooja 68, Meronk 69; Rd. Score 2: -8)
T9. GC-13 SQUARING MACHINE (Smith 66, Ormsby 71, Herbert 72; Rd. 2 score: -4)
T11. MAJESTIC GC -10 (Poulter 68, Stenson 69, Horsfield 70; Rd. 2 score: -6)
T12. IRON HEADS GC -8 (Vincent 66, Kozuma 69, Na 70; Rd. 2 Score: -8)
T12. 4AXIS GC -8 (Reed 68, Perez 69, Johnson 69; Rd. Score 2: -7)
