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LIV Golf Nashville

Hatton wins by 6,

leads Legion XIII to third team title

WRITTEN BY:
LIV GOLF STAFF

JUN 23 2024 - 5 MIN

Majesticks' Westwood Set For Senior Debut At U.S. Senior Open

At age 51 and with 44 wins across 20 different countries in nearly 800 professional starts, there’s not much that Lee Westwood hasn’t experienced in golf. But at this week’s U.S. Senior Open, he’s a newbie again as he makes his first senior start.

“I don’t know what to expect,” the Majesticks GC co-captain said. “I’m a rookie, aren’t I? [I'll be] turning up, seeing what it’s all about.”

Westwood is one of 52 players in the field at Newport Country Club playing their first U.S. Senior Open. Also in the group is Cleeks GC’s Richard Bland, who made his senior debut last month by winning the Senior PGA Championship.

Of course, Westwood would love to emulate the success of his compatriot. Given that he's coming off his best LIV Golf result – a tie for third at LIV Golf Nashville in which he shot rounds of 69-66-66 to finish at 12 under – he’s now trending up after a 2024 season in which he has struggled for results.

“I started to swing well, and my whole game was coming together when I played at LIV Houston three weeks ago,” Westwood said during a Tuesday press conference in Rhode Island. “Then I went home and did a little bit of work on it. I probably haven't been working as hard on my game as I would have liked to, but I put in a bit more work in the week off.

“I went to Nashville and carried on really with that theme, those swing thoughts. Putted well last week. I sharpened my short game up because I've been playing more, and my game is in a really good place. … Played well on the final day, which was good. I haven't been finishing tournaments off, so [to perform well on] the last four holes and finish that tournament off strongly has given me a lot of confidence going into this week.”

Westwood turned 50 in April of last year. He looked into playing some of the senior majors for which he was eligible, but could not fit them into his schedule, which included the 14 tournaments of LIV Golf’s first full league season.

The 11-times Ryder Cup representative is glad it worked out this week, and he hopes moving forward to participate in more.

“The consensus of opinion of everybody that I talked to said it's great to see myself and Richard playing here,” Westwood said. “I think, when you look at the U.S. Open two weeks ago or the Masters or the PGA Championship, people are happy to see Bryson [DeChambeau] or Cam [Smith] or Jon Rahm coming and playing in those big events.

“It's basically getting all the best players together in one tournament to compete against each other, and that's what you want at the highest level. You want all the best players there.”

Westwood added that senior tournaments are especially important for those fans who have made connections with familiar names.

“The Champions Tour for me is important because people have watched myself play and other guys out here play for the last 30, 40 years, and they build relationships with those players and they've seen us grow as players and people,” Westwood said.

“Yes, people want to see the youngsters, the new guys on the block coming through and contending, but they also want to see the guys they've made a bond with over the last 30, 40 years. Because, from what I've seen, watching a bit of the tournament last week, Padraig [Harrington] is still playing some great golf and it's entertaining. At the end of the day, we're in the entertainment industry.

“It's nice that the USGA and PGA of America and the R&A are trying to find a way to get everybody together more often.”

Renewing acquaintances with old rivals is also a benefit. At the U.S. Senior Open, Westwood is paired with Spain’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez and American Jerry Kelly for the first two rounds. Each of his playing partners have won two senior majors and more than 10 senior tournaments.

Meanwhile, he’s run into other people whom he hasn’t seen since his amateur days.

“I recognized some faces, and then they introduced themselves, and I'm like, wow, yeah, it's been 35 years,” Westwood said. “It’s been nice. I’ve enjoyed it.”

COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. – After 3-1/2 years without an individual victory, Tyrrell Hatton proved this week that not only can he win again, he can also dominate. His Legion XIII team, meanwhile, proved it can win a birdiefest.

Hatton romped to victory Sunday at LIV Golf Nashville, shooting a final-round 65 for a six-shot win over Majesticks GC’s Sam Horsfield. That ties for the second largest winning margin in LIV Golf history, and his 19-under total ties for the second lowest score.

It’s also the largest winning margin of the 11 victories in Hatton’s career. More important, it ends a drought that had the 32-year-old Englishman wondering if he’d ever return to the winner’s circle.

“Having not won for 3-1/2 years, you wonder if you’d be able to do it again in some way,” said Hatton, who was never seriously threatened in the final round. “It’s a pretty special feeling to win again.”

His Legion XIII captain, Jon Rahm, had no doubt of Hatton’s ability upon bringing him to LIV Golf as his top running mate on his new expansion team. As it turned out, Hatton beat Rahm to the team’s first individual title.

“For all those out there who don’t know how good Tyrrell Hatton is, this is sure proof,” said Rahm, who finished in a four-way tie for third. “I think today just shows how good he can be. Obviously, it’s never easy to win, and to win by six in three rounds is quite impressive.”

Hatton entered the final round with a three-shot lead, and then birdied the third and fourth holes. Rahm made an early move and at one point closed the gap to two before suffering a double-bogey at the par-4 sixth, when he found the water with two different shots.

The hottest player on the course, Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, shot a 9-under 62 but was too far back at the start of the day, eventually tying for third.

“A three-shot lead isn’t the easiest thing to go out and play with because you know guys are going to be trying to chase you,” said Hatton, whose par save on the 13th hole was the key moment. “I got off to a nice start and that settled me down.”

The team battle was a bit more competitive, even though Legion XIII broke out to a 10-stroke advantage in the early stages. At one point, their lead was whittled to less than four strokes, which with all scores counting, can disappear fast.

But with all four Legion players shooting under par, they never really opened the door for any chasers. The closest competition was for the other two podium spots, with Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC taking second while Torque edged out Majesticks GC for third.

Legion’s previous two victories came at Mayakoba (at 24 under) and Miami (22 under) on two challenging courses that didn’t offer endless scoring opportunities. The Grove course, with its wide fairways, was gettable this week, leaving Rahm to wonder if his club could win such a race. They did with a total of 40 under, the second-lowest winning score of the season. It’s the third win for Legion XIII this season and it moves them within nine points of the league-leading Crushers in the season-long standings.

“I didn't think this was particularly a golf course setup suited for our team,” Rahm said. ‘Not that we can't but … those birdiefest-type events have not been our thing. Of course after I say that, we wind up with a win.”

It helps when you have the individual winner scorching the field.

WATCH FULL HIGHLIGHTS:
Round 3 | LIV Golf Nashville | 2024

TEAM COUNTING SCORES

07/09/2024 14:06:21