By Rahul Banerji
It was in every way the dream start to LIV Golf League 2024 at Mayakoba last week, newbies Legion XIII winning the team event in debut, Joaquin Neimann ending his long wat for his maiden individual title and a drama-filled, dark finish.
Leg two at Las Vegas therefore faces a high bar already, even before a ball has been struck in the second leg at the par-70, 7,089-yard Las Vegas Country Club in Nevada.
Starting Thursday, the enhanced field of 54 that includes the expanded 13 teams and two wild cards will be vying for a total $25 million purse, $20 million in the individual competition with a winner’s cheque of $4 million and $5 million up for grabs in the team event.
Legion XIII’s impressive debut in Mexico lost a little bit of lustre with their captain Jon Rahm just missing out on the playoff that had involved Neimann and Sergio Garcia at El Camaleon.
But the burly Spaniard, the reigning Masters champion, will take plenty of positives away from the season-opener.
Late setback
With cards of 5 under 66, 4 under 67 and 1 under 70 that had just six dropped shots in all. Crucially, two of those bogies came on the 53rd and 54th holes and dropped him out of contention and into tied third alongside South Africa’s Dean Burmester.
Other strong performances came from Rahm’s team-mate and fellow debutant Tyrell Hatton, 2022 individual champion Dustin Johnson, five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and Anirban Lahiri’s Crushers team-mate and Mayakoba 2023 winner Charles Howell III.
Lahiri himself overcame rounds of level par 71 and 2 over 73 to finish with a flying 4 under 67 on Sunday that helped the 2023 team champions into second place on the Mayakoba podium.
But the most striking display possibly was from LIV Golf League debutant Caleb Surrat of Legion XIII who was making his professional debut at age 19 and straight out of his dorm room at the University of Tennessee.
Arriving in Mexico just a few short days ahead of the season-opener, Surrat carded a 71, 60 and 67 over the 54 holes of play and played a good part in his team’s debut-making victory.
In doing so, the rookie has already marked himself out as one to watch closely as the season develops.
Super Bowl venue
Interestingly, not only is this LIV Golf League’s first visit to Las Vegas as a venue and the 19th host city worldwide, the February 8 to 10 leg also coincides with the lead-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium.
The football season-topper is amongst the most-watched sports events in the US and Las Vegas is expected to be packed to the rafters with adrenalin-fuelled punters.
Amongst other sidelights, the Las Vegas Country Club is Sin City’s longest-standing country club.
Then there is the fact that local resident Kevin Na, captain of Iron Heads GC, has won two professional events in Las Vegas while Crushers captain Bryson DeChambeau has one win in the area
“It’s going to be a special event,” DeChambeau noted referring to the near-overlap between the golf and the Super Bowl. “There’s going to be a lot of buzz around the city. It’s going to be a fun-filled event. It’s going to be electric.”
“I think it’s going to be fantastic,” added 4Aces captain Dustin Johnson. “It’s the week of the Super Bowl. Vegas is going to be buzzing.”
The Las Vegas tournament will be live on LIV Golf Plus and in India, on the Fan Code OTT platform.
Also read: Niemann takes Mayakoba title in a dramatic playoff over Garcia
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