Asian Tour merit leader John Catlin of the US will step into the Crushers GC lineup as first alternate replacement for the injured Charles Howell III for LIV Golf Houston. Image courtesy Asian Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
Asian Tour Order of Merit leader John Catlin will replace the injured Charles Howell III in the league-leading Crushers GC lineup for this week’s LIV Golf Houston.
Howell, 44, is out with a tibia injury in his left leg and is currently 19th in the season’s standings. He is expected to return for the next LIV Golf tournament in Nashville from June 21 to 23, livgolf.com said.
The Houston event will also effectively kick off the closing half of the LIV Golf 2024 schedule with a further five tournaments to go before the team and individual season-enders in Dallas and Chicago.
Crushers captain Bryson DeChambeau said he received a text a few days ago from Howell, who apologised for not being able to play at the Golf Club of Houston.
It is the first tournament that Howell will miss since joining LIV Golf for the third event during the inaugural 2022 season.
“He told me it was a little hairline something in his leg, and he said he just couldn’t do it this week, but he’s trying to be ready for Nashville, which is great,” DeChambeau said.
Catlin has recorded wins at the International Series Macau and the Saudi Open with 23 under and 24 under totals respectively besides a T3 at the Malaysian Open.
He leads the Asian Tour points standings by more than 900 points over the next closest full-time Asian Tour player and is second on the International Series behind Carlos Ortiz.
As Ortiz is already an active LIV Golf regular with Torque GC, Catlin was the next player in line to earn a reserve spot. He was a reserve in Miami but did not get to play.
“He’s been playing some amazing golf,” DeChambeau said. “I thought he would be a great fit for the Crushers this week.”
Handy opportunity
“It’s a great opportunity, a chance to move another step up,” said the 33-year-old Catlin. “I’m looking forward to seeing if I can help the team as well.”
Catlin and DeChambeau have known each other for many years, going back to their Northern California roots as junior golfers. Catlin grew up in Sacramento, DeChambeau in Clovis.
“I remember playing with him when he first started changing his clubs to the same length,” Catlin said. “Basically feels like old times.”
Most of Catlin’s 13 professional wins have come in Asia. He won seven times in the region across three different tours between 2016-19. A year later, he won two DP World Tour events, and added another victory in 2021.
After losing his DP card late in 2023, Catlin returned to the Asian Tour, going through qualifying to regain his status. The move quickly got him back on track.
“I’ve gone through some things,” Catlin said. “Didn’t have my best form for a year and a half. Had to figure out why, assess it, and then put in more work.
“Going through that made me a stronger competitor, a stronger golfer. I’m looking forward to continuing that process.”
Final test
Meanwhile, Houston will also be a final systems check for those on the LIV Golf who will play the 124th US Open at Pinehurst next week including past champions DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer.
As the 2024 season eases into its closing phase, the stakes are ever higher on all counts with a good number of players out to seal a place in the top 24 that guarantees a team start for 2025 and the race for the lucrative top placings getting ever tighter.
Joaquin Neimann heads the individual standings by a healthy margin over Rahm while 2023 champions Crushers are still atop the team table though by an ever-narrowing margin.
Points earned at Houston will thus be crucial including for Anirban Lahiri who is currently 29th and out of the comfort zone without a single top five finish so far. With team reshuffles looming he will want to be better placed as the scramble is set to intensify.
Houston will be a good test for newly-crowned Senior PGA champion Richard Bland as well. The 51-year-old is just outside the guaranteed places block and is hoping to hold on to his place for next year at the very least.
“I’ll keep playing LIV Golf for as long as I’m good enough to compete and I can hold my position,” he told the league’s website.
“Whether that’s a few more months to the end of this year or if I can get maybe another two more years out of it, we’ll see. After that, I don’t see a huge amount. But right now, I’m fully focused on LIV and the Cleeks, trying to do well here in Houston.”
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