Day two leader Tyrrel Hatton of Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII in action at The Grove near Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday. Image courtesy livgolf.com.
From a Correspondent
College Grove, Tennessee: After a frustrating early string of nine consecutive pars, Tyrrell Hatton found another gear down the stretch in Saturday’s second round of LIV Golf Nashville.
As a result, the Legion XIII star is 18 holes away from his first individual title since joining LIV Golf.
But first, he’ll have to hold off his closest pursuers, including a reserve player seeking a storybook result, and a couple of two-time major winners – including last week’s US Open champion.
Hatton birdied six of his final seven holes at The Grove en route to a bogey-free 7-under 64. His two-day total of 13 under leaves him three strokes ahead of Crushers GC’s John Catlin, the replacement for the injured Charles Howell III.
Their captains – the Crushers’ Bryson DeChambeau and Legion XIII’s Jon Rahm, two of LIV Golf’s biggest stars – are another stroke back, tied for third at 9 under.
With Legion XIII leading the team competition by five strokes over the Crushers, plenty of hardware is up for grabs among the top four players.
“I’ll probably be a little bit nervous tomorrow, but I’d say that’s a good thing,” said Hatton, whose last professional title was in 2021. “Obviously if you’re nervous about something, you genuinely care about it.”
Anirban Lahiri put behind Friday’s bumpy first round to fire five birdies against a double bogey on Saturday and climb into the top 20 on the individual leaderboard.
The Indi star’s 3 under par on the day and 4 under overall also counted towards the Crushers score that sees them in second place behind the Legionnaires.
Lahiri will be keen to keep pushing upwards and into the safety of the top 24 at season’s end that guarantees a team slot for the 2025 season,
Massed ranks
The individual leaderboard was packed for the first half of Saturday; at one point, more than 30 players were within four shots of the lead.
But then Hatton went on a birdie binge that included a chip-in at the par-3 13th, followed by a 30-foot putt on the 14th.
“Around this golf course, if you hit the ball good, you’re going to have a lot of opportunities for birdie,” said Hatton, who joined LIV Golf in the offseason to play for Rahm’s expansion team.
“You don’t want to be making too many pars. It was kind of OK in the end, but I guess tomorrow I wouldn’t want to be stringing 10 pars in a row, obviously, when you’re being chased.”
Catlin shot a second consecutive 66, playing his final nine holes in a bogey-free 4 under. Having competed on multiple tours across the globe and with 13 professional wins, Catlin welcomes the opportunity to write his own Cinderella story this week.
No reserve player has ever finished inside the top five of a LIV Golf tournament.
Fsmiliar territory
“I’ve been here before and I can honestly say I’ve won before, and I can do it again,” he said. “I’m going to go out and control what I can control, and we’ll see what happens.”
DeChambeau has battled fatigue in the whirlwind aftermath of last Sunday’s tense victory at Pinehurst.
He bogeyed two of his first three holes on Saturday but avoided further trouble, finishing with four birdies in his last seven holes as he fed off the energy of the sold-out crowd.
“I’m proud of the way that I’ve managed my energy, although I have close to zero right now,” DeChambeau said. “… All I want is a shot on the back nine, and that back nine is gettable. Hopefully, I can get the job done tomorrow.”
Entering this week, Rahm was unsure how competitive he would be after withdrawing during the second round of LIV Golf Houston with a foot infection that forced him to miss the US Open.
After an opening 70, he produced the lowest score of the second round, an 8 under 63 that included nine birdies. That ties for his lowest round relative to par in LIV Golf.
“I needed a round like that to get close to the lead,” Rahm said. “Obviously, Tyrrell finished fantastic. Still a little bit of work to do tomorrow.”
Power-pack
Rahm also knows what it’s like dealing with a post-major winning hangover, having done it twice in his career. He’s impressed that DeChambeau has managed to stay competitive this week at Nashville.
“Bryson seems to be a guy that naturally has a lot of energy,” said Rahm. “I would never question him being able to perform. But I think it becomes more a mental thing.
“Can you focus on still playing good golf even though you’ve accomplished something incredible? I think he’s in good enough shape physically that he can handle it. It’s just being able to do it mentally,”
DeChambeau acknowledges that he’s running on empty but said being in a position to win his first LIV Golf individual title of the season should provide plenty of juice for the final round.
“I think being in contention will help give me that adrenaline spike,” he said. “I don’t know how much adrenaline I have, but what I have will be used tomorrow.”
Hatton, Catlin and DeChambeau will play in the leaders’ group off the first tee.
Rahm lines up with Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith and Torque GC’s Carlos Ortiz – the winner two weeks ago at LIV Golf Houston – in the earlier group that starts off the first tee. Smith and Ortiz are tied for fifth at 8 under. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Round 2 counting scores
1. Legion XIII -28 (Rahm 63, Hatton 64, Vincent 66; Rd. 2 score: -20)
2. Crushers GC -23 (Catlin 66, DeChambeau 66, Lahiri 68; Rd. 2 score: -13)
3. Majesticks GC -19 (Westwood 66, Poulter 67, Horsfield 68; Rd. 2 score: -12)
4. Torque GC -18 (Ortiz 66, Niemann 69, Pereira 69; Rd. 2 score: -9)
5. Iron Heads GC -15 (Kozuma 67, Na 67, Vincent 67; Rd. 2 score: -12)
6. Cleeks GC -14 (Meronk 66, Bland 67, Kaymer 70; Rd. 2 score: -10)
T7. Smash GC -13 (Kokrak 65, McDowell 68, Gooch 69; Rd. 2 score: -11)
T7. Stinger GC -13 (Burmester 66, Grace 68, Oosthuizen 70; Rd. 2 score: -9)
T7. Fireballs GC -13 (Chacarra 70, Garcia 71, Puig 73; Rd. 2 score: +1)
10. Ripper GC -11 (Smith 65, Leishman 69, Jones 72; Rd. 2 score: -7)
11. 4Aces GC -8 (Varner III 64, Perez 69, Reed 70; Rd. 2 score: -10)
T12. RangeGoats GC -6 (Wolff 67, Pieters 68, Watson 71; Rd. 2 score: -7)
T12. HyFlyers GC -6 (Steele 67, Mickelson 70, Tringale 70; Rd. 2 score: -6)
Round 2 stats pack
Driving accuracy: Branden Grace, Phil Mickelson, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Dean Burmester, 345.4 yards avg.
Longest drive: Dean Burmester, 373.4 yards, 18th hole
Greens in regulation: Jon Rahm, 94.44% (17 of 18 greens)
Putting: Richard Bland, Martin Kaymer, Matthew Wolff, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell, 1.39 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Tyrrell Hatton (65), Jason Kokrak (65), Adrian Meronk (66), Ian Poulter (67), Henrik Stenson (68), Lee Westwood (69)
Also read: Ancer, Fireballs GC hold the early lead at LIV Golf Nashville
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.