ROCESTER: Two years ago, American Andy Ogletree was part of the first LIV golf starter in London. Things didn't go well. He struggled with lingering hip and back injuries from the previous year, finished in last place and had to fight for playing opportunities.
This week, Ogletree is back playing in a LIV golf event in England, once again recovering from injury, but this time his position on the leaderboard is significantly different.
Ogletree shot a bogey-free 65 to sit at 12 under par and will enter Sunday's final round of LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf and Country Club with a two-shot lead. On the team side, 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 also hopes to complete an amazing story of redemption.
“Finish the journey,” said Ogletree, who joined Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers after securing a spot at LIV Golf as 2023 International Series champion this season.
“It's been a crazy road. I don't know exactly what it's going to mean. We'll see. But for now, I'm just going to focus on tomorrow, take care of the things I can control, and then we'll see.”
Ogletree, who has had to adjust his swing this season to compensate for a left wrist injury, cannot afford to look too far ahead – his closest rivals are two of LIV Golf's top players.
Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith is hoping to claim a second consecutive LIV Golf title in England after winning the London event at the Centurion Club last year. Legion XIII star Tyrrell Hatton recently won his first LIV Golf title in Nashville and has been one of the league's most consistent performers since joining.
Smith and Hatton are both at 10 under par, but neither seemed entirely satisfied with their second-round score of 5 under par and 66 strokes.
Smith looked to be pulling away from the rest after his eighth birdie of the day took a two-shot lead, but a miss on the 16th hole followed by a water ball on the island green of the 17th hole led to back-to-back bogeys.
“Probably the most disappointing 5-under-par I've ever had,” said the three-time LIV Golf winner. “I was feeling really good until I hit a couple of loose shots.”
Like Ogletree, Hatton was bogey-free on his round and hit well from tee to green, missing only two greens in regulation time, but his putter didn't really come into its own until his final 10 holes.
“I played really good golf and just felt like I was putting into nothing,” he said afterwards. “I didn't feel like there was really a hole out there. It wasn't until the 10th hole that I made a putt.”
Smith and Hatton will play in the final group with Ogletree on Sunday, but there are seven other players within five strokes of the leaders. They include Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm and Crushers GC's Paul Casey, who share fourth place; 2023 individual champion Talor Gooch, who shares sixth place with Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen; and Gooch's Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka, who shares eighth place with RangeGoats duo 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 traveled to get to this point, he is up for the challenge. He is currently ranked 38th in the points standings, but a win would put him in the top 24 lock zone with just two regular season tournaments remaining.
“I think I'll be nervous, but I'm excited,” he said. “I'm going to run into that pressure and embrace it, and I think everyone's going to be nervous in the home stretch. Whatever happens, I'm going to accept it, learn from it and move on.”
Table standings and points standings of the second round on Saturday:
Each team's top three scores count in the first two rounds, while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest overall score after three rounds wins the team title.
T1. SMASH GC -21 (Gooch 66, Koepka 68, Kokrak 69; Result round 2: -10)
T1. Legion XIII -21 (Hatton 66, Surratt 68, Rahm 70; Round 2 result: -9)
T3. TORQUE GC -17 (Niemann 67, Ortiz 67, Munoz 68; Result round 2: -11)
T3. STINGER GC-17 (Oosthuizen 67, Schwartzel 67, Grace 70; Rd. 2 Score: -9)
T3. HYFLYERS GC-17 (Ogletree 65, Tringale 70, Mickelson 72; Round 2 result: -6)
T6. BREAKER GC -16 (DeChambeau 65, Casey 66, Catlin 71; Round 2 result: -11)
T6. FIREBALLS GC -16 (Puig 68, Chacarra 70, Garcia 70; Rd. 2 Score: -5)
T8. RANGEGOATS GC -15 (Uihlein 67, Wolff 68, Watson 72; Result round 2: -6)
T9. CLEEKS GC -13 (Bland 68, Samooja 68, Meronk 69; Result Round 2: -8)
T9. RIPPER GC -13 (Smith 66, Ormsby 71, Herbert 72; Round 2 result: -4)
T11. MAJESTICKS GC -10 (Poulter 68, Stenson 69, Horsfield 70; Round 2 result: -6)
T12. IRON HEAD GC -8 (Vincent 66, Kozuma 69, Na 70; Round 2 result: -8)
T12. 4ACES GC -8 (Reed 68, Perez 69, Johnson 69; Round 2 result: -7)
