The par 3 17th at JCB Golf and Country Club is a visually stunning, and intimidating, hole that plays 60-feet downhill and at 240-yards. To many, it would drive fear into their game but, for John Catlin, he managed to ace it on Saturday!
Once again, Catlin was playing as a replacement for Crushers GC's Charles Howell III, who continues to recover from injury, and at the 17th, Catlin showed what he is capable of, as his approach pitched on the right side of the green and spun in for the seventh hole-in-one in LIV Golf history.
Causing a big reaction up on the tee box, the American high-fived his playing partners Patrick Reed and Ian Poulter, with Poulter also present for Chase Koepka's iconic ace in Adelaide, just last year.
Teeing off at the 12th in the shotgun start format, Catlin had bogeyed his opening hole, with another at 16th putting the 33-year-old two-over for the day and three-over for the tournament... However, it was the 17th where his fortunes would change!
Striking an iron at the treacherous island green, we had already seen the likes of Anthony Kim go close on Saturday and, at the par 3, Catlin's ball landed just over the right hand bunker, with the shot catching one of the slopes and finding its way into the bottom of the cup.
Catlin currently leads the Asian Tour's Order of Merit
As mentioned, it's the seventh ace of LIV Golf's history, with Catlin joining the likes of Matt Wolff and many others to produce a hole-in-one. Unfortunately, for those in attendance, the ace wasn't made at the Party Hole which, had it been, someone would have netted a cool $100,000.
Either way, it didn't matter for Catlin, whose fine form in 2024 continues. Currently, he is coming off a strong week at The Open and, earlier in the week, the 33-year-old revealed that his main goals this season are to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit and lock down a LIV spot for 2025.
Certainly, with golf like we saw at the 17th, he will be in a fine position to do that, with Catlin battling for LIV Golf qualification via the Asian Tour's Order of Merit, as well as also being in with a chance to qualify for LIV Golf via the League itself. Although a substitute, Catlin could finish inside the top 24 of LIV Golf's rankings and, if he were to do that, he would secure a spot in the LIV Golf League for 2025.
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