LIV Golf Singapore: Catlin earns Iron Heads spot after league’s first 18-hole shoot-out
American John Catlin gets best of fellow reserves Kalle Samooja, Ollie Schniederjans and Wade Ormsby to earn right to play this week
John Catlin will be join Iron Heads at LIV Golf Singapore this week, after winning an 18 hole shoot-out with the league’s other reserve players on Tuesday.
The American outgunned Kalle Samooja, Ollie Schniederjans and Wade Ormsby at Sentosa Golf Club, shooting a four-under-par 67 on the Serapong Course in LIV’s first elimination event to decide who would stand in for the injured Jinichiro Kozuma.
Kozuma has not played all year and is listed as “out indefinitely”. But a LIV spokesman said Catlin’s win did not mean he was now a full-time member of Kevin Na’s outfit.
After struggling towards the end of last year, Catlin said he “loved having the chance” to earn a spot on the team, but admitted the reserves had “not been ready for LIV to shake things up” in the manner they did.
“I always love it when there’s a chance where you can earn your spot,” Catlin said. “Because then, nobody can take it away from you. It’d be interesting to see if it’s something that continues, if it’s needed. You never know, but I think it’s a cool concept, and hey, I obviously liked it.”
Schniederjans stood in for Japan’s Kozuma in Hong Kong last week and finished in a tie for 42nd, while Iron Heads were tenth in the team standings.