Asian Tour Book 2024

J on Rahm put a double exclamation point on his outstanding first season with LIV Golf winning the individual titles in the UK and Chicago, and the season-long Individual Championship. Dealing with his wife’s pregnancy complications towards the second half and having missed out in Houston because of a foot injury, the 29-year-old Legion XIII Captain never finished outside the top 10 all season. He finished with 235.17 points individually, reeling in Torque’s Joaquin Niemann. Chile’s Niemann, won two tournaments early in the season, in Mayakoba and Jeddah, shot a 59, in the opening round of Mayakoba, and finished tied second in Chicago, the last regular event of the season, when he needed to be ahead of Rahm. The Torque Captain ended with 219.2 points in second place, with Sergio Garcia from Spain third with 162.49 points. The Team Championship, held for the first time in Dallas, was won by the all- Australian Ripper GC. But it was the ‘Asian’ team of Iron Heads GC that was the toast of the tournament. Placed last at the end of the regular season with just three sixth-place finishes to show, Captain Kevin Na’s team typified the vagaries of match play golf when they beat Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC in the quarter-finals and then took out the top seeds Crushers GC in the semi-finals. They eventually finished third. Rahm, who withdrew from Houston with a foot injury and then from the Team Championship with a serious bout of the ‘flu, said: “I wouldn’t say it was a bumpy road, but definitely windy. “I made the decision to join LIV Golf, fully confident that I can make an impact, and you deal with the emotions of that decision, the impact of the media, good and bad, and then going out to the season trying to win, trying to get a team together, and then get those winning moments. “To keep fighting, keep putting myself in position to win, it was great. There was a before and after between Singapore and Houston when I changed that driver shaft to something that worked a little bit better with my current swing speed and made me not compensate as much. It kind of felt better, a more natural swing and easier for me to hit the fade, and that’s when I saw the big difference. “From Nashville on, my level of golf was a little bit higher and more comfortable. I didn’t feel like I had to try so much. “Amongst all that, the personal situation with Kelley’s issues and the pregnancy, it’s something that wasn’t easy at all.” ASIAN CONNECTION Anirban Lahiri, the only contracted Asian star in LIV Golf, had another solid season and finished 16th. His team, Crushers GC, finished No1 in the season-long Team Standings with three wins, including a memorable one in Jeddah where they came back from 11 shots behind and won by four. The 37-year-old Indian came close to winning his first-ever LIV Golf title in Andalucia, but had the heartbreak of missing a two-footer par putt for a win in regulation play before losing to Garcia in the play-off. “It’s been a very mixed season. I feel quite disappointed that I did not get my first win. Obviously, very proud of how I played at Valderrama, but I should have finished that off,” said Lahiri. “Other than that, if I look at my stats, I’ve played as well as I did last year, but I just haven’t putted nearly as well. I think that’s been one department that has let me down a little bit. “So, the fact that I still finished 16th, is very positive for me. I feel like I underachieved drastically. My level of golf has been good. Otherwise, I would not be 16th in such a difficult league against so many great players.” Standby player John Catlin was another standout performer. The American got the chance by virtue of his performances on the Asian Tour and The International Series events, and he took it with both hands. Catlin from the United States got to play four tournaments as a replacement for Crushers’ Charles Howell III, who was out with a stress fracture, and one instead of Sam Horsfield, for Majesticks GC. He also represented Legion XIII in the Team Championship when Rahm had to pull out. That run included a tied seventh place in Nashville and a fourth place in the Team Championship. After finishing 44th in the season-long standing, Catlin said: “It was an incredible experience to be part of LIV Golf and contribute to the various teams. It has reinforced my motivation to play with this incredible bunch of world-class players next year.” Andy Ogletree, who secured his place in LIV Golf in 2024 by winning The International Series Rankings and the Asian Tour Order of Merit, kept his card by finishing 34th in the Individual Standing. Troubled by a niggling wrist injury for the early part of the season, the American was helped significantly by his tied-third finish in Adelaide. Spanish youngsters David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra, both past winners on the Asian Tour and members of the Garcia-led Fireballs GC, were also safely inside the Open Zone (Rank 25-48). 141