Hatton blitzes to maiden LIV title at Nashville as his Legion XIII win too
England’s Tyrrell Hatton ended a 42-month title wait at LIV Golf Nashville with a dominant closing day performance even as his Legion XIII topped the team event at The Grove.
- Jun 25, 2024,
- Updated Jun 25, 2024 2:21 PM IST
Anirban Lahiri shot two birdies and an eagle in his closing four holes to bring in a top-20 as 2023 team topper Crushers GC took second place behind Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII at LIV Golf Nashville on Sunday. Adding to the Legionnaires booty from Tennessee was Tyrrell Hatton’s first win in over three years which he achieved by a dominant six-shot margin.
Hatton’s closing 65 and 19 under par total for Legion XIII saw him finish comfortably ahead of fellow-Englishman Sam Horsefield of Majesticks GC’s. It was also the biggest of Hatton’s 11 career titles and helped end a drought that had the 32-year-old Englishman wondering if he’d ever return to the winner’s circle. “Having not won for 3-1/2 years, you wonder if you’d be able to do it again in some way,” said Hatton, who was never seriously challenged over the final 18 holes at The Grove course. “It’s a pretty special feeling to win again.
“A three-shot lead isn’t the easiest thing to go out and play with because you know guys are going to be trying to chase you,” he added, having needed a par save on hole 13t to virtually make sure he could not be caught by the pack. “I got off to a nice start and that settled me down.”
Hatton is now the only player this season to have taken points earned by the top 24 finishers in each of the first nine tournaments and has climbed into third place in the season-long points standings behind Joaquin Niemann and his Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm.
Rahm, had no doubt of Hatton’s ability while signing him to LIV Golf as the number two on his new team. And as it turned out, Hatton beat Rahm to the team’s first individual title. “For all those out there who don’t know how good Tyrrell Hatton is, this is sure proof,” said Rahm, who finished in a four-way tie for third.
“I think today just shows how good he can be. Obviously, it’s never easy to win, and to win by six in three rounds is quite impressive.”
The sixth first-time winner this season, Hatton entered the final round with a three-shot lead, and then birdied the third and fourth holes to increase his cushion. At one point, Rahm had closed the gap to two strokes before suffering a double-bogey at the par-4 sixth when he found the water with two different shots, partly disturbed by a hovering drone camera on his backswing. The round of the day came from Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann who signed for a 9-under 62 but was too far back at the start the day, and eventually tied for third alongside Rahm. The team race was tighter even though the Legionnaires held a 10-stroke advantage early on. At one point, their lead was cut to four, but with all four members going under par, they never really opened the door for any chasers, amongst who Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers came closest before settling for second, while Torque shaded the Majesticks for third place.
Legion’s previous titles came at Mayakoba (24 under) and Miami (22 under) on courses that didn’t offer endless scoring opportunities. The Grove, with its wide fairways, was gettable this week, leaving Rahm to wonder if his club could win such a race. They did with a total of 40 under, the second-lowest winning score of the season. The result moved Legion XIII to within nine points of the league-
leading Crushers in the team standings. “I didn't think this was particularly a golf course setup suited for our team,” Rahm said. ‘Not that we can't but … those birdie fest-type events have not been our thing. Of course after I say that, we wind up with a win.”
Of Hatton, he added, “I think it would’ve been nearly impossible to catch him this week. It’s easier to focus on my shortcomings. I had four penalty strokes, one out-of-bounds and three balls in hazards. That’s what I’m going to be focusing on more than anything.”
Final scores
1. Legion XIII -40 (Hatton 65, Rahm 68, Surratt 69, Vincent 70; Rd. 3 score: -12) 2. Crushers GC -35 (Casey 65, DeChambeau 68, Lahiri 69, Catlin 70; Rd. 3 score: -12) 3. Torque GC -34 (Niemann 62, Muñoz 65, Ortiz 69, Pereira 72; Rd. 3 score: -16) 4. Majesticks GC -32 (Horsfield 65, Westwood 66, Poulter 70, Stenson 70; Rd. 3 score: -13) 5. Stinger GC -22 (Oosthuizen 64, Schwartzel 67, Burmester 72, Grace 72; Rd. 3 score: -9) T6. Ripper GC -19 (Jones 68, Leishman 69, Smith 69, Herbert 70; Rd. 3 score: -19) T6. Cleeks GC -19 (Bland 66, Samooja 69, Meronk 70, Kaymer 74; Rd. 3 score: -5) 8. Fireballs GC -16 (Ancer 68, Garcia 68, Chacarra 70, Puig 75; Rd. 3 score: -3) 9. 4Aces GC -15 (Perez 64, Reed 67, Varner III 71, Johnson 75; Rd. 3 score: -7) 10. HyFlyers GC -14 (Tringale 66, Steele 67, Mickelson 71, Ogletree 72; Rd. 3 score: -8) 11. RangeGoats GC -13 (Wolff 67, Pieters 68, Watson 69, Uihlein 73; Rd. 3 score: -7) 12. Smash GC -12 (Koepka 71, Kokrak 71, McDowell 71, Gooch 72; Rd. 3 score: +1) 13. Iron Heads GC -11 (Lee 70, Na 72, Vincent 72, Kozuma 74; Rd. 3 score: +4)
Anirban Lahiri shot two birdies and an eagle in his closing four holes to bring in a top-20 as 2023 team topper Crushers GC took second place behind Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII at LIV Golf Nashville on Sunday. Adding to the Legionnaires booty from Tennessee was Tyrrell Hatton’s first win in over three years which he achieved by a dominant six-shot margin.
Hatton’s closing 65 and 19 under par total for Legion XIII saw him finish comfortably ahead of fellow-Englishman Sam Horsefield of Majesticks GC’s. It was also the biggest of Hatton’s 11 career titles and helped end a drought that had the 32-year-old Englishman wondering if he’d ever return to the winner’s circle. “Having not won for 3-1/2 years, you wonder if you’d be able to do it again in some way,” said Hatton, who was never seriously challenged over the final 18 holes at The Grove course. “It’s a pretty special feeling to win again.
“A three-shot lead isn’t the easiest thing to go out and play with because you know guys are going to be trying to chase you,” he added, having needed a par save on hole 13t to virtually make sure he could not be caught by the pack. “I got off to a nice start and that settled me down.”
Hatton is now the only player this season to have taken points earned by the top 24 finishers in each of the first nine tournaments and has climbed into third place in the season-long points standings behind Joaquin Niemann and his Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm.
Rahm, had no doubt of Hatton’s ability while signing him to LIV Golf as the number two on his new team. And as it turned out, Hatton beat Rahm to the team’s first individual title. “For all those out there who don’t know how good Tyrrell Hatton is, this is sure proof,” said Rahm, who finished in a four-way tie for third.
“I think today just shows how good he can be. Obviously, it’s never easy to win, and to win by six in three rounds is quite impressive.”
The sixth first-time winner this season, Hatton entered the final round with a three-shot lead, and then birdied the third and fourth holes to increase his cushion. At one point, Rahm had closed the gap to two strokes before suffering a double-bogey at the par-4 sixth when he found the water with two different shots, partly disturbed by a hovering drone camera on his backswing. The round of the day came from Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann who signed for a 9-under 62 but was too far back at the start the day, and eventually tied for third alongside Rahm. The team race was tighter even though the Legionnaires held a 10-stroke advantage early on. At one point, their lead was cut to four, but with all four members going under par, they never really opened the door for any chasers, amongst who Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers came closest before settling for second, while Torque shaded the Majesticks for third place.
Legion’s previous titles came at Mayakoba (24 under) and Miami (22 under) on courses that didn’t offer endless scoring opportunities. The Grove, with its wide fairways, was gettable this week, leaving Rahm to wonder if his club could win such a race. They did with a total of 40 under, the second-lowest winning score of the season. The result moved Legion XIII to within nine points of the league-
leading Crushers in the team standings. “I didn't think this was particularly a golf course setup suited for our team,” Rahm said. ‘Not that we can't but … those birdie fest-type events have not been our thing. Of course after I say that, we wind up with a win.”
Of Hatton, he added, “I think it would’ve been nearly impossible to catch him this week. It’s easier to focus on my shortcomings. I had four penalty strokes, one out-of-bounds and three balls in hazards. That’s what I’m going to be focusing on more than anything.”
Final scores
1. Legion XIII -40 (Hatton 65, Rahm 68, Surratt 69, Vincent 70; Rd. 3 score: -12) 2. Crushers GC -35 (Casey 65, DeChambeau 68, Lahiri 69, Catlin 70; Rd. 3 score: -12) 3. Torque GC -34 (Niemann 62, Muñoz 65, Ortiz 69, Pereira 72; Rd. 3 score: -16) 4. Majesticks GC -32 (Horsfield 65, Westwood 66, Poulter 70, Stenson 70; Rd. 3 score: -13) 5. Stinger GC -22 (Oosthuizen 64, Schwartzel 67, Burmester 72, Grace 72; Rd. 3 score: -9) T6. Ripper GC -19 (Jones 68, Leishman 69, Smith 69, Herbert 70; Rd. 3 score: -19) T6. Cleeks GC -19 (Bland 66, Samooja 69, Meronk 70, Kaymer 74; Rd. 3 score: -5) 8. Fireballs GC -16 (Ancer 68, Garcia 68, Chacarra 70, Puig 75; Rd. 3 score: -3) 9. 4Aces GC -15 (Perez 64, Reed 67, Varner III 71, Johnson 75; Rd. 3 score: -7) 10. HyFlyers GC -14 (Tringale 66, Steele 67, Mickelson 71, Ogletree 72; Rd. 3 score: -8) 11. RangeGoats GC -13 (Wolff 67, Pieters 68, Watson 69, Uihlein 73; Rd. 3 score: -7) 12. Smash GC -12 (Koepka 71, Kokrak 71, McDowell 71, Gooch 72; Rd. 3 score: +1) 13. Iron Heads GC -11 (Lee 70, Na 72, Vincent 72, Kozuma 74; Rd. 3 score: +4)