Late Sunday slip cost Fireballs a podium place in UK
ROCESTER, England – Sundays on LIV Golf can be wild. With all four scores counting, it can lead to a lot of fluctuations in a team’s position on the scoreboard within a short span of time. Fireballs GC, aiming to win their second straight team title at LIV Golf UK by JCB, felt the full impact of that volatility.
Starting the final day at 16-under and in tied 6th place, five shots behind Legion XIII and Smash GC, Fireballs came out hot off the gate and were within striking distance of the Jon Rahm-led team mid-way through the round.
However, David Puig, who was having a stellar round and was 6-under par through 15 holes, made three straight bogeys coming in. Eugenio Chacarra dropped four shots in five holes on his back nine, while Abraham Ancer made a bogey in his penultimate hole.
Those eight shots proved costly for Captain Sergio Garcia’s team as it slipped from second position to tied 5th at 19-under par. In the end, Legion XIII lifted their fourth team trophy of the season by scoring seven shots better than the Fireballs.
Puig, the youngest member of the team, was the star performer, finishing tied 11th at 8-under. And yet, he will rue the finish and a couple of big numbers on the first two days. On Friday, he made a triple bogey seven on the 11th hole, but then showed lots of heart to make four birdies in his next five holes. On Saturday, he started with a double bogey on the 6th hole and a bogey on the par-5 10th, before making six birdies to finish on 3-under par.
The finish slightly improved Puig’s position in the season-long Individual Standing to 28th place with 33.08 points. He is still in the Open Zone, but playing some excellent golf to make a decisive move into the Lock Zone (top-24) in the remaining two regular season events in Greenbrier and Chicago.
Captain Garcia remains the best-placed Fireballs member in the Individual Standings at 4th place. The Valderrama champion is 19 points behind the third-placed Tyrrell Hatton and needs to make a move in the last two tournaments to stake a claim of the Bonus Pool.
Hong Kong champion Ancer started with a brilliant 6-under 65, but Saturday did not go his way, and he struggled to a 1-over 72 with four bogeys. The 6-under par total was good enough for a tied 16th place and the Mexican remained 14th in the Individual Standings.
Fireballs were 6th in the Team Standing with 100.83 points, still in with a shot to finish inside the top-three and gain a bye on the opening day of the Team Championship in Dallas. They will have to win at least one tournament and perform well in the other to go above Ripper, who are currently 3rd with 127 points.
STAT REVIEW
Field ranking in parentheses
Fairways Hit
Puig – 28 (T15)
Ancer – 29 (T10)
Garcia – 29 (T10)
Chacarra – 22 (T49)
Driving Distance Avg.
Puig – 294.1 (10)
Ancer – 279.4 (T39)
Garcia – 276.3 (T48)
Chacarra – 291.1 (21)
Greens in Regulation
Puig – 39 (T14)
Ancer – 36 (T26)
Garcia – 40 (T8)
Chacarra – 34 (T37)
Total Putts
Puig – 85 (T21)
Ancer – 81 (T4)
Garcia – 88 (T35)
Chacarra – 89 (T43)
Total Birdies
Puig – 18 (T2)
Ancer – 15 (T11)
Garcia – 12 (T25)
Chacarra – 8 (T42)