MAJESTICKS GC FALL SHORT OF PODIUM, BUT PLENTY OF POSITIVES IN HONG KONG

Crushers GC moved ahead with a late surge, in the end and Co-Captain Henrik Stenson (69) made two bogeys in his last three holes. Ian Poulter could not convert a couple of birdie chances and parred his way in for 68.

And yet, Majesticks would leave Hong Kong with a lot of positives. Their 11-under par final round, with all four scores counting, was the third-best round of the day. The fourth place, finishing one behind Rippers at 31-under was their best finish dating way back to their third place in Boston in 2022 when they had made a rousing start in LIV Golf with three podiums in first four tournaments.

Their best result in the whole of 2023 was a pair of fifth place at DC and London.

It was also a first top-10 finish of the 2024 season for both Stenson and Poulter (tied eighth at 10-under par), and a second top-20 for Sam Horsfield (tied 19th at 8-under).

They also made the most number of birdies among all teams – 58, which was one more than the Rippers.

But what would have excited Majesticks the most was the massive improvement in how they putted during the week. In Hong Kong, they were the fourth-best team in average putts at 1.61. That compares to 1.67 in Jeddah, which was the worst among the 13 teams. They were 1.66 in Las Vegas and 11th in the stat category.

Ian Poulter – T8th – 66-66-68-200 (10-under)

A past champion of the Hong Kong Open, Poulter showed why he loves the golf course with sub-par rounds each day. The two 66s in the first two days could have been even better, but he started with early bogeys, and then needed to pull it back.

The Englishman wasn’t his usual accurate self from the tees (only 28 fairways hit), but his iron play and wedges were on song as he found 43 of 54 greens in regulation.

The tied 8th place bettered his tied 21st earlier in Vegas and took him to 29th in the Individual Standings with 9.22 points

Henrik Stenson – T8th – 66-65-69-200 (10-under)

Relying on his irons and his three-wood off the tee, Stenson was last in driving distance (265.7 yards) in the field, but the Swede once again proved the saying in golf that you drive for show…

It helped Stenson find 34 fairways, making him the third-best in the field. And the 2016 Open champion putted a lot better than in any previous tournament, completing his three rounds in 83 putts.

Despite the unsavoury ending, he still managed to finish inside the top-10 and moved to No28 in the Individual Standings with 11.08 points.

Sam Horsfield – T19th – 71-66-65-202 (8-under)

The youngest member of the Majesticks bolted off the blocks with birdies in his first two holes, but four bogeys towards the end pushed him back on the leaderboard. On Saturday, he started with a double bogey on the par-5 13th and displayed great resilience after that to make six birdies for a 66. And Sunday’s 65 was smooth sailing as he did not make any bogey.

By finishing inside the top-24, Horsfield managed to add to his points tally and is 34th in the Individual Standings with 4.25 points.

Lee Westwood – T45th – 74-68-67-209 (1-under)

Two-under par through his first 10 holes on Friday, Westwood finished with four bogeys and a double. But the Co-Captain made up for that with solid rounds over the weekend, when he shot a 2-under round, followed by a 3-under in the final round.

STAT REVIEW

Field ranking in parentheses

Fairways Hit

Stenson – 34 (3)

Poulter – 28 (T24)

Horsfield – 21 (T25)

Westwood – 25 (12)

Greens in Regulation

Stenson – 39 (T26)

Poulter – 43 (T6)

Horsfield – 37 (T29)

Westwood – 36 (T36)

Total Putts

Stenson – 83 (T7)

Poulter – 88 (T29)

Horsfield – 89 (T35)

Westwood – 87 (T22)

Total Birdies

Stenson – 16 (T4)

Poulter – 16 (T4)

Horsfield – 14 (T9)

Westwood – 12 (T25)

Driving Distance Avg.

Stenson – 265.7 (54)

Poulter – 287.9 (43)

Horsfield – 291.3 (T36)

Westwood – 278.4 (50)