MAJESTICKS GC HOPE TO DRIVE 'HOME' ADVANTAGE IN MIAMI
Majesticks GC, with Co-Captains Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield, has been called a ‘predominantly English’ team on LIV Golf, but it won’t be wrong to also call it a ‘predominantly Florida’ team as Poulter, Horsfield and Swede Henrik Stenson, the third Co-Captain, have been long-time residents of the Sunshine State.
LIV Golf Miami, being played this week at Trump National Doral, is like a second home event for the Majesticks, and it should be the perfect tournament for the team to carry on the momentum they picked up in Hong Kong.
Majesticks bounced back after a disappointing start to the new season with a fourth-place finish in Hong Kong, with Poulter and Stenson both recording top-10 finishes. The team narrowly missed out on a first podium since midway through the inaugural season as Stenson made two frustrating bogeys in his last three holes when he was also in contention for the individual title.
Horsfield closed with a 65 and was tied 19th at Hong Kong, and there were encouraging signs of Westwood returning to form with his weekend rounds of 68 and 67.
Stenson would be the man to watch out for at the Blue Monster. He ranks sixth in fairway accuracy (62.5%) and T10 in GIR (71.76%) this season, but suffered because of his putting in the first three tournaments. He started the season consistently aggregating more than 30 putts for his rounds despite solid ball-striking weeks. That seems to have changed in Hong Kong, where he averaged 27.67 putts per round and was tied 7th in the field.
“I was disappointed with my finish in Hong Kong, but there were plenty of positives to take into this week in Miami. I worked really hard on my putting…in fact, we worked really hard on our putting as a team. It was a much better week and hopefully, we all can bring a bit of Hong Kong feeling this week at the Trump National Doral,” said Stenson.
Horsfield, who honed his skills living in Florida and was a star player for Florida Gators during his college days, felt the Majesticks would enjoy ‘home’ advantage in Miami.
Speaking before the Hong Kong week, the three-time DP World Tour champion had predicted: “I think the greens here, they’re quite grainy, which should definitely help me, Ian and Henrik. I grew up in Florida and these boys live there. I think we’ve got a good chance this week.”
On the eve of Miami, he added: “I think we have turned a corner as a team. All the hard work that we put in individually, and together, is finally beginning to show.
“We have all shown that we are a very good ball-striking unit, and now that we finally putted much better, we can hopefully build on the momentum. Having played a lot of golf in this part of the world, we are all very familiar with the golf courses and the conditions.”