LIV Golf UK Preview: 4Aces GC poised for strong run starting in UK
Team: 4Aces Golf Club
Previous event team finish: T6 at LIV Golf Andalucía
Season-long team standings: 10th
Top finisher from previous event: Patrick Reed, T4
Fun stat: In the final round at Valderrama, Patrick Reed led the field in Greens in Regulation (72.22%, 13 of 18)
Preview
The game plan couldn’t be simpler for 4Aces Golf Club. With only four events remaining before a team champion is crowned, the time is now to make some serious noise.
The team enters LIV Golf UK at No. 10 in the season-long team standings. It is a daunting task, but not impossible. The talent is obviously there, and the team’s history of winning hardware on the LIV Golf League – as a team and individually – is well documented.
To reset, 4Aces GC has spanned the spectrum with its results in 2024. There was the second-place podium finish in Las Vegas at the second event of the year. But that’s the only time the team has seen the podium this season. The most frustrating weeks came at Mayakoba and Adelaide, where the team finished 12th at both at both events.
Middle-of-the-road finishes have been the norm, and while that appeared to be the case at LIV Golf Andalucía two weeks ago, a closer look suggests 4Aces GC have figured something out. The team finished T6 at Valderrama, but the historically difficult layout had plenty of teams posting historically high rounds which resulted in some of the worse finishes in League history. That wasn’t the case for 4Aces GC. The team finished a combined 7-over par, but six teams finished double digits over par. In fact, three teams combined to shoot 20 over par or worse.
Individually, Captain Dustin Johnson is coming off a solid showing at The Open at Troon last week. The two-time major champion entered Sunday T15 and finished T31. Johnson also loves what he’s seen from Patrick Reed of late. Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, finished T4 at Valderrama and had a 4-under 67 on Sunday, which was one of the day’s top scores. Johnson, who is 11th in the season-long individual standings, grinded out a more than solid T17 at Valderrama while teammate Pat Perez put together a gutsy showing that ended with a T27 result. Harold Varner III will need to find a spark after a disappointing T51 in Spain, but he can look back to a T16 in Nashville just two events ago.
The challenge this week at LIV Golf UK will be finding a comfort level at JCB Golf & Country Club. The course is new to the LIV Golf League, but it has a spectacular reputation throughout the golf world, from top professionals to amateurs alike.
JCB Golf & Country Club is in Rocester, United Kingdom, and stretches more than 7,200 yards. It’s considered a modern masterpiece and is sculpted from the picturesque English countryside. The layout is illuminated by island greens, rolling meadows and a rambling stately home, where aristocrats once ruled.
Seemingly every hole is laden with trouble, but the long and snaking 18th might prove to be the toughest test. It’s heavily guarded like a Medieval citadel, and like every other hole on this course, strategy and scrambling will be keys to success.