HUMBLE, Texas (LIV Golf) – Carlos Ortiz won the individual title and Cleeks GC took home the team trophy at LIV Golf Houston, but there was plenty more news, notes and stats from the final round at the Golf Club of Houston.
ORTIZ’S FUTURE PLANS: LIV Golf Houston winner Carlos Ortiz won’t be able to take his winning form into next week’s U.S. Open, as he missed the cut in the final qualifier held two weeks ago in Dallas. But he potentially has a big summer of events.
“I’ve been playing great,” Ortiz said. “It’s a shame I doubled the last hole to miss the qualifier. It hurt a lot. But I think with time, we’re going to get back into the majors because I know that I’m one of the best players in the world right now, and I deserve to be there.”
Ortiz hopes to qualify for the Open Championship, and he is on pace to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris, representing his native Mexico.
GOALS CHANGE FOR CLEEKS: With a tie for second in Singapore and now a win in Houston, Cleeks GC has moved up to seventh in the points standings and is less than 30 points outside of third place, which is the final seed to earn a first-round bye at the Team Championship in Dallas in September.
With five tournaments left in the regular season, Captain Martin Kaymer said the team’s goals will now be adjusted.
“The goal has changed all of a sudden,” Kaymer said. “I would say if you would have asked me three, four weeks ago, is top 5 realistic going into Dallas, I would have said, yes, it’s always realistic, but it’s going to be a very, very difficult path to get there. Singapore we did well (tied for 2nd). This week we did well. Now the goal has changed to try to get to the top three spots because it doesn’t really matter if you finished fourth or 13th. So top 3 is the new goal.
“Now is the time we need to keep pushing. We need to keep working hard because we only have two-and-a-half months left of the year for the LIV events, so we need to keep grinding. We need to make a proper push to give ourselves a good chance to finish in the top 3.”
REED TIES FOR THIRD: Houston-area resident Patrick Reed produced his best result of the LIV Golf season, shooting a final-round 68 to tie for third with David Puig at 13 under. Reed’s previous best result this season was a tie for ninth in Miami.
The 4Aces GC star opened with a bogey on Sunday but closed with a flourish with birdies on three of his final five holes.
12 HEADED TO U.S. OPEN: The LIV Golf players scheduled to compete in the U.S. Open include Dean Burmester, Eugenio Chacarra, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, David Puig, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith.