Ogletree prioritises areas that are within his control as he leads LIV Golf UK at JCB

Andy Ogletree intends to focus on aspects within his control following an impressive second round at the JCB Golf & Country Club in England that saw him grab the lead in the $25 million 54-hole LIV Golf UK with 18 holes to play.

The former US Amateur champion shot a bogey-free, six under par 65 for a total score of 12 under-par to lead by two shots from Britain’s Tyrrell Hatton, who has won four Rolex Series titles on the DP World Tour.

Ogletree, 26 years old, plays for the HyFlyers GC captained by Phil Mickelson. He claimed his LIV Golf spot for the 2024 season by winning the 2023 Asian Tour Order of Merit International Series.

After his two 65’s at the JCB Golf & Country Club, Ogletree said “It completes the journey. It's been a crazy road from playing in the first event here to going to the Asian Tour, earning my way back.

“I haven't had the season that I wanted to, but I still had some good finishes and I had some good glimpses. ‘It's just been more so putting 18 holes together.

“I've had 13, 14, 15 good holes in a lot of tournaments, and I've had a few holes holding me back,” he added. “This week I've kept the momentum going and kept the pedal down.

“(The) putter is feeling great, and I'm driving it well around here. I don't know exactly what it would mean. We'll see. But for now (the plan is to) focus on taking care of the things that I can control, and we'll go from there.”

Ogletree won his first tournament as a professional in the 2022 International Series – Qatar and included in that impressive 2023 season on the Asian Tour were wins in the International Series Egypt and the International Series England – with the latter hosted at Close House over the Colt Course.

He took that title by seven shots from Ian Poulter and Dubai-based Anirban Lahiri who was a further shot back.

Ogletree has struggled this season and currently lies 38th in the individual season-long standings, with a tied third in Adelaide his best finish to date. Ogletree has been forced to adjust his swing this season to compensate for an injured left wrist.

A win for Ogletree would move him inside the top 24 Lock Zone with just two regular-season tournaments remaining. Shot of the day was by John Catlin (US), who aced the par 3, 17th hole at 244 yards on the scorecard, downhill to an island green, with a seven iron.

Catlin currently leads the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit International Series and is playing this week as a reserve for the injured Charles Howell III on the Crushers GC.

It’s the seventh ace in LIV Golf history and the fourth this season. On the team side, Smash GC and Legion XIII share a four-shot lead over Ogletree’s HyFlyers GC, Stinger GC and Torque GC.

The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.

Leading Second Round Scores

Teams

Jon Rahm -9