ROCESTER, England – HyFlyers GC’s Andy Ogletree has a two-shot lead entering Sunday at LIV Golf UK by JCB while the team leaderboard is tight. Here are some news and notes from Round 2 at JCB Golf & Country Club.

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CATLIN’S HOLE-IN-ONE: The John Catlin story continues to get better and better. On Saturday, the Crushers GC reserve player holed his tee shot at the island-green 17th for his second career hole-in-one in competition play. It’s the seventh ace in LIV Golf history and the fourth this season.

The 33-year-old American intended to land his 7-iron at 191 yards and let it feed down from the right-hand side of the green. The ball did everything Catlin wanted it to do, taking a sharp turn right and tracked into the cup.

Catlin threw his arms up in the air as the ball disappeared and the packed grandstand behind him broke into wild celebration while the other members of his group, Ian Poulter and Patrick Reed, offered congratulations.

“This was special. It was pretty cool, especially having that big, grandstand behind us and everyone going nuts. I went nuts as well,” said Catlin, who is playing his fourth tournament for the injured Charles Howell III.

Catlin, who finished the day at even-par 71 and is tied 42nd at 1 over, then went on to make a birdie on the 9th hole, which he seemed to enjoy as much as his ace.

“With all those guys out there in the stands, I enjoyed that one too. It kind of egged them on. And that’s what we are trying to do …entertain the fans,” said the current International Series points leader.

The only regret Catlin had was that the ace did not come on the Party Hole, the 14th, which would have one lucky LIV X member a whopping sum of $100,000. “You never know. Hopefully, that happens tomorrow,” he said.

LEISHMAN WD WITH APPENDICITIS: Ripper GC’s Marc Leishman withdrew prior to Saturday’s second round after suffering appendicitis the previous evening. Reserve player Wade Ormsby is filling his spot for the final two rounds. 

Leishman, who started with a solid 2-under 69 in Friday’s opening round, had to be rushed to the hospital later that night and eventually required surgery to remove his appendix.

In an Instagram post on Saturday morning from the hospital, Leishman said: “Disappointed to have to WD this week but health always comes first. I came to England with an appendix and will leave without it! Appendicitis is no joke.”

Ripper Captain Cam Smith said he hopes Leishman can recover in time for the next LIV Golf event in Greenbrier.  

“It was a massive shock, really,” Smith said. “I played with him yesterday. He mentioned something to me early in the morning at breakfast that he might have just had a bit of a belly ache from dinner the night before, and that was kind of the last I heard of it. He played well. He struck it well, putted well, did everything good. Didn’t complain once.

“It goes to show how tough he is, really. Then after the round just the doctor here told him that he had to go to the hospital, and it was kind of a bit of a shock for everyone because he’d played so well.”

Ormsby, making his third appearance at a LIV Golf tournament this season, shot an even-par 71 to contribute to the Rippers’ score.

HATTON’S CURRENT FORM: In his previous two LIV Golf starts, Tyrrell Hatton won in Nashville and finished third in Andalucía. But last week he missed the cut at The Open at Royal Troon, and then he “scuffed it all over the place” during his practice session and pro-am round earlier this week.

Now he’s followed with two consecutive 5-under 66s to move him into contention for a second LIV Golf title.

“I played nicely in Nashville and at Valderrama, but sadly, just didn’t really have a good week last week, and that was frustrating,” said Hatton, currently fourth in the season-long points standings.

“Coming into this week, I still felt like I was struggling. Just from some videos that I saw on Tuesday at The Open, I just was trying to fight something that maybe I didn’t really need to fight and just let the club kind of go where it wanted to go, because that’s what I had done in Nashville and Valderrama, and it worked pretty well.”

SHAKING OFF THE PLAYOFF LOSSES: Crushers GC’s Paul Casey has been involved in two playoffs in 2024. The first one was in March in the three-man individual playoff in Hong Kong won by Abraham Ancer. The last one came in LIV Golf’s previous tournament in Andalucía, when he and Crushers Captain Bryson DeChambeau lost the team playoff to the Fireballs duo of Abraham Ancer and David Puig.

Casey starts Sunday’s round two shots off the lead held by Andy Ogletree, and the Crushers are just five shots off the team lead. The Englishman refuses to allow the disappointment of those playoff losses to linger.

“That’s golf. That’s sport,” Casey said. “That’s what makes it exciting. That’s why people tune in. That’s why they watch. They want to see drama and action, and there’s plenty of it. It’s just sometimes you’re on the other side of it, and it stings, and it hurts, but you move on.”

ROUND 2 STATS LEADERS

Driving accuracy: Louis Oosthuizen, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Anthony Kim, 329.0 yards avg.
Longest drive: Anthony Kim, 355.8 yards, 10th hole
Greens in regulation: Tyrrell Hatton, Scott Vincent, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Bryson DeChambeau (5 of 5), Louis Oosthuizen (5 of 5), Andy Ogletree (4 of 4), Tyrrell Hatton (2 of 2), 100%
Putting: Adrian Meronk, 1.33 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Andy Ogletree (65), Bryson DeChambeau (65), Tyrrell Hatton (66), Louis Oosthuizen (67)