Battling Poulter and Stenson produce best finish of the season in Chicago

At Bolingbrook Golf Club, Poulter closed out solo 5th at 6-under total, while Stenson was tied 6th at 5-under. That bettered their previous best of tied 8th, coincidentally recorded at the same tournament in Hong Kong.

With Sam Horsfield tied 34th at 2-over, and Co-Captain Lee Westwood tied 47th, Majesticks tallied 11-under par total and were fourth, just one shot behind Fireballs. It all came down to David Puig and Eugenio Chacarra’s birdies on their 17th and 16th holes respectively, while Majesticks could not convert their chances and finished collectively with 15 straight pars.

It was the best finish for the team in 2024, matching their earlier fourth place in Hong Kong and Nashville, but the hunt for a first podium finish since Boston in 2022 continues as they head to the LIV Team Championship in Dallas next week.

Both Poulter and Stenson were superb in their final rounds. Poulter, playing from the first tee behind the leader group, started with bogies in his first two holes, but knuckled down in difficult conditions to finish on 2-under par 68, while Stenson made four birdies in his bogey-free round of 66.

The finish lifted Poulter to 37th place in the season-long Individual Standings, right behind Stenson on 35th and Westwood on 36th. Horsfield, who was runner-up earlier this season in Nashville, was the best placed Majesticks player at No. 31.

“It was great. Bogey-bogey start, when you are in that second from last group, is not how you want to start. But the first is a long hole and I got out of position on the second,” said Poulter.

“But I hung in real tough after that. Played some really good golf, hit some great shots, and rolled in a few putts. So, it’s a decent finish, which I was looking for all year.”

On missing out on a podium finish for the team by a single shot, Poulter added: “We always want to try and get this monkey off her back. Angus (Gill, part of team management) has been carrying a flag with us every single week, and we’ve even had to upgrade it to a new one because the other one’s got mud all over it!

“It was a good team week, especially, because on paper, this golf course wasn’t the best for us, but we’ve had a good week. So, a lot of positives for us for next week.”

Poulter, a known match play specialist with a number of legendary Ryder Cup performances in his career, added that Majesticks will be pumped up for the Team Championship next week.

“Anything happens, right? It’s match play, foursomes. You can have a few bad holes in that format and it’s all over. Or you can, have a few bad holes and still win. We can obviously move on from this week and you’ve only got to win a couple of matches and you can win the whole thing. That would be a nice way to end the season,” he added.

For Stenson, it was a solid round to end the regular season, in which he has been besieged by one sickness after another, including a second bout of COVID before Miami, the aftereffects of which he is still feeling.

The 2016 Open champion said: “Happy with that round. It was tough out there and making a bogey would have been very easy. But I managed to finish without one and that was one of my most solid rounds of the season.”

STAT REVIEW

Field ranking in parentheses

Ian Poulter (5th) 69-65-68-204

Fairways Hit - 22 (T32)

Driving Distance Avg. - 317.1 (48)

Greens in Regulation - 29 (T45)

Total Putts - 72 (1)

Total Birdies - 14 (T3)

Henrik Stenson (T6th) 68-71-66-205

Fairways Hit - 30 (T4)

Driving Distance Avg. - 327.5 (34)

Greens in Regulation - 34 (35)

Total Putts - 85 (T36)

Total Birdies - 11 (T19)

Sam Horsfield (T34th) 73-69-70-212

Fairways Hit - 27 (T8)

Driving Distance Avg. - 320.9 (44)

Greens in Regulation - 34 (T18)

Total Putts - 89 (T49)

Total Birdies - 7 (T45)

Lee Westwood (T47th) 71-74-70-215

Fairways Hit - 22 (T32)

Driving Distance Avg. - 332.0 (26)

Greens in Regulation - 35 (T9)

Total Putts - 91 (54)

Total Birdies - 5 (T51)