Charles Howell takes victory and $4MILLION in LIV Golf’s first event on the season in Mexico

Charles Howell bagged $4 million in the opener of LIV Golf’s 14-event season on Sunday, producing a flawless final-round win at El Camaleon Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico.

The American will also share a separate $3 million team prize with his Crushers GC teammates, after finishing four strokes clear of Peter Uihlein (68).

Howell (63) was just one shot behind co-leaders Uihlein and Talor Gooch heading into Sunday and gave his competitors little chance by driving six of eight birdies over the front nine.

“It’s great that we got the team win,” Howell said in a televised interview after the round. “I’ve played here many times before and had an idea of ​​what to expect going in. But in this place, man, there are double bogeys everywhere, so you never know.”

The day could hardly have gone worse for Gooch, who charged a par 76 of five over par to finish tied for 11th.

Charles Howell pocketed $4 million in the first of LIV Golf’s 14-event season on Sunday

Howell clinched victory with a flawless 63 to beat Peter Uihlein by four shots in Mexico

And there was only bitter disappointment for Uihlein, for whom victory slipped out of reach when he landed in the trees en route to a triple bogey at par-four 12.

When asked what he could have done differently, Uihlein quipped, “He skipped 12.”

‘It’s just a hole that doesn’t fit me right. I don’t like how it looks. But, you know, I’m proud of the way I fought,’ he said. Other than that hole, it was a pretty good day.

South African Branden Grace charged a four-under par 67 to finish third.

The Saudi-backed circuit, whose tagline promises ‘golf, but louder’, produced its usual party atmosphere, but little in the way of competitive drama, as many of the marquee-caliber names it lured away from the PGA Tour they failed to make an impact at the start of the 2023 season.

LIV’s 2023 season began amid ongoing bitterness with the PGA Tour, as Chilean Mito Pereira, who finished third in last year’s PGA Championship, and Colombian Sebastián Muñoz joined LIV earlier this year. month.

Hundreds of miles behind Mayakoba in the PGA Tour Honda Classic, Chris Kirk took home $1.512 million for beating fellow American Eric Cole in a playoff at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Kirk, who shot a par 1-under 69, nearly clinched the win when he made a nearly 19-foot birdie putt at 16, but had to regain his nerve after a bogey at 18 forced a tiebreaker.

“I’m very grateful for everyone who has supported me over the last three or four years, especially,” said Kirk, whose last PGA Tour victory was in 2015.

‘Obviously I was very, very nervous today having not won for so long. Coming down the stretch, I felt good. Obviously, that putt on 16 was huge and he was in a great position on 18, he just took a bad swing at the wrong time.”

Howell celebrates with the trophy after being victorious with the first LIV event of 2023