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By Julio Cesar Valdera Morales
Contributing Sports Writer
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If the story of Jon Rahm winning the LIV Golf season's individual title without having wona single tournament was interesting, but so was the story of the three Majesticks GC co-captains in danger of being relegated.
Ultimately, it fell to Ian Poulter to be the decisive factor in the matter, in the way he least wanted.
Poulter entered the 15th hole of the final round at Indianapolis tied for 36th with a score of 8-under for the tournament, cementing his place in the relegation zone. However, the Englishman surprised everyone by birdieing the final four holes, climbing to a tie for 17th and edging his teammate Henrik Stenson by 0.38 points.
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The Swedish major winner finished the final event of the individual season tied for 22nd, just one stroke behind Poulter. The Englishman rounded out the 48-player field that avoided relegation, while Stenson was the highest-ranked player among those who lost their spot.
The other two team members, Sam Horsfield and Lee Westwood, finished ranked 39th and 46th, respectively. Majesticks GC finished 12th in the team standings, so they will have to play every round at next week's Team Championship.
According to The Telegraph, relegation will be enforced strictly this season, so Stenson and the rest of the relegated players will have to seek their return to LIV Golf through the Asian Tour's International Series or the Promotions Event.
LIV Golf has a history of doing exactly the opposite. Just a year ago, Bubba Watson and Branden Grace were re-signed by their teams after being relegated without any kind of qualification.
Five other players were relegated along with Stinson. They are Andy Ogletree of HyFlyers GC, Mito Pereira of Torque GC, Yubin Jang of IronHeads GC, Frederik Kjettrup of Cleeks GC, and Anthony Kim, who played as a wild card.
It's noteworthy that both Jang and Kjettrup arrived in the league just this year on direct contracts from their teams.
Stenson is one of the most important players in his country's history, and also one of the most important names in European golf during the first two decades of the 21st century. His resume includes 22 professional victories, including six on the PGA Tour and 11 on the DP World Tour, with victory in the 2016 Open Championship being the greatest highlight of his career.
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