LIV Golf pro seals dominant victory at International Series England event

LIV Golf's Peter Uihlein triumphed at the International Series England event to register his maiden victory on the Asian Tour.

The American stole the show on Sunday on the Longcross Course at Foxhills, carding an 8-under 63.

It gave the 34-year-old a four-round total of 20-under and saw him finish seven strokes clear of England's Andy Sullivan and Jon Rahm's LIV teammate Caleb Surratt.

Sullivan shot a 66 while American Surratt carded a 68.

Sampson Zheng (66), Sadom Kaewkanjana (67), and Harold Varner III (70) from the United States, tied for fourth, one stroke further back.

Uihlein smashed the course record with a 61 to take the lead at the halfway mark and began the final day with a one-shot advantage over Varner.

By the turn Uihlein had a one-shot lead over Surratt. 

Uihlein then proceeded to eagle the par-4 10th to move three ahead, putting some daylight between him and the chasing pack.

A birdie on the 12th saw him maintain his three-shot lead after Surratt had birdied the same hole.

Uihlein then survived a couple of shaky holes, holing a crucial par putt from seven feet on the par-four 13th. 

On the ensuing hole, a par-5, he found the trees on the right with his tee shot but played a miraculous recovery shot. 

His ball found a bad lie, entangled in tree branches, but he was able to chip back into the fairway and hit his third to 12 feet, which he just missed for birdie.

On the treacherous par-three 16th, where a tough pin position on the right brought a greenside lake dangerously into play, he holed a 15-footer for birdie to virtually wrap up the title. 

It meant he had a four-shot lead from Surratt, which became five when Surratt made bogey on 17. 

It was then six when Uihlein holed a 12-footer for birdie on 17, and a magnificent seven when he birdied the par-five 18th.

Uihlein said: "Bit of a dream, really.

"I mean, I was two over par through eight holes on the first day. I tripled 17, and it was a bit of a grind that day, and then the next day I just kind of blitzed it, and yesterday kind of survived. 

"And today I kind of had some things going my way, no doubt about it. 

"So just kind of one of those days where things were going my way, and I took advantage of it. So, I’m happy to be here."

This is only Uihlein's fourth win since turning professional in 2013. 

He has won once before on the DP World Tour, and twice on the Korn Ferry Tour while on the LIV Golf League he has come close to winning on multiple occasions having finished second four times.

He earned a cheque for US$360,000 and moves into third on The International Series Rankings, which is still being led by American John Catlin.

Uihlein added: "I loved it. You were allowed to try different things [on the course]. You could play it different ways. 

"I obviously was very aggressive and tried to kind of drive to a lot of greens, and, you know, it paid off. 

"There are obviously other ways guys probably played it, but I liked the strategy we had. I like the game plan we were doing, and I had fun doing it. 

"So that's part of this, part of the equation."

Both Sullivan and Surratt, playing together, missed makeable birdie putts on the last to snatch second place outright.

Sullivan said: "I loved it, it was great. I really enjoyed myself, I'm not gonna lie. Being competitive at golf and obviously seeing a load of lads that I haven’t seen for a while, obviously, because we don't play with the Asian Tour as much anymore, and the LIV guys as well. 

"So, it's good to see friends that I haven't seen for a while and catch up with them, and obviously to play good golf, it's great."

Surratt was equally as happy with the week but disappointed not to have secured his first win since turning professional in January.

"It's tough because I felt like I was in contention all day, but Peter ran away with it and that’s hard to beat," he said.

"This is a great learning experience for me, and I am looking to improve my game. It’s a really good week to be build off.

"I have been working really hard on a lot of things and it’s nice to have things pay off. 

"It's been a year when I have kind of been waiting on a breakthrough. I have had a couple of close calls, but I know that week is coming eventually."

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