Sacramento’s Catlin feasts on first European golf victory weeks after event expulsion
John Catlin has had a mixed stretch, which is not uncommon in golf.
But this one had an odd bubble twist, a humbling learning lesson and then punctuated with the joy of triumph and perspective.
Weeks after the 29-year-old Jesuit High School graduate was issued an expulsion from the English Championship for violating COVID-19 bubble protocols, Catlin soaked in his first-time status as a European Tour champion.
Despite not having a birdie in his final-round 75 at Valderrama in Spain, Catlin won the Andalucia Masters event by a shot over Martin Kaymer on Sept. 5.
Catlin became the first American since Tiger Woods in 1999 to win at Valderrama, overcoming gusty winds, hard greens and rising emotions. Catlin is a four-time winner on the Asian Tour with eight professional wins around the globe since turning pro in 2013 after golfing and earning academic honors at the University of New Mexico. He has made six starts on the PGA Tour in 2019.
“The nerves were going nuts the whole round,” Catlin told Sky Sports after his victory. “This is a very difficult course. The greens are firm and fast and the wind was no easier today than it had been for the first three rounds.”
He added, “My goal at the start of 2019 was to win on the European Tour, so to have accomplished that is hard to put into words. But I’m massively excited about now being able to play in all the big events on this tour.”
The win earns him a spot in the next British Open, which was canceled this year. It will be played next July at Royal St. George’s.
Catlin also addressed his self-described “bad judgment call” when he left the golf bubble before last month’s English Championship, put in place to help prevent golfers from being exposed to the coronavirus. Catlin and a caddie violated event mandates by dining at a restaurant outside the circuit’s bubble, leading to Catlin’s forced withdrawal.
“I have no real excuse for what happened,” Catlin told Sky Sports. “I should have known better. I had finished a practice round at about 8:45 p.m. And I was staying in a hotel at Stansted Airport, about 45 minutes from Hanbury Manor. I didn’t want to drive back and find that there was no food being served. So I stopped into a restaurant. But I used the whole thing as a wake-up call. To win only a month later is very special.”
Caitlin won amateur championships growing up in Sacramento, earned All-America honors at the University of New Mexico and started his pro run on the PGA Tour in Canada before competing on the Asian Development Tour. He won three times in the 2018 Asian Tour, granting him European Tour status for the 2019 campaign.