Staff WriterIt’s been a rollercoaster season for John Catlin, but the American is far from done. The six-time Asian Tour champion is mounting a late charge at the Moutai Singapore Open, chasing vital ranking points that could yet earn him a golden ticket into next season’s LIV Golf lineup.
After last week’s announcement that two players will qualify directly for LIV Golf from The International Series standings — with another two spots available via the LIV Golf Promotions event in January — the stakes could hardly be higher. For Catlin, currently 79th in the rankings with 25.39 points, this week might just be make-or-break.
But when the pressure’s on, he tends to show up. A superb six-under-par second-round 66 vaulted Catlin into a share of second place on ten-under, just two shots behind South Korea’s Soomin Lee heading into the weekend.
It’s the kind of form that could catapult him back into contention — both for the Promotions event and potentially the PIF Saudi International season finale, where an elite field will compete for the year’s last big prize.
“Pretty solid. I am definitely playing better, you know, the misses are better,” said Catlin after his round. “I did not get as much out of my game as I would have liked, but yeah, I felt like my misses are very playable. And, you know, I kept that going this week, and I got only two bogeys for 36 holes, so yeah, it is nice to see the hard work paying off.”
The American’s assessment was as steady as his play. “I felt like my good rounds have been good, but my bad ones have been costing me. And, you know, last week in Hong Kong, it was the same, I felt like my misses were very playable. I drained a long one for eagle on four, it’s always nice, but it’s just a solid bogey-free round of golf, it’s nice to play some good golf.”
John Catlin knows what it takes to perform when it matters. His 2024 campaign featured some electric golf — none more so than his play-off triumph at International Series Macau presented by Wynn, followed by two agonising play-off defeats in Morocco and at the Black Mountain Championship.
Those near-misses helped him clinch the PIF Saudi Open shortly after and ultimately the Asian Tour Order of Merit title, confirming his place among the circuit’s elite.
He even made his mark as a LIV Golf alternate, stepping into the League spotlight several times last season. Though he narrowly missed a full-time spot after finishing fourth in the Rankings — behind Joaquin Niemann, Peter Uihlein, and Ben Campbell — his consistency was impossible to ignore.
Now, as the 2025 season builds to a dramatic close, John Catlin is once again right where he likes to be — in the fight. With 180 ranking points on offer to the winner in Singapore and 110 to the runner-up, a strong weekend could change everything.
If Catlin’s history tells us anything, it’s that he thrives when the odds are long and the heat is on. And as Singapore’s sun beats down on Sentosa, there’s no one better equipped to handle the burn.
