Life could hardly be better for Richard Bland, as he heads to Las Vegas on the back of a hole-in-one in Mexico and another bumper pay check in his pocket as he reflected on "the best decision I ever made" in joining LIV Golf.
Bland has been with LIV Golf since the start in London in the summer of 2022, when he joined aged 49 and having finally won on the DP World Tour at the 478th attempt.
From European journeyman, Bland transformed his life by cashing in on the LIV Golf move and after a T11 finish in the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba last week he's now earned just under $8.5m from 24 events played for Greg Norman's tour.
No wonder Bland was all smiles ahead of LIV Golf Las Vegas, after a hole-in-one last week and with the $370,000 he got for that T11 finish in Mexico just short of what winners of most regular events on the DP World Tour will make this season.
With his lucrative position on Cleeks GC under threat a bit last season, a flying finish that saw him finish no worse than 14th in last five events, including three top10s and a third, ensured he continued his dream twilight career in the Saudi-backed team tour.
"I’m just glad to be still playing on LIV," Bland said ahead of the Las Vegas tournament.
"It’s the best decision I ever made at 49, two and a half years ago when I first joined. I love being on the Cleeks. I’ve been pretty much a Cleek now for most of my time on LIV. I don’t want to be anywhere else. This is where I belong.
"I think this year we've got a great setup with Kalle [Samooja] coming on board and then Adrian. We all know what Adrian [Meronk] can do. He's world class. I think he's going to have a great year, and we've got this guy to my right here. You can't say enough about Martin. His CV speaks for itself.
"I'm just the old man of the group. I'm just trying to sweep up and make the coffee. That's my job this year.
"I'm just excited. I think the Cleeks could be the dark horses this year. I really do. I don't think it's going to be very long before we're in there down the stretch."
🚨ACE ALERT FOR BLANDY🚨 The first ace of the 2024 LIV Golf season 🙌#LIVGolf @Cleeks_GC pic.twitter.com/VsAKwqwEWvFebruary 4, 2024
Bland is also enjoying his time in Las Vegas with his wife - although he got himself into some trouble somewhat in the casinos.
"We're loving Vegas. It's my wife's first time here, so we're going to go see a couple of shows. We're going tonight to see O at the Bellagio and then we're going to go see the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson at Mandalay Bay on Friday.
"She was on the slot machine last night, the big high roller, two-cent slot machine, but she won $120 in one spin. It was my $20 that was in the machine, so I took the money, which kind of didn't go down too well. She did say hello to me this morning, so we are talking again.
"Vegas is great just to see. It's not somewhere that I would -- it's my kind of town, but it's fun, too. There's a lot to do. We're just excited to be here."
