In an electrifying showdown at LIV Golf Adelaide, Ripper GC, the all-Australian team led by Cameron Smith, triumphed over Stinger GC in the first team playoff in LIV Golf history.
This historic moment took place after 2-1/2 seasons and 28 tournaments, culminating in a dramatic victory at The Grange Golf Course in Adelaide.
With more than 90,000 fans in attendance over the three rounds, the Rippers delivered a performance to remember, capturing the hearts of the entire country.
Smith and his teammates Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, and Lucas Herbert celebrated the victory draped in the Australian flag, an emotional moment for the all-Australian team.
“This is unreal,” Smith said as he stood on the 18th green. “It’s a dream come true for us.”
Meanwhile, individual honours went to Brendan Steele of HyFlyers GC, who claimed his first LIV Golf League title with a one-shot lead over Stinger captain Louis Oosthuizen.
Steele’s victory was his first since 2017 and the 11th of his professional career.
He described the win as “really surreal,” adding, “I can’t say enough good things about the fans and the golf course and the whole experience this week.”
Steele entered the final round with a one-stroke lead and produced a string of five consecutive birdies on Sunday to maintain his edge.
Despite a hard charge from Oosthuizen, who shot a 7-under 65, Steele held on to claim the title.
Five players tied for third, two strokes back: HyFlyers teammate Andy Ogletree (65), Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm (64), Stingers duo Charl Schwartzel (64) and Dean Burmester (67), and Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann (66).
The team playoff between the Rippers and Stingers added another layer of excitement to the event.
With both teams tied at 53 under for the week, a record-low counting score in LIV Golf history, the playoff drama unfolded on the 18th hole.
Despite a challenging start, the Rippers managed to save par while the Stinger duo missed their birdie putts, leading to the second playoff hole where the Rippers ultimately sealed the victory.
Leishman, acknowledging the team’s struggle on the first playoff hole, remarked, “How we got out of that, I don’t really know. We were done and dusted by the looks of it.”
The victory for the Rippers was a storybook ending to an already spectacular event, with the crowd in Adelaide fully behind their home team.
The celebration on the podium included the traditional Australian shoey, marking a joyous conclusion to the first team playoff in LIV Golf history.
As Smith summed it up, “Last year I said, I’m biased, this is the best tournament I’ve ever played. I think this year it’s done it again.”
TEAM COUNTING SCORES
Standings and counting scores for Sunday’s final round of the team competition at LIV Golf Adelaide. The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title. (* – won in playoff)
1*. RIPPER GC -53 (Herbert 65, Leishman 65, Jones 68, Smith 70; Rd. 3 score -20)
2. STINGER GC -53 (Schwartzel 64, Oosthuizen 65, Burmester 67, Grace 68; Rd. 3 score -24)
3. HYFLYERS GC -48 (Ogletree 65, Steele 68, Mickelson 70, Tringale 71; Rd. 3 score -14)
4. TORQUE GC -46 (Niemann 66, Muñoz 69, Pereira 69, Ortiz 73; Rd. 3 score -11)
5. LEGION XIII -42 (Rahm 64, Hatton 67, Surratt 68, Vincent 70; Rd. 3 score -19)
6. IRON HEADS GC -41 (Kozuma 68, Na 69, Lee 71, Vincent 73; Rd. 3 score -7)
T7. CLEEKS GC -40 (Kaymer 64, Meronk 66, Bland 69, Samooja 69; Rd. 3 score -20)
T7. CRUSHERS GC -40 (Lahiri 67, Casey 68, DeChambeau 70, Howell III 71; Rd. 3 score -12)
9. RANGEGOATS GC -38 (Pieters 67, Wolff 69, Uihlein 71, Watson 71; Rd. 3 score -10)
10. FIREBALLS GC -35 (Ancer 64, Garcia 66, Chacarra 67, Puig 69; Rd. 3 score -22)
11. SMASH GC -31 (Koepka 66, Kokrak 69, Gooch 70, McDowell 71; Rd. 3 score -12)
12. 4ACES GC -30 (Perez 68, Johnson 69, Reed 72, Varner III 72; Rd. 3 score -7)
13. MAJESTICKS GC -11 (Westwood 69, Horsfield 71, Stenson 71, Poulter 74; Rd. 3 score -3)
TEAM EFFORT FOR RIPPERS:
Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith certainly is the most decorated player on the all-Australian team, with the 2022 Open Championship and three LIV Golf individual tournament victories on his resume.
But in Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf Adelaide, it was his three teammates who did the heavy lifting early to put the Rippers in position to win.
Marc Leishman shot a bogey-free 65 and was 6 under through his first 11 holes.
Matt Jones also was bogey-free on the day and was 4 under through his first 10 holes en route to a 68.
Lucas Herbert, playing with Leishman on Sunday, shot 65 with seven birdies and one eagle.
Meanwhile, Smith was 1 over in his first six holes before finding his rhythm in the middle of his round, eventually shooting a 2-under 70.
He eventually finished tied for 14th with Leishman and Herbert at 13 under for the week, with Jones finishing tied for ninth at 14 under.
“I definitely didn’t have my best stuff today,” Smith said. “I told Sam (Pinfold, his caddie) on the 7th green, I said, ‘Mate, I’m absolutely sh–ting myself here. I had just made a birdie, but it seemed like I was just tight and tense.
“Yeah, just had a lot of pressure, and then the way that the boys were playing, it almost added another element of pressure, like I really have to pull my finger out here because everyone else is going good.”
Herbert, the first-year Ripper, shot back-to-back 65s after starting with a 1-over 73. He said playing with Leishman was a big advantage.
“Obviously playing with Leish, I don’t know that either of us would have played as well as we did had we not played with each other,” Herbert said.
STEELE GIVES CREDIT TO HIS CAPTAIN:
Brendan Steele joined LIV Golf before last season in large part to play with his friend Phil Mickelson, captain of HyFlyers GC.
With Steele on the verge of winning the team’s first trophy of any kind, Mickelson provided some advice and words of encouragement before Sunday’s round.
“He was like, how are you feeling? What are you thinking?” Steele explained.
“I said, well, if I can play freely like I did the last couple days, I feel like I’ll have a good chance. He’s like, that’s great. Let’s reframe it.
Let’s make it when I play freely, I can play freely, I will play freely. Let’s reframe it into that.
“Then I was saying, I think it’ll be good enough. He’s like, no, it will be good enough, you will play freely. This is what you need to do. So that was what I was trying to do.”
After Steele’s one-stroke victory, Mickelson was on the 18th green to give his teammate a congratulatory hug.
“He’s the reason that I’m here and the reason that I’m improving,” Steele said. “To be honest, I’m 41 years old and I’m getting better, and it’s mostly because of him.”
With his victory, Steele moves to 13th in the season-long Individual Championship race. Torque GC’s Joaquin Niemann still tops the standings.
WATERING HOLE STATISTICS:
The par-3 12th, otherwise known at The Watering Hole, played to a stroke average of 2.833 in the third round. A total of 11 birdies were recorded against just two bogeys.
For the three rounds, the hole has ranked as the 11th most difficult on the course with a stroke average of 2.846.
HyFlyers’ newcomer Andy Ogletree finishes T3 (-16), helping his team to a third place finish and first-ever podium (Photo by Matt Turner/LIV Golf)
FINAL ROUND STATS LEADERS
Driving accuracy: Cameron Tringale, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Joaquin Niemann, 336.2 yards avg.
Longest drive: Bryson DeChambeau, 369.1 yards, 10th hole
Greens in regulation: Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Branden Grace, 94.89% (17 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Charl Schwartzel (5 of 5), Marc Leishman (5 of 5), Pat Perez (5 of 5), Jon Rahm (4 of 4), Paul Casey (3 of 3), Matt Jones (3 of 3), Louis Oosthuizen (3 of 3), Brooks Koepka (2 of 2), Sergio Garcia (1 of 1), 100%
Putting: Martin Kaymer, Marc Leishman, 1.33 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Charl Schwartzel (64), Jon Rahm (64), Marc Leishman (65), Louis Oosthuizen (65), Sergio Garcia (66), Brooks Koepka (66), Matt Jones (68), Paul Casey (68), Pat Perez (68)
