The Southern Hemisphere showdown between the all-South African team and all-Australian team has thus far been one-sided, with Ripper having won six times as a team on LIV Golf to the Southern Guards’ three. This season, Ripper began the season by winning back-to-back in Riyadh and on home soil in Adelaide.

“I think we’re all really determined to keep the momentum going,” said Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith. “I think it’s obviously a lot of hard work to do that and something that we’re trying to do. But at the moment, we’re all playing really good golf. We feel confident.”

Although they haven’t finished on the podium yet this season, the Southern Guards are getting better each week and rounding into form at just the right time. Branden Grace began his season with back-to-back top 10’s in Riyadh and Adelaide, Louis Oosthuizen finished T8 in Hong Kong, Dean Burmester has finished in the top 10 in three of four starts, and while Charl Schwartzel hasn’t had the high-end finishes like his teammates, he’s finished in the top 30 of all four tournaments this year.

“We know everybody has played some good golf,” said Grace. “We know that we’re trending. So that is good. Obviously, the last couple of weeks Louis has really played well, Charl has been up there, Burmy has had three top 10s, I started off pretty decent this season, and we’ve been very solid.”

Matthew Harris/LIV Golf

The rivalry truly began at LIV Golf Adelaide in 2024, when the teams faced off in the league’s first team playoff. On Ripper home turf, it boiled down to a sudden death playoff: Smith and Leishman against Oosthuizen and Burmester. Ripper pulled it out on the second extra hole, snatching the team title in front of the raucous Aussie crowd. If the two clubs find themselves duking it out at Steyn City, the Australians fully expect the partisan crowd to be rooting for the South Africans.

“I think there’s definitely motivation for the Southern Guards. Obviously getting beaten in a playoff, they probably are after revenge,” said Leishman. “What a great place to try and get it, here in their home country … We’re definitely excited to try and take it up to the Southern Guards, and I’m sure they’re ready for a big week, as well.”

That playoff represented a long-standing sporting rivalry between Australia and South Africa and set the stage for future battles between the prideful teams.

“Being part of that playoff was one of the best things I’ve ever done in the game of golf, obviously not coming out on top,” reflected Burmester. “I think the first playoff hole – Louis and I say it all the time – we had our chances and didn’t take it. But it was an amazing stadium kind of atmosphere. It was like any other sport you’d play anywhere in the world; I think rugby for us and cricket and such the rivalry against the Australians for so long has been something that’s come through generations.”

The rivalry extends beyond the golf course. While they have mutual respect, each nation wants to prove they have the best golf fan base in the world.

“I’m not going to say much about Australia except you know we’re going to have more people than Australia there” said Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie after the announcement of the event last summer. “To Australia’s minister, my counterpart, the fight is on. The challenge is on.”

Sarah Snyder/LIV Golf

The challenge will be a steep one for South Africa. LIV Golf Adelaide has become the headliner of the LIV Golf season, and this season saw 115,000 fans attend the tournament across the week at The Grange Golf Club, making it the highest-attended golf event in Australian history.

“We love the fact that we’ve got the best LIV tournament in the world, certainly in terms of crowd numbers,” said South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas after the historic event earlier this season. “But I can’t tell you how excited I am that we’ve got some competition coming our way. South Africa is not too dissimilar to Australia. Here is a market that has produced some of the world’s best golfers, and here is a market that’s been underserved.”

South Africa has responded by selling over 90,000 tickets so far for the week, which doesn’t include children under the age of 12, who’ll get in free.

90 000 TICKETS SOLD – Thank you South Africa! We are on our way! Can’t wait to see you at @Steyn_City #golf #livgolf #southernguards #sports @livgolf_league pic.twitter.com/bpYU7GWV57

— Southern Guards GC (@SouthernGuards) March 15, 2026

While the teams are eager to beat each other, they are also connected by representing a distinctive region of golf fans that are some of the most knowledgeable and passionate fan bases in the world.

“I’d expect [the fans] to get behind the Southern Guards the way that the Adelaide crowds have got behind the Ripper team the last couple of years,” said Lucas Herbert. “A really good, loyal, vocal fan base out here in South Africa. You see that across all the sports they excel in, whether it’s rugby, cricket, they get right behind their national teams, and the Southern Guards really represent South Africa well at this point in the golfing scene, so I would imagine they would be pretty vocally behind them.”

Both teams are extremely close off the golf course, with their relationships defined by their national pride as well as their drive to get better on the golf course.

“I think we’re all pretty cruisy, all pretty laid back,” said Smith. “But all extremely motivated to do better. We have a laugh in the team room, in dining, but once we get out on the golf course, even in practice rounds, we’re all competitive, trying to make each other better. It’s a really good team dynamic that we have and something that we’re super proud of. But we’re always trying to get better.”

The Ripper boys have had the edge this season, but with a home course advantage and plenty of experience on South Africa’s unique agronomy, the Southern Guards are confident they’ll earn their first big blow in the rivalry this week.

“We grew up with kikuyu grass,” Grace explained. “The rest of the field has probably never even seen it the way that we know it. It’s immaculate. It’s in awesome condition. Obviously, the weather has not played its part so much, but I think the weather for the week looks good, so the course is just going to get firmer, faster, better, but we’re all in for a hell of a treat.”

“Maybe this is all it needs, coming home, being in front of your home fans, being comfortable, and just having all our friends and family here,” Grace added. “Sometimes just being relaxed and having a good time is all it needs. I think everybody is in for a big treat this week.”

Burmester, who finished runner-up in the 2022 Steyn City Championship, put it more bluntly: “Get the crowd get behind us, and we expect a lot of great things, and pretty sure the Aussies might have a slightly harder time than they do in Adelaide.”

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A close-out eagle for the second straight day

Lucas Herbert triumphs in Japan once again and is now a champion on the Asian Tour! #InternationalSeries #MoutaiChina #ThisISEverything #TimeToRise pic.twitter.com/XmTtM2qlUj

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) May 11, 2025

On Sunday at the par-71 Caledonian Golf Club in Chiba, the 29-year-old Australian won his maiden Asian Tour and International Series title. Once he moved into the solo lead, he was never challenged as he closed with a seven-under-par 64 to reach 20-under for the week, five ahead of his playing partners Yuta Sugiura and Younghan Song.

Sugiura played solid golf and was bogey-free for the third time in four days, but his putter let him down in a round of 69. He was the best-placed Japanese player in the field. Song’s quest for a first win in Japan continued, but a birdie on the last helped him tie Sugiura for second place at 15-under.

American Cameron Tringale (66) rolled in a 15-foot eagle putt on the last to finish solo fourth at 14-under, one ahead of Thailand’s Atiruj Winaicharoenchai (65) and Japan’s Shunya Takeyasu (67).

It was a remarkable run by Herbert, who was five shots behind the leader with three holes to play in the third round, before engineering a 10-shot swing against his closest rival with two eagles in the last three holes on Saturday, followed by the 64 that included seven birdies and the eagle on the 18th.

With his wire-to-wire win, Herbert moved to the top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit, as well as The International Series Rankings. It was also his first international victory in almost two years, having won the DP World Tour’s 2023 ISPS Handa Championship, also in Japan.

The Ripper GC star, who played a full season on the Asian Tour in 2016, started the day tied for the lead at 13-under alongside Sugiura and Song. The 33-year-old Korean immediately moved ahead with an eagle on the second hole, but Herbert hunted him down with birdies on the second, fourth and fifth.

Herbert made a bogey on the par-five sixth hole, and it seemed he used up all his bad shots on that single hole as he twice flirted with the trees on the left and was left with horrible downhill lies. Even though he had another bogey coming in – at the 15th – he was rock solid throughout and shut the door on the chasing pack.

“I was thinking about it down on the 18th green, that finish yesterday really set it up. It would have been much tougher, I think, to play the group in front, or maybe two groups in front, had I parred in and to try and come back from behind today,” said Herbert.

“Being able to tie the lead last night, and sleep thinking that I didn’t have to chase anything down today, was a big factor. And then, very happy with the way I played today, I think it was the low round of the day, so that’s always going to make it hard to beat when you start the day tied for the lead.”

The second-hand putter he found at a thrift shop in Korea last week was smoking hot again as he completed the round in just 23 putts, but Herbert also credited his new driver (a Titleist GT3 with a Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7x shaft) that he has been using to good effect this year. It has resulted in three top-10s on LIV Golf, where he is now fifth in the standings.

“I’ve played really well this year, and I think the driver was a big part of this success. So, I’ve got to thank Tom Davies, who works on my clubs. He was the one who put it in my hands. I had other thoughts of what I might be using this year and he encouraged me to give it a go. It seemed to have worked out pretty well,” said Herbert.

“The way I’ve been playing this year, it’s been building to get a win at some point. So, it’s nice to get it done here, especially in Japan, which is one of my favourite places. It’s nice to feel like some of the hard work that I put in has paid off. Holding that trophy is a pretty good feeling.”

Sugiura, 23 and regarded as one of Japan’s brightest young prospects, felt he could have posted a much better score if his putter had cooperated over the past four days.

“I think I played good golf for four days. This week, my putting didn’t go as well as I wanted, but I hit some good shots, so I’m looking forward to my future tournaments,” said Sugiura, who won the 2023 Dunlop Phoenix Open on Japan Golf Tour as an amateur.

“I made some good putts yesterday, so I thought today would go well, but it was difficult because I kept missing birdie chances, just like the first two days.”

Song struggled with his shot-making on the back nine, and despite finding numerous tough spots, limited the damage to just two bogeys.

“I started off really well, but I missed some putts at key moments and things didn’t go well on the back nine. However, Lucas putted really well and there’s no doubt he was the better player today,” said Song.

“I played with Lucas yesterday and today. These guys are good with their shot-making, but they’re also really good with their short games. He wasn’t making many putts yesterday, but he made a lot of putts today. I think if I work hard on my short game, I can do it as well.”

International Series Japan presented by Moutai was the third of 10 elevated events on the Asian Tour calendar that form a pathway onto the LIV Golf League. The next event in the schedule is the International Series Morocco, which will be played July 3-6.

Main Image: Graham Uden/Asian Tour

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That winner was Marc Leishman who shot four-under on Sunday in the final round to capture his first LIV Golf title. He topped Charl Schwartzel by a shot and Sergio Garcia by two. Leishman’s Ripper GC team, captained by Cameron Smith, with Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones, won the team title and will split another $3 million.

“Yeah, it was an unbelievable leaderboard,” Leishman said. “I saw all the guys right behind me and I knew the holes I had to finish off on. Played probably some of my best golf I’ve ever played today, especially coming off Singapore a couple weeks ago where I think I beat three people. Confidence wasn’t overly high. But I knew things were looking pretty good. I was playing good golf and showed that today.”

Joaquin Niemann remains in the top spot in the season standings after winning twice. Garcia and Jon Rahm are in second and third place, respectively. Garcia’s Fireballs team leads Rahm’s Legion XIII in the team standings.

The week started off by making plenty of headlines for different reasons. Phil Mickelson was in vintage Masters storytelling mode earlier in the week, Brooks Koepka said he thinks his tour should be much further along than it is now, and new CEO, Scott O’Neil admitted that this is a big week for LIV Golf after having been in his role for just three months.

Up next, of course, is the Masters, where 12 LIV Golf members will play. Seven of them—Mickelson, Garcia, Schwartzel, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed—are Masters champions.

Here’s the rundown of what each player earned this week.

INDIVIDUAL

WIN: Marc Leishman, -6, $4 million

2: Charl Schwartzel, -5, $2.25 million

3: Sergio Garcia, -4, $1.5 million

4: Carlos Ortiz, -3, $1 million

5: Bryson DeChambeau, -2, $800,000

6: Phil Mickelson, -1, $700,000

T-7: Harold Varner III, E, $562,500

T-7: Patrick Reed, E, $562,500

T-9: Cameron Smith, +1, $409,167

T-9: Danny Lee, +1, $409,167

T-9: Jon Rahm, +1, $409,167

T-12: Talor Gooch, +2, $350,000

T-12: Charles Howell III, +2, $350,000

T-14: David Puig, +3, $296,250

T-14: Tom McKibbin, +3, $293,750

T-14: Cameron Tringale, +3, $293,750

T-14: Dean Burmester, +3, $293,750

T-18: Anirban Lahiri, +4, $250,000

T-18: Brooks Koepka, +4, $250,000

T-18: Lucas Herbert, +4, $250,000

T-21: Matt Jones, +5, $220,000

T-21: Sebastian Munoz, +5, $220,000

T-21: Peter Uihlein, +5, $220,000

T-24: Caleb Surratt, +6, $195,000

T-24: Young-han Song, +6, $195,000

T-24: Luis Masaveu, +6, $195,000

T-27: Sam Horsfield, +7, $182,500

T-27: Dustin Johnson, +7, $182,500

T-29: Anthony Kim, +8, $167,500

T-29: Martin Kaymer, +8, $167,500

T-29: Paul Casey, +8, $167,500

T-29: Yubin Jang, +8, $167,500

T-33: Tyrrell Hatton, +9, $146,667

T-33: Brendan Steele, +9, $146,667

T-33: Bubba Watson, +9, $146,667

T-33: Ian Poulter, +9, $146,667

T-33: Joaquin Niemann, +9, $146,667

T-33: Louis Oosthuizen, +9, $146,667

T-39: Adrian Meronk, +10, $135,000

T-39: Thomas Pieters, +10, $135,000

T-39: Jason Kokrak, +10, $135,000

42: Matthew Wolff, +12, $130,000

43: Frederik Kjettrup, +13, $128,000

T-44: Graeme McDowell, +14, $126,500

T-44: Kevin Na, +14, $126,500

46: Abraham Ancer, +15, $125,000

T-47: Andy Ogletree, +16, $100,833

T-47: Richard Bland, +16, $100,833

T-47: Henrik Stenson, +16, $100,833

50: Branden Grace, +17, $60,000

51: Lee Westwood, +18, $60,000

52: Mito Pereira, +19, $50,000

T-53: Chieh-Po Lee, +21, $50,000

T-53: Ben Campbell, +21, $50,000

TEAM

WIN: Ripper GC (Smith, Herbert, Jones, Leishman), +4, $3 million

2: Crushers GC (DeChambeau, Casey, Howell III, Lahiri), +12, $1.5 million

3: 4Aces GC (Johnson, Pieters, Reed, Varner III), +17, $500,000

Main Image: Icon Sportswire

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As was the case in previous years, the prize money for the final championship of the year was split 60 percent toward the team to cover team expenses and 40 percent toward the players. So here’s how the purse breakdown looks for captain Cameron Smith’s winning squad.

Winning team: $14 million

Team share: $8.4 million (60 percent)

Players share: $1.4 million per player

Similarly, the prize money earned by all other teams will shake out to 60 percent going to the “team” and 40 percent to the players for their week’s work.

The format for the team event at Maridoe was, well, slightly tricky to follow. Friday’s play involved the Nos. 4-13 teams from the season-long standings. The top seeds from those teams chose who they would face in the quarterfinal.

The teams that earned two or more points advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, with the Nos. 1-3 seeds joining in after earning byes. A similar match-play format was used to determine the four winners who were in the running for the title on Sunday, which turned out to be Ripper GC, 4Aces, Iron Heads and Legion XIII.

Interestingly there were some surprising upsets during Friday’s quarterfinals as the two lowest seeded teams, No. 13 Iron Heads (captained by Kevin Na) and No. 12 HyFlyers (captained by Phil Mickelson), upset No. 4 Smash (Brooks Koepka) and No. 5 Torque (Joaquin Niemann), respectively. No seeded team lower than 11th had won in the first two years of the Team Championship. The Iron Heads and HyFlyers are two of the three LIV Golf teams that have never won a tournament.

The upsets then continued on Saturday, with the Iron Heads winning again, this time taking out Crushers GC, the defending team champion captained by Bryson DeChambeau. Also winning on Saturday was Legion XIII (despite the fact its captain and best player, Jon Rahm, sat out because of a severe bout of the flu), Ripper GC (captained by Smith) and the 4Aces (Dustin Johnson’s team that won the inaugural team title in 2022).

On Sunday, all 13 teams played to determine the final outcome. All players competed in stroke play, with all four scores added together to get the team total. The lowest score of the four teams that won Saturday matches played to be the overall winner, with the remaining teams claiming second through fourth place. The losing squads on Saturday played for positions fifth through eighth place, with the losing squads from Friday playing for ninth through 13th place.

Here’s the prize money payouts for each team this week at Maridoe.

TIER 1

Winner: Ripper GC (Smith, Herbert, Jones, Leishman), -11, $14 million total/$1.4 million per player

T-2: 4Aces (Johnson, Reed, Perez, Varner III), -8, $7 million total/$700,000 per player

T-2: Iron Heads (Kozuma, Na, Lee, S.Vincent), -8, $7 million total/$700,000 per player

4: Legion XIII (Hatton, Catlin, Surratt, K.Vincent), -6, $4 million total/$400,000 per player

TIER 2

5: Stinger (Grace, Schwartzel, Oosthuizen, Burmester), -15, $3.25 million total/$325,000 per player

6: Fireballs (Garcia, Ancer, Chacarra, Puig), -14, $3 million total/$300,000 per player

T-7: Crushers (Casey, Lahiri, DeChambeau, Howell III), -2, $2.625 million total/$262,500 per player

T-7: HyFlyers (Steele, Ogletree, Tringale, Mickelson), -2, $2.625 million total/$262,500 per player

TIER 3

9: Majesticks (Horsfield, Poulter, Westwood, Stenson), -5, $2 million total/$200,000 per player

10: Torque (Munoz, Ortiz, Niemann, Pereira), -4, $1.65 million total/$165,000 per player

11: Cleeks (Kaymer, Bland, Samooja, Meronk), -1, $1.3 million total/$130,000 per player

12: Rangegoats (Uihlein, Watson, Pieters, Wolff), +4, $950,000 total/$95,000 per player

13: Smash (McDowell, Gooch, Kokrak, Koepka), +12, $600,000 total/$60,000 per player

Main Image: David Cannon

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When you’re trying to create drama, the ending can be the hardest part to get right. How do you create a finale that justifies an entire season but also the stars you have assembled?

The climax to LIV Golf’s season—its team championship in Dallas—wasn’t perfect. With Dallas getting scorched by blazing hot temperatures, the crowds were not the best the league has seen. But there was no denying the entertainment was supercharged as the all-Australian Ripper GC team clinched a $14 million victory in the final moments.

After two days of team match play, the final day was stroke play with all four players’ scores counted. Only the top four-placed teams—Ripper, 4Aces, Iron Heads and Legion XIII—could take first place.

There were plenty of surprises at Maridoe Golf Club. Kevin Na’s Iron Heads—the 13th and lowest-seeded team before the final event—kept pace with Ripper GC and Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC until the end. Or the fact U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, arguably the best team all season, had already been knocked out in the semifinals by the Iron Heads and were forced to compete in a consolation round for fifth place (they ended seventh). Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, captain of Smash GC, shot 80 on the final day competing in the bottom tier of teams.

It all came down to the last hole, however, and the advantage was with the Rippers, a franchise led by Cam Smith, a six-time PGA Tour winner including the Open Championship at St. Andrews. Smith and his 2024 recruit, Lucas Herbert, had each birdied the par-5 17th to take a two-shot lead late after three hours of it changing hands regularly.

“I said to [caddie] Sam [Pinfold] on the third hole … ‘I’m not even gonna look at the scoreboard. It’s useless on these days,” Smith said after winning his team’s first season-long title.

The tournament was still alive on the final hole, especially with major winners lurking like Johnson and his teammate Patrick Reed, as well as Na and his teammate Danny Lee.

“Watching Cam on the 18th tee, I thought, there’s not many other people I’d want playing this hole for us,” Herbert said.

https://twitter.com/livgolf_league/status/1837978138082791547

But when Johnson, the 2016 U.S. Open and 2020 Masters champion, drove it in the water on 18, it was all but over. “Eighteen is a difficult hole and I didn’t hit a very good tee shot,” Johnson said. “[Overall] it was fun. That’s what you want. It was close. It came down to the last couple holes.”

Ripper GC finished the day at 11 under par for a three-shot win over the 4Aces, courtesy of Smith’s four-under 68, Herbert’s three-under 69 and two-under 70s by each by Marc Leishman and Matt Jones. Johnson and Reed each shot 69, while fellow 4Aces Pat Perez and Harold Varner posted 71s.

The drama of the final day was exacerbated by the sheer amount of golf shots shown on the broadcast. Most two-minute periods had at least four shots shown to viewers.

Overall, Ripper GC’s victory was a boost for LIV Golf as the league continues to push the team element as its point of difference. With the $25-million prize purses at each of LIV’s 14 events, golf fans may wonder if tour pros who left the PGA Tour are enjoying the team aspect or simply embracing it as part of their new league. But Ripper GC seem to have a genuine camaraderie, as evidenced in social media clips of their practice and preparations, which are full of practice round games, challenges and jokes.

“I mean, they’re not only great golfers, but they’re better people. Just so happens that we’re good golfers, too,” Smith said.

Herbert joined LIV Golf in time for the 2024 season after becoming a winner of one title on the PGA Tour and three on the DP World Tour. The 28-year-old said the competitive environment had brought out some of his best golf, which has included Ripper GC teams victories at its Adelaide and Singapore events this year.

“Excluding myself, these are three of the coolest cats under pressure I’ve ever seen,” Herbert said. “I didn’t want to be the worst score out here today [and have] the boys giving me stick for the next few weeks about being the one that cost us the trophy. I just think it’s great, healthy competition to push each other on.”

The @rippergc_ squad knows how to celebrate #LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/d4KwjzIZsb

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) September 22, 2024

All four Rippers will soon be back in their Australian homeland for a combination of the country’s summer golf events later this year—including the Australian Open and PGA—months before LIV Golf Adelaide 2025.

The league’s flagship event has been brought forward from its usual late-April slot to mid-February for next year’s edition. Smith recently also revealed his end-of-year schedule will include two modest state tournaments in Australia —the Queensland PGA Championship (Oct. 31-Nov. 3) in Brisbane and the New South Wales Open (Nov. 14-17). Then, he’ll tee up in the DP World Tour-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship in late November, seeking a fourth career win there.

“We’ve got some wins to show off … so [we’re] looking forward to all the events we’re going to get to play in Australia, both the end of this year and the start of next year,” Herbert said. “There might be some sore heads [hangovers] over the next four months on home soil.”

Main Image: David Cannon

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The all-Australian team, captained by Cameron Smith, beat the all-South African Stinger GC on the second playoff hole to capture a victory that the entire country had been hoping to experience, with more than 90,000 fans attending the three rounds of competition at The Grange Golf Course.

UP THE RIPPERS @rippergc_ ARE YOUR TEAM CHAMPIONS IN ADELAIDE #LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/quk3eZzIVM

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) April 28, 2024

“This is unreal,” said Smith, standing on the 18th green and draped in an Australian flag with his teammates Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert. “It’s a dream come true for us.”

Another dream was experienced by Adelaide individual champion Brendan Steele, who won the first trophy of any kind for his HyFlyers GC team. The 41-year-old American shot a gritty 4-under 68 to finish at 18 under, one stroke better than Stinger captain Louis Oosthuizen.

“Really surreal,” said Steele, whose win was the 11th of his professional career but first since 2017. “I’m pretty overwhelmed, but to win this event is really special. 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 give himself enough of a cushion against the hard-charging Oosthuizen, who shot a 7-under 65. Five players tied for third, two strokes back: HyFlyers teammate Andy Ogletree (65), Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm (64), the Stingers duo of Charl Schwartzel (64) and Dean Burmester (67) and Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann (66), the season-long individual standings leader.

.@Brendan_Steele IS YOUR CHAMPION DOWN UNDER

His first individual win on the LIV Golf League #LIVGolf @HyFlyers_GC pic.twitter.com/XxQQmfRA4X

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) April 28, 2024

Steele was able to hold off all challengers, and the Rippers appeared to be doing the same for most of the final nine holes, riding the support of the Adelaide fans to the top of the leaderboard. At one point, they led by as many as five strokes until the Stingers started to whittle away at the lead.

When Smith bogeyed his last hole of the day, the 18th, while Oosthuizen birdied his next-to-last hole, both teams finished at 53 under for the week – a record-low counting score in LIV Golf history.

That set up LIV Golf’s first team playoff, with Smith and Leishman representing the Rippers, while Oosthuizen and Burmester represented the Stingers, with the scores for all four players counting for their respective teams on each playoff hole.

The Stingers appeared to have the advantage on the first playoff hole, with Oosthuizen and Burmester hitting similar tee shots and approaches, leaving them within makeable but a challenging birdie range above the 18th hole pin. Meanwhile, Smith was in trouble off the tee and found the bunker with his approach, while Leishman’s approach came up short and rolled back toward the fairway.

As he walked toward the green, Leishman estimated his chances of extending the playoff at 25% – and that’s being optimistic, he added. But each Ripper managed to save par, while the Stinger duo each missed their birdie putts, Oosthuizen’s lipping out.

“How we got out of that, I don’t really know,” Leishman said. “We were done and dusted by the looks of it.”

Given a reprieve, the Rippers took advantage on the second playoff hole. Leishman was on in two and made par, while both Stingers found the back greenside bunker, eventually suffering bogeys. Smith had two putts for a bogey to win and needed both of them to set off a raucous celebration that resulted in the Rippers drinking shoeys on the podium.

“You couldn’t have staged a better place to do the first playoff,” said a gracious Oosthuizen in defeat. “Probably couldn’t script it better with the Rippers winning. We had chances. We had two putts on the first hole. And I hit a good putt on the second playoff hole as well. Some days they go in, some days they don’t.”

For the Australian quartet, it was the dream ending for a week of incredible support. For Smith, it was the reason why he joined LIV Golf in 2022, shortly after winning the Open Championship at St Andrews.

“This week has far exceeded my vision for what was ahead,” Smith said. “I think I always knew internally that Australia would really embrace LIV with the culture, with the music, with the entertainment, everything that goes on around it. I always felt like this was the place where it was going to make it big, and how it’s been the last couple of years has been just insane.

“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)

Images: LIV Golf

The post Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi – Ripper GC take team trophy in LIV Golf Adelaide appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Cameron Smith and his Ripper GC are one of four teams this LIV Golf League season that has yet to reach the podium.

But the Australian lineup has an opportunity to end that drought at LIV Golf London – and perhaps even grab their first-ever team trophy.

Ripper GC enters the final round at Centurion Club with a one-shot lead over the defending London champion Stinger GC, while Smith has a three-shot lead on the individual leaderboard. Smith already has one individual win in his LIV career, winning last season in Chicago. He would love to have company on the podium and sweep both titles on Sunday.

“In our group chat, we’ve said multiple times that we need to get up there and spray champagne over each other,” Smith said after his 4-under 67 moved him to 12 under. “I think that would be a pretty fun experience. Still work to be done on the individual side, but it would be nice to see us at the top of the leaderboard on the team side, as well.”

Smith and teammate Marc Leishman have handled the bulk of the contributions through the first two days, with Leishman among the group of pursuers tied for second at 9 under after shooting 69 on Saturday. Matt Jones contributed a 67 to match Smith’s round, and the fourth member of the team, Jediah Morgan, shot a 69 to match Leishman’s counting score.

“If we can look after the individual, play as well as we can, all shoot good scores, the team stuff will take care of itself,” Leishman said, who will play with his captain in the same group for the second consecutive round. “Hopefully I can make a bit of a run at Cam tomorrow and make things interesting.”

Leishman will have company in trying to chase down Smith, who will defend his Open Championship title in two weeks at Royal Liverpool. Also at 9 under is Stingers GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen and RangeGoats GC’s Thomas Pieters, with 4Aces GC’s Patrick Reed (-8) and Majesticks GC Co-Captain Henrik Stenson (-7) also lurking.

The team competition certainly promises to be interesting in the final round. The South African Stingers started the day eight shots off the lead but quickly moved up the leaderboard Saturday, with Oosthuizen and defending London individual champion Charl Schwartzel off to hot starts.

Oosthuizen was 7 under through his first 10 holes while Schwartzel was 7 under through his first 11. Dean Burmester was also 5 under through his first 14. When Oosthuizen eagled the par-5 13th, the Stingers had overtaken the Rippers for the lead.

“I went through a stretch there where I made a few birdies and an eagle, and then Dean and Charl probably had to go through the same,” Oosthuizen said. “It’s unbelievable how the leaderboards can change out here with three scores to count.”

Late in the day, the leaderboard flipped again, as the Stingers finished on tougher holes while Smith and Leishman had more scoring opportunities. Smith’s birdie on the par-5 18th to finish his round not only added to his individual lead but gave the Rippers the 36-hole team lead.

“It’s nice to see Leish and I at the top of the leaderboard,” Smith said. “I know the other two boys are trying their hardest out there to get their team score up, and hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and show them what we’re really made of.”

TEAM COUNTING SCORES

Here are the standings and counting scores for Saturday’s second round of the team competition at LIV Golf London. The three best scores from each team count in every round for their total team score. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.

1. RIPPER GC (-23): Cameron Smith 67, Matt Jones 67, Marc Leishman 69 (Rd. 2 score: -10)
2. STINGER GC (-22): Louis Oosthuizen 63, Charl Schwartzel 66, Dean Burmester 67 (Rd. 2 score: -17)
T3. 4ACES GC (-19): Patrick Reed 64, Dustin Johnson 65, Peter Uihlein 68 (Rd. 2 score: -16)
T3. RANGEGOATS GC (-19): Harold Varner III 66, Thomas Pieters 67, Bubba Watson 71 (Rd. 2 score: -9)
T5. MAJESTICKS GC (-16): Henrik Stenson 66, Laurie Canter 69, Lee Westwood 70 (Rd. 2 score: -8)
T5. CRUSHERS GC (-16): Paul Casey 65, Bryson DeChambeau 67, Anirban Lahiri 69 (Rd. 2 score: -12)
7. SMASH GC (-14): Chase Koepka 66, Brooks Koepka 66, Jason Kokrak 69 (Rd. 2 score: -12)
8. HYFLYERS GC (-13): Brendan Steele 67, Cameron Tringale 69, James Piot 70 (Rd. 2 score: -7)
9. CLEEKS GC (-12): Graeme McDowell 65, Martin Kaymer 68, Richard Bland 70 (Rd. 2 score: -10)
10. FIREBALLS GC (-11): Abraham Ancer 68, Eugenio Chacarra 69, Carlos Ortiz 69 (Rd. 2 score: -7)
11. IRON HEADS GC (-9): Kevin Na 64, Danny Lee 67, Scott Vincent 67 (Rd. 2 score: -15)
12. TORQUE GC (-7): David Puig 68, Joaquin Niemann 69, Sebastian Munoz 69 (Rd. 2 score: -7)

The post LIV Golf London: Smith, Rippers maintain lead after round two appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With his Open Championship defence looming in two weeks, Cameron Smith seems to be peaking at the right time.

Friday’s opening round at LIV Golf London is the latest piece of evidence.

The Ripper GC captain shot a bogey-free 8-under 63 to grab a one-stroke lead over teammate Marc Leishman as LIV Golf made its return to Centurion Club, the host course for last year’s inaugural tournament. RangeGoats GC’s Thomas Pieters is in solo third, three strokes back, while red-hot teammate Talor Gooch is in a three-way tie for fourth with HyFlyers GC’s Cameron Tringale and Majesticks GC’s Laurie Canter.

Thanks to Smith and Leishman, the all-Australian Rippers took the team lead at 13 under, with the RangeGoats at 10 under. The home favourite Majesticks are in solo third at 8 under.

Neither Aussie at the top of the leaderboard competed at Centurion Club last year, but they both looked comfortable on a sun-drenched day outside London.

“Wasn’t much bad stuff in there, to be honest,” said Smith, who posted Friday’s only bogey-free round. “… I feel like I’ve been on this kind of trend for a few months now.”

Smith has finished 12th or better in his last seven starts, including top 10s in the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. Although he’s yet to win in 2023, Smith is building plenty of momentum going into Royal Liverpool.

“I think any tournament that Cam enters, he’s certainly a strong contender,” Leishman said. “I think playing this week is going to help him. The wind is very different, I feel like, in England and Scotland. It’s a lot heavier. Getting used to that is pretty important.”

Thomas Pieters of RangeGoats GC is only three shots back following round one of LIV Golf London. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/LIV Golf)

Smith navigated the first six holes, the most difficult stretch at Centurion, in 1 under. Starting with the ninth hole, he birdied seven of the next nine holes before settling for par on the par-5 18th. He said the big difference Friday was getting more in sync with caddie Sam Pinfold.

“Sam and I worked really nice today, which is probably the first time in a long time where we really stuck it out and actually talked through some shots,” Smith said. “Probably something that had kind of been a missing piece to the puzzle. It was nice to figure that stuff out before another big tournament coming up.”

Marc Leishman of Ripper GC sits in second after the first round of LIV Golf London. (Photo by Richard Washbrooke/LIV Golf)

Leishman has struggled to find consistency this season but started hot on Friday. After a par on his opening hole, the 12th, he birdied six of the next seven holes before reaching the toughest part of the course.

“Happy to finally get a score on the board,” Leishman said. “It’s been a while.”

The two will play in the leaders group on Saturday with Pieters. But the group ahead of them will include the hottest LIV golfer in Gooch, who won his third tournament of the season last week in Andalucía and opened Friday with four birdies in his first five holes en route to his 11th round of the season at his target score of 67 or better.

“It was a good day,” said Gooch, who has won the last three LIV Golf tournaments held outside the U.S. “This golf course is not as easy as what Cam just made it look.”

TEAM COUNTING SCORES

Here are the standings and counting scores for Friday’s opening round of the team competition at LIV Golf London. The three best scores from each team count in every round for their total team score. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds win the team title.

1. RIPPER GC (-13): Cameron Smith 63, Marc Leishman 64, Matt Jones 73
2. RANGEGOATS GC (-10): Thomas Pieters 66, Talor Gooch 67, Bubba Watson 70
3. MAJESTICKS GC (-8): Laurie Canter 67, Ian Poulter 69, Henrik Stenson 69
4. HYFLYERS GC (-6): Cameron Tringale 67, James Piot 69, Brendan Steele 71
5. STINGER GC (-5): Branden Grace 68, Dean Burmester 70, Louis Oosthuizen 70
T6. CRUSHERS GC (-4): Anirban Lahiri 68, Bryson DeChambeau 70, Paul Casey 73
T6. FIREBALLS GC (-4): Abraham Ancer 68, Sergio Garcia 69, Eugenio Chacarra 72
8. 4ACES GC (-3): Patrick Reed 70, Peter Uihlein 70, Pat Perez 70
T9. SMASH GC (-2): Jason Kokrak 69, Chase Koepka 70, Brooks Koepka 72
T9. CLEEKS GC (-2): Richard Bland 68, Martin Kaymer 71, Bernd Wiesberger 72
11. TORQUE GC (E): Joaquin Niemann 69, Mito Pereira 71, David Puig 73
12. IRON HEADS GC (+6): Kevin Na 72, Sihwan Kim 73, Danny Lee 74

The post Smith shoots 63, Ripper GC takes round 1 team lead in London appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.