Cameron Smith and his Ripper GC team are one of four teams in the LIV Golf League season who are yet to reach the podium. But the Australian line-up has a chance to end this drought at LIV Golf London – and maybe even grab the team’s first-ever trophy.
The Rippers enter the final round at Centurion Club with a one-shot lead over reigning London Stinger GC champions, while Smith has a three-shot lead on the individual leaderboard. Smith has already had one singles win in his basketball career, winning last season in Chicago. He wanted to have company on the podium and sweep both titles on Sunday.
“In our group chat we’ve said a few times we need to get up there and splash champagne on top of each other,” Smith said after moving him from 4-U to 12-U. “I think it will be a very interesting experience. The work still needs to be done on the individual side, but it will be nice to see us at the top of the leaderboard on the team side as well.”
Smith and teammate Mark Leishman handled the bulk of the contributions over the first two days, with Leishman tied among the pack of chasers for second at 9-under after shooting a 69 on Saturday. Matt Jones contributed 67 in Smith’s run, and the fourth member of the team, Jedediah Morgan, kicked 69 to match the result of Lishman’s count.
“If we can take care of the individual and play as well as we can, then we all score well, and the team elements will take care of themselves,” said Leishman, who will play with his captain in the same group for the second consecutive round. “Hopefully I can run a little bit in Cam tomorrow and keep things interesting.”
Lishman will have company in trying to chase down Smith, who will defend his Open Championship title in two weeks’ time at Royal Liverpool. Also at 9 are Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen and Thomas Peters from Ring Guts GC, with 4 Ice GC’s Patrick Reed (-8) and Majestics GC’s co-captain Henrik Stenson (-7) also on board.
Team competition is sure to be interesting in the final round. The South African Stingers started the day eight shots off the lead but quickly moved into the lead on Saturday, with Oosthuizen and defending London Singles Champion Charles Schwartzell making hot starts.
Oosthuizen was under 7 through his first 10 holes while Schwartzel was under 7 through his first 11. Dean Burmester was also under 5 through his first 14. When Oosthuizen was an eagle 5 par-5 13th, the Stingers overtook the Rippers for the lead.
“I ran through a stretch there where I made some sparrows and an eagle, and then Dean and Charles probably had to go through the same thing,” said Oosthuizen. “It’s unbelievable how the leaderboards here can change with three points that count.”
Late in the day, the leaderboard flipped again, as the Stingers finished with more difficult holes while Smith and Leishman had more scoring opportunities. Smith’s birdie in the round-5 18th to finish his round not only added to his individual lead but gave the Rippers the team’s 36-hole lead.
“It’s good to see Lesch and I at the top of the leaderboard,” said Smith. “I know the other two boys are doing their best to get their team’s score, and hopefully we can get out there tomorrow and show them what we’ve really made of.”
Team count scores
Here’s the standings and results tally for Saturday’s second round of the team competition at LIV Golf London. The top three points from each team in each round count toward their team’s total points. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.
1. RIPPER GC (-23): Cameron Smith 67, Matt Jones 67, Mark Leishman 69 (Points 2: -10)
2. Stinger GC (-22): Louis Oosthuizen 63, Charl Schwartzel 66, Dean Burmester 67 (Rd. 2 Score: -17)
T3. 4ACES GC (-19): Patrick Reid 64, Dustin Johnson 65, Peter Ohlen 68 (pt 2: -16)
T3. RANGEGOATS GC (-19): Harold Varner III 66, Thomas Peters 67, Bubba Watson 71 (score 2: -9)
T5. MAJESTICKS GC (-16): Henrik Stenson 66, Laurie Kanter 69, Lee Westwood 70 (Points 2: -8)
T5. GC Breakers (-16): Paul Casey 65, Bryson Dechambeau 67, Anirban Lahiri 69 (Score 2: -12)
7. SMASH GC (-14): Chase Koepka 66, Brooks Koepka 66, Jason Kukrak 69 (Score 2: -12)
8. Highflyers GC (-13): Brendan Steele 67, Cameron Triangle 69, James Piot 70 (Score 2: -7)
9. CLEEKS GC (-12): Graeme McDowell 65, Martin Kaymer 68, Richard Bland 70 (2deg road: -10)
10. Fireballs GC (-11): Abraham Unser 68, Eugenio Chakara 69, Carlos Ortiz 69 (Score 2: -7)
11. Iron heads GC (-9): Kevin Na 64, Danny Lee 67, Scott Vincent 67 (2nd place score: -15)
12. TORQUE GC (-7): David Puig 68, Joaquin Nyman 69, Sebastian Munoz 69 (Score 2: -7)