Cameron Smith claimed his second win on UK soil in the space of 12 months when he won the London second leg of the LIV golf tournament at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire.
The 2022 Open Champion, who played his final event before defending his title at Royal Liverpool in two weeks’ time – went into the final day of the 54-hole event with a three-shot lead. He shot a three-under 68 to finish 15-under and win by one shot
Patrick Reid and Mark Leishman, who shot 65 and 66 respectively to cut the gap, but Smith survived the final bogey to keep his head in front and claim the $4 million individual first prize.
Smith and Lichman were both part of the four-man Ripper team leading the team event two days later, but they were edged out by 4 aces on the $3 million team prize thanks to late increases up the leaderboard from Reid, Dustin Johnson and Pat. Perez. This means that the total score is -34, and one higher than the Reaper’s -33.
said Smith, who missed a par six-foot putt that would have forced the team’s first playoff since LIV Golf launched last year.
Teammate Lishman said, “I really wanted Cam to make one last time there. He played great and did great all week. To win the championship and still come off disappointed, I think that’s what the form of this team is about.”
The individual placements honors saw Louis Oosthuizen finish solo in fourth place, largely on the back of his second round 63, while Dustin Johnson finished fifth. There was a five-way tie for sixth, with England’s Richard Bland earning $648,000 on the day after a close of 66 saw him level with Cameron Triangle, Henrik Stenson, Pat Perez and Thomas Peters.
In the case of the team, the 4Aces definitely seem to have a formula for success. Sunday’s victory was the sixth for the team since the league’s inception, and the second this season, after it also won in Adelaide. The win in Centurion extended their lead in the team standings to 39 points over Torque.
Reed pitched the Aces their lowest score of the day, a 6-under 65 that moved him to 14-under. The other two contributing goals belonged to Pat Perez, who shot a bogey-free 66, and captain Dustin Johnson with 67, with Peter Ohlin’s 68 not counted.
Individual leaderboard
Pos Player Tot Rd1 Rd2 Rd3
1 Cameron Smith -15 63 67 68
T2 Mark Leishman -14 64 69 66
T2 Patrick Reed -14 70 64 65
4 Louis Oosthuizen -12 70 63 68
5 Dustin Johnson -10 71 65 67
T6 Richard Bland -9 68 70 66
T6 Cameron Triangle -9 67 69 68
T6 Henrik Stenson -9 69 66 69
T6 Pat Perez -9 70 68 66
T6 Thomas Peters -9 66 67 71
Team venues (including the top 3 results from the final round)
- 4ACES -34 P Reed 65, Perez 66, DeJohnson 67
- RIPPER -33 M Leishman 66, C Smith 68, J Morgan 69
- Stinger -29 L Oosthuizen 68, B Grace 69, D Burmester 69
- RANGEGOATS -26 H Varner III 67, T Gooch 68, B Watson 71
- MAJESTICKS -24 I Poulter 66, H Stenson 69, L Canter 70
- Clix-23 R Bland 66, B Weissburger 67, G McDowell 69
- Crushers-22 A Lahiri 68, B Dechambeau 68, C Howell III 71
- FIREBALLS -21 E Chacarra 67, C Ortiz 67, Ancer 69
- Iron heads -18 S Vincent 66, D Lee 69, K Na 69
- Torque -17S Munoz 65, G Nieman 69, M Pereira 69
- SMASH -17 B Koepka 68, J Kokrak 70, C Koepka 72
- Highflyers -16C Triangle 68, B Michelson 71, B Steel 71