CARROLLTON, Texas — Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert delivered clutch putts late in the championship round Sunday to lead Australia-based Ripper to its first team title in the LIV Golf League.
Herbert, who looked as though he might have cost his team with a double bogey and a bogey on two of the par 5s at Maridoe Golf Club, responded with four birdies over his last five holes, the final putt a 12-footer for birdie for a 69.
Smith hit a 60-yard pitch to 12 feet and holed the birdie putt on the 17th to give Ripper the lead for good, and then drilled his tee shot down the middle on the 18th that effectively sealed the win. He shot 68. Matt Jones birdied two of his last three holes following a double bogey. He had a 70, along with Marc Leishman.
Ripper finished at 11-under 277, three shots ahead of 4Aces and Iron Heads.
“To have those three other guys today trying to get the job done, something was telling me we were going to be all right,” Smith said.
It was tight toward the end. The final round featured stroke play in which the scores counted from all four players on the four leading teams. Ripper, 4Aces and Iron Heads were tied for the lead with only a few holes to play until Ripper came up with the clutch putts.
4Aces had just as much of a chance until Patrick Reed badly missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, flipping his putter in disgust. The captain, Dustin Johnson, caught the lip of the cup on a birdie putt at the 17th that put his team two shots behind Ripper.
Johnson then drove into the water on the 18th, effectively ending his team’s chances of a second team title. Johnson and Reed each shot 69.
Iron Heads was the big surprise, having finished last in the regular season. It knocked out the Smash team led by Brooks Koepka and the defending champion Crushers led by Bryon DeChambeau. Tied for the lead late, Jinichiro Kozuma bogeyed his final hole and Kevin Na had to scramble for par on the par-5 17th. They both shot 69.
Legion XIII again was missing its captain, Jon Rahm, who couldn’t play because of the flu. John Catlin replaced him and shot 70. Tyrrell Hatton had a 68 but didn’t get much help from the rest of the team that was in its first year.
Ripper won $14 million, with each player getting $1.4 million and the rest going to the team management.
