LIV LONDON: SMITH WINS INDIVIDUAL TITLE; 4ACES RALLY FOR TEAM WIN

Cameron Smith secured his second win on UK soil in the space of 12 months when winning the London leg of the LIV Golf League held at Centurion Club in Hertfordshire.

The 2022 Open Champion, playing 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 fired a three-under 68 to finish on 15 under and win by a single shot from

Patrick Reed and Marc Leishman, who shot 65 and 66 respectively to cut the gap, but Smith survived a final-hole bogey to keep his head in front and claim the $4m individual first prize.

Smith and Leishman were both part of the four-man Ripper team, which were leading the team event after two days, but they were overtaken by 4Aces for the $3m team prize thanks to late surges up the leaderboard from Reed, Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez. That meant a combined score of -34, one clear of Ripper’s -33.

“I’m obviously thrilled about the individual win, but it would have been nice to get up there with the boys and take the team title too,” said Smith, who missed a six-foot putt for par that would’ve forced the first team playoff since LIV Golf was launched last year.

Teammate Leishman said: “I really wanted Cam to make the one on the last there. He played great and putted great all week. To win the tournament and still walk off the green disappointed, I guess that’s what this team format is all about.”

The placings for individual honours saw Louis Oosthuizen take fourth place on his own, 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 enjoying a $648,000 pay day after a closing 66 saw him finish level with Cameron Tringale, Henrik Stenson, Pat Perez and Thomas Pieters.

In the team event the 4Aces certainly seem to have the formula for success. Sunday’s win was their sixth team title since the league launched, and their second this season, having also won in Adelaide. Victory at Centurion saw them increase their lead in the team standings to 39 points over Torque.

Reed provided the Aces with their lowest score of the day, a 6-under 65 that moved him to 14 under. The other two contributing scores belonged to Pat Perez, who shot a bogey-free 66, and captain Dustin Johnson with a 67, with Peter Uihlein’s 68 not counting.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD

Pos     Player                 Tot      Rd1     Rd2     Rd3 
1          Cameron Smith       -15      63       67       68
T2       Marc 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 Tringale   -9        67       69       68
T6       Henrik Stenson       -9        69       66       69
T6       Pat Perez                   -9        70       68       66
T6       Thomas Pieters       -9        66       67       71

TEAM PLACINGS (including best 3 scores from final round)

1. 4ACES -34 P Reed 65, P Perez 66, D Johnson 67
2. RIPPER -33      M Leishman 66, C Smith 68, J Morgan 69
3. STINGER -29 L Oosthuizen 68, B Grace 69, D Burmester 69
4. RANGEGOATS -26 H Varner III 67, T Gooch 68, B Watson 71
5. MAJESTICKS -24 I Poulter 66, H Stenson 69, L Canter 70
6. CLEEKS -23 R Bland 66, B Wiesberger 67, G McDowell 69
7. CRUSHERS -22 A Lahiri 68, B DeChambeau 68, C Howell III 71
8. FIREBALLS -21 E Chacarra 67, C Ortiz 67, A Ancer 69
9. IRON HEADS -18 S Vincent 66, D Lee 69, K Na 69
10. TORQUE -17 S Munoz 65, J Niemann 69, M Pereira 69
11. SMASH -17 B Koepka 68, J Kokrak 70, C Koepka 72
12. HYFLYERS -16 C Tringale 68, P Mickelson 71, B Steele 71

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