BEDMINSTER, New Jersey: Australia’s Cameron Smith, last year’s British Open champion, fired a three-under-par 68 on Sunday for a blowout victory at the LIV Golf League event at Trump National Bedminster.
The 29-year-old from Brisbane finished 54 holes at the New Jersey layout on 12-under 201 with India’s Anirban Lahiri a distant second, seven strokes adrift.
“That was a good day,” Smith said. “I’m looking forward to a couple weeks with the clubs down.”
Smith moved atop LIV’s season points list with the victory.
“That was the goal since the start of the year, to at least be up there with a shot at it with one tournament to go. Ticking the box in that department this week.”
Smith, a six-time winner on the US PGA Tour before jumping last year to the Saudi-backed upstart series, captured his third career LIV Golf title, having taken last year’s Chicago trophy and last month’s London crown.
There was little suspense after Phil Mickelson’s challenge faded early.
Smith began the final round with a four-stroke lead over six-time major winner Mickelson but opened with a bogey.
After Smith and Mickelson made bogeys at the third hole, the Aussie saw his lead trimmed to two when Mickelson birdied the par-3 fourth.
Smith boosted his lead with a birdie at the sixth and Mickelson plunked two in the water at the par-3 seventh on his way to a quintuple-bogey 8 that dropped the 53-year-old US left-hander eight adrift — leaving Smith five ahead of the field with 11 to play.
Smith reeled off three birdies in a row starting at the par-5 eighth, stretching his lead to seven strokes, and cruised from there.
Ripper GC, captained by Smith, won the team competition on 20-under, defeating Crushers and Stinger by 11 strokes.
Australia’s Cameron Smith captures LIV Golf Bedminster crown
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Australia’s Cameron Smith captures LIV Golf Bedminster crown
- The 29-year-old from Brisbane finished 54 holes at the New Jersey layout on 12-under 201 with India’s Anirban Lahiri a distant second
- LIV Golf title is the third for Smith, a six-time winner on the US PGA Tour before jumping last year to the Saudi-backed upstart series
Davis Riley grabs two-shot lead at Colonial tournament
- Riley is seeking his second PGA Tour title, having teamed with Nick Hardy to win the 2023 Zurich Classic two-man team event in New Orleans
LOS ANGELES: Davis Riley made six birdies in a 6-under par 64 on Friday to take a two-shot lead in the US PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
The 27-year-old ranked 250th in the world was 10-under and in the lead but facing a par putt at his final hole when play was halted for more than an hour because of thunderstorms in the area.
“Luckily, it was a three-footer straight up the hill, so (there) wasn’t too much to stress about,” Riley said. “I knocked in about five three-footers before walking over there to cap off the round — hit it center cut and made it.
“It was nice to finish the day and made for a good, pretty stress-free six-under.”
Hayden Buckley returned from the delay to card the fifth of his five birdies at the sixth — his 15th hole of the day — posting a five-under par 65,
He was tied for second, two shots back on 8-under 132 alongside Pierceson Coody.
Coody had an eagle and six birdies in his 5-under 65, surging to his share of second with three straight birdies to end his round.
South Korea’s Im Sung-jae had seven birdies in his 6-under 64 to join a group sharing fourth on 134. He was joined by American Keegan Bradley and Austrian Sepp Straka, who both shot 66.
Riley is seeking his second PGA Tour title, having teamed with Nick Hardy to win the 2023 Zurich Classic two-man team event in New Orleans.
One off the lead to start the day, he teed off on 10 and rolled in birdies at 15 and 16 before launching a run of three straight birdies at the 18th.
He got up and down from bunkers for birdies at both the first and second, and rolled in a 10-footer for birdie at the sixth to reach 10-under.
Reigning Open champion Brian Harman headlined a group on 135 and former US Open champion Gary Woodland, back on tour this season after surgery for a brain lesion, was in a group on 136 after a six-under 64.
“I just put everything together,” said Woodland, who said he doesn’t have the same debilitating symptoms he had last year but is “still battling, still on medication.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was a further stroke back on 137 after a 5-under par 65 that featured five birdies — four in a row from the 18th through the third.
Scheffler was in danger of seeing his cuts made streak end at 36 after his two-over opening round.
But a week after his arrest in a traffic incident before the second round of the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, Scheffler turned things around.
Scheffler, who put together a run of four wins in five events — including a second Masters title in April — is still facing multiple charges in Louisville that include felony assault of a police officer after allegedly trying to go around a traffic jam as police investigated an earlier fatal road accident.
Scheffler has called the incident “a huge misunderstanding,” with his lawyer saying he “did not do anything wrong but was simply proceeding as directed.”
Olympics hopefuls Hull and Hall set to play Aramco Team Series in London
- Georgia Hall aims to retain her 2023 team title in Britain
- World No. 8 Charley Hull gearing up for potential gold at 2024 Paris Olympics
LONDON: The Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – London in July is shaping up as a preview for the 2024 Paris Olympics, with Great Britain’s Charley Hull and Georgia Hall leading the early field announcements.
The two are sure to be a hit with the home crowds, and with further announcements set to follow on a strong field, both are looking to build on outstanding 2023 outings at the tournament.
Last year, Hull came up just short to American Nelly Korda in the individual competition, while Hall was able to captain her team to victory in extremely difficult conditions, edging out Hull’s team by just one stroke.
Now England’s dynamic duo, who are also long-time best friends, are aiming to secure their places at the 2024 Paris Olympics and become the first to win a medal for Team GB in a women’s golf event.
The golf at the Olympics, where Korda is set to defend her gold medal from Tokyo 2020, tees off a little over a month after the Aramco Team Series London event, and the Major-like event at Centurion Club will provide the pair the perfect opportunity to prepare for the grand stage of the sport.
Hull has recently achieved a career-high Rolex Women’s Golf World Ranking of seventh following her impressive T2 finish at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Tampa in March 2024.
Reflecting on her preparations for the summer, Hull commented: “At the start of the season I sat down and thought about how I wanted this year to pan out. I knew that there would be an important summer of golf ahead with the Olympic Games, Solheim Cup and chasing down my first Major title.
“I’m in the best place I’ve ever been in my career, mentally and physically. Sticking to the gym in those early hours and achieving 5 km personal bests was a way to ground myself and clear my head, and this is really helping me out on the course.
“To have the Aramco Team Series at home is the best way to open the intense summer ahead. Playing in a field with some of the players I’ll face in Paris, and at a tournament like this that has that Major-like feel, will be a great dress rehearsal for me to aim for that gold medal.”
Hall, looking to defend her Aramco Team Series London team title, sees the event as a crucial step in her 2024 campaign, which could well feature the Solheim Cup in September.
“The Aramco Team Series in London will be my first appearance in the event this year and I’m buzzing to get back into playing with a team which will hopefully be a great transition to the Solheim Cup in September,” Hall said.
“Competing against Charley as a team captain again, so close to home, will add an extra layer of excitement, especially with friends and family cheering us on. I’ve played my fair share of Majors and outside of those, the Aramco Team Series matches the energy and field the best. It’s always a great competition with the top players out there.”
Joining Hull and Hall will be a competitive Ladies European Tour field, including Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands, Singapore’s Shannon Tan, and India’s Diksha Dagar — all using the event as a platform to fine-tune their skills ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
2024 LIV Golf Team Championship heads to Dallas
- Fans throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex will welcome LIV Golf’s star-studded teams for the season finale
- LIV Golf CEO: ‘Our LIV Golf players are looking forward to playing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with its great golf tradition’
LONDON, NEW YORK, WEST PALM BEACH: LIV Golf announced on Wednesday the details for the league’s 2024 Team Championship, scheduled to take place Sep. 20-22, 2024, at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas.
Fans throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex will welcome LIV Golf’s star-studded teams for the season finale, with the excitement of head-to-head competition featuring both match play and stroke play that will determine the 2024 LIV Golf League Team Champions.
“Our LIV Golf players are looking forward to playing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with its great golf tradition,” LIV Golf Commissioner and CEO Greg Norman said in a media statement.
“Texas is legendary for producing and hosting great golfers who set a high bar while competing for championships. Our LIV Golf Team Championship at Maridoe Golf Club will be a great experience for our players and all the fans in attendance,” added Norman.
“This year’s Team Championship at Maridoe Golf Club holds special significance for me as we make our Dallas debut and our team strives to defend our title in front of a home crowd,” said Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers GC captain.
“I’m excited to play this course and compete in front of Texas fans for our closing event and can’t wait to bring LIV Golf’s electrifying energy and fierce competition to Dallas,” DeChambeau added.
Meanwhile, Maridoe Golf Club founder Albert Huddleston, said: “Maridoe has been honored to previously host the Southern Amateur, Trans-Mississippi Amateur, East West Cup Matches, USGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship as well as two 2020 COVID tournaments won by Scottie Scheffler and Brandon Wu.”
Maridoe is designed to be an enjoyable but demanding member’s club, according to Huddleston, while always ready to provide a great test for elite golfers to entertain golf enthusiasts.
Maridoe Golf Club, located just 20 miles from downtown Dallas, was ranked by Golf Digest among the top three new private courses in 2018. Built on the site of the old Columbian Club and designed by Steve Smyers, the course is considered among the most difficult in the Metroplex, tipping out at 7,817 yards, and will be the host for LIV Golf’s 2024 finale — a three-day, survive-and-advance tournament featuring team match play and stroke play.
For the LIV Golf Team Championship, teams will be seeded 1-13 based on the final regular season team standings following the 13th event, LIV Golf Chicago, taking place Sep. 13-15 at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Adjustments to the Team Championship format have been implemented to enhance the competition across the three days at Maridoe.
In addition to hosting world-class competition, the LIV Golf Team Championship will feature live music entertainment and family-friendly fun for all ages. Fans can secure the ultimate tournament experience with LIV Golf’s renowned hospitality packages, each delivering an array of amenities.
Tickets for the Team Championship are on sale now at LIVGolf.com
Xander Schauffele scores major breakthrough, wins PGA Championship in a thriller at Valhalla
- Schauffele: I told myself this is my opportunity — capture it
- Schauffele became the first player since Phil Mickelson in 2005 at Baltusrol to win the PGA Championship with a birdie on the last hole to win by one
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Xander Schauffele cashed in at just the right time Sunday, swirling in a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the PGA Championship for his first major with the lowest score in major championship history.
The Olympic gold medalist got something even more valuable in silver — that enormous Wanamaker Trophy after a wild week at Valhalla.
Schauffele closed with a 6-under 65 to beat Bryson DeChambeau, entertaining to the very end with a 10-foot birdie of his own on the par-5 18th for a 64.
Schauffele became the first player since Phil Mickelson in 2005 at Baltusrol to win the PGA Championship with a birdie on the last hole to win by one. And this took all he had.
He already had mud on his golf ball on two key holes along the back nine that kept him from attacking the flag. His drive on the 17th bounced back into a bunker, forcing him to scramble for par and stay tied with DeChambeau, who had finished two groups ahead of him. And then his tee shot rolled just far enough toward the edge of a bunker to present another problem.
Schauffele had to stand with his feet in the sand, gripping well down on the 4-iron, aiming out to the right and hoping for the best. He drilled a beauty, some 35 yards short but with a good angle. He pitched to 6 feet and was never closer to finally winning a major.
“I told myself this is my opportunity — capture it,” Schauffele said.
The putt broke just enough left to catch the left edge of the cup and swirled around before disappearing. Schauffele, who exudes California chill, raised both arms above his head with the biggest smile before a hard hug with Austin Kaiser, his caddie and former teammate at San Diego State.
DeChambeau was on the range, staying loose for a potential playoff, watching Schauffele from a large video board. He saw the winning putt fall, and walked all the way back to the 18th to join in with so many other players wanting to congratulate the 30-year-old.
“I gave it my all. I put as much effort as I possibly could into it and I knew that my B game would be enough,” DeChambeau said. “It’s just clearly somebody played incredibly well. Xander’s well deserving of a major championship.”
Viktor Hovland, the FedEx Cup champion who wasn’t sure he even belonged at Valhalla while trying to work his way out of a slump, also had a 10-foot putt after DeChambeau hit his to tie for the lead. He missed the birdie, then missed a meaningless par putt and shot 66 to finish third.
Schauffele, who began this championship with a 62 to tie the major championship record, finished at 21-under 263 with that winning birdie. That beats by one shot the major record previously shared by Brooks Koepka in the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive and Henrik Stenson in the 2016 British Open at Royal Troon.
And so ended another memorable week at Valhalla.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who arrived five days after the birth of his first child, was arrested and briefly jailed on Friday morning for not following directions of police investigating a fatal car crash involving a pedestrian an hour earlier.
He got out of jail and to the course in time to play the second round and shot 66. But it caught up with him on the weekend. Scheffler fell out of contention with a 73 on Saturday — his first round over par since last August. He closed with a 65 to tie for eighth.
Two players — Schauffele on Thursday and Shane Lowry on Saturday — tied the major record with a 62. Scoring records seemed to fall just about every day on a rain-softened course.
All that, and it came down to one putt that Schauffele will never forget.
“I really didn’t want to go into a playoff with Bryson,” he said.
In so many ways, this time was overdue. He had gone nearly two years since last winning at the Scottish Open. Schauffele had eight consecutive finishes in the top 20 at majors coming into Valhalla. He already had a pair of runner-up finishes and six top 5s.
And in the last two months alone, he lost 54-hole leads when he was chased down by Scheffler’s 64 at The Players Championship and by Rory McIlroy’s 65 last week at the Wells Fargo Championship.
The victory was his eighth on the PGA Tour — that doesn’t include his Olympic gold from the Tokyo Games in 2021. This one moves him to a career-best No. 2 in the world, still a long way from Scheffler but assuring Schauffele of qualifying for the US team in the Olympics.
Schauffele gets another major scoring record and sets the pace at PGA Championship
- The three-shot lead matches the 18-hole record held by Bobby Nichols in 1964 at Columbus (Ohio) Country Club and Raymond Floyd in 1982 at Southern Hills
- cord 64 players broke par. The previous record for the first round of a PGA was 60 sub-par rounds in 2006 at Medinah, according to the Elias Sports Bureau
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Xander Schauffele is playing some of his best golf without a trophy to show for it. He at least put his name in the PGA Championship record book Thursday with a 9-under 62, and gave himself another entry in the record book for all majors.
Schauffele seized on the rain-softened conditions at Valhalla with a bogey-free 62, the lowest round in PGA Championship history, and matched the PGA record for largest margin after 18 holes with a three-shot lead over Tony Finau, Sahith Theegala and Mark Hubbard.
Schauffele, a 30-year-old who oozes California chill, kept this one in perspective.
“It’s just one day,” he said. “Very happy with how I played. I can’t think much more of it. I have to tee it up tomorrow.”
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler saw Schauffele’s score and cared only about putting together a good round in his first competition since his son was born last week.
That he did, holing out with a 9-iron from 167 yards on the first hole for eagle, the highlight in a round of 67. Scheffler failed to birdie the par 5s on the back nine and had a few other mistakes that sent him to the range after his round, but otherwise felt OK about it.
“I felt like there was a couple things I can clean up going into tomorrow, but overall today was a solid round,” Scheffler said after his 41st consecutive round at par or better.
This was an easy day to keep that streak going. A record 64 players broke par. The previous record for the first round of a PGA was 60 sub-par rounds in 2006 at Medinah, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Even players who stumbled from the start had ample opportunity to turn it around.
Jon Rahm opened with four bogeys in six holes, threw a club in disgust on the 16th hole and still managed a 70 by making four birdies down the stretch. Collin Morikawa was 2 over through five holes, but he responded with three straight birdies and finished with a 65.
Even so, this was a special round. Schauffele one-putted 12 times — two of them for par that he considered crucial to his round — and he didn’t go more than one hole without a birdie until the very end when he finished par-par for the record.
The three-shot lead matches the 18-hole record held by Bobby Nichols in 1964 at Columbus (Ohio) Country Club and Raymond Floyd in 1982 at Southern Hills. Both went on to win.
Schauffele had plenty of attention, playing alongside Louisville native Justin Thomas and in the group ahead of Tiger Woods, who was followed by Rory McIlroy. Thomas rallied late for a 69 that required some perspective of his own.
“When you’re playing with one of the easiest 9 unders you’ve ever seen, it makes you feel like you’re shooting a million,” Thomas said.
Finau closed with four pars for his 65. Theegala had 65 by finishing with three straight birdies. Hubbard had three birdies over his last four holes to join them late in the afternoon.
McIlroy, back on the course where he won his last major 10 years ago, ran off three birdies late in his round for a 66 that left him in a large group that included Morikawa and Tom Kim.
“You knew there were a lot of birdies out there,” Morikawa said. “It played soft and the greens were pretty slow.”
Defending champion Brooks Koepka played his final three holes in 3 under for a 67, while Jordan Spieth bogeyed his last hole for a 69 in his bid for the final leg of the Grand Slam.
There had been 17 scores of 63 at the PGA Championship, most recently Koepka in the opening round at Bethpage Black in 2019. The list includes Jose Maria Olazabal at Valhalla in 2000 during the third round.
Schauffele had to get up-and-down from behind the green on the par-3 eighth to a front pin, a chip of 60 feet that was right in the jar until stopping 2 feet short. His two-putt par from about 30 feet on the ninth hole gave him the PGA record.
That makes four rounds of 62 in all the majors, and Schauffele has two of them. He and Rickie Fowler shot 62 in the first round of the US Open last year at Los Angeles Country Club (par 70), while Branden Grace shot 62 in the third round at Royal Birkdale in the 2017 British Open.
And then he began the 24-hour wait before his next shot on Friday afternoon.
“The greens will be a little bit bumpier with a lot of foot traffic coming through. Who knows with the weather — it might rain — so the course might be playing completely different,” Schauffele said. “Just going to bed knowing I’m playing some pretty good golf, might just wipe the slate clean.”
Good golf, indeed. Just no trophy since the summer of 2022.
Schauffele had a one-shot lead last week in the Wells Fargo Championship and McIlroy zoomed by him on the back nine with a 65 to win by five. He also had a one-shot lead going into the final round at The Players Championship until Scheffler shot 64 to win by one.
“I’ve just been playing some really solid golf,” he said. “Been having close calls. My team and I, we just say let’s keep chugging along.”
This felt like a sprint from when he hit 6-iron to a pin back and left on the par-3 11th to 2 feet, followed by a 15-foot par save on the 12th, one of the few times he was out of position. Schauffele birdied three of the last four holes on the back nine for a 31, and then he ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch — no putt longer than 10 feet — on the front nine.
It was the perfect recipe for scoring — the sun above, soft turf below, not much wind, and greens still relatively smooth.
“You for sure know there’s going to be some holes there for the taking,” Finau said. “You’re going to hit some good shots. You’re going to have a lot of looks. That’s what you saw out there today. ... I think you can go on a run here with the conditions.
“And it’s going to make for a fun week.”
It was frustrating for Woods, who holed enough putts and hit enough good shots that he was 1 under going to the final three holes. But he failed to take advantage of the par-5 seventh, and then he three-putted for bogey on his final two holes for a 72. That marked the eighth straight round in which he failed to break par in a major.
“That wasn’t the way I like to finish off a round,” Woods said. “Long way to go, and we’ll see what happens.”
