Who won the LIV Golf London? Final leaderboard explored
Australia's Cameron Smith took the LIV Golf London title, closing his performance with a score of -15. The super favorite 4Aces GC team took the title by finishing with -34.
Despite leading the entire way at LIV Golf London, Smith faced an electrifying finish, thanks to Patrick Rodgers' strong rebound on rounds two and three. However, the Australian was able to keep pace and hit the shots needed to win by the slimmest of margins.
Cameron Smith becomes a LIV Champion for the 2nd time 🏆🏆
#LIVGolf @rippergc_ https://t.co/If1Z6xzNgJ
Smith played a very solid game from start to finish of the LIV Golf London, carding rounds of 63-67-68, with 20 bogeys and five birdies. There is no doubt that his first round (eight birdies, zero bogeys) was decisive for him to win the individual title.
However, if we are talking about a spectacular tournament, we must mention Patrick Reed's performance. The American came from less to more with an admirable progression: 70-64-65.
Between rounds two and three of the LIV Golf London, he made only one bogey with 14 birdies and had it in his hands to force a tie.
Smith and Reed started the third round together on hole 1 (in the LIV Golf circuit, the pairings are four players). They reached the 18th hole with Smith leading by two strokes, where the Australian bogeyed.
A birdie by the American would have forced a tie, which would have won the LIV Golf London. However, he could only save par and was one stroke behind. According to LIV Golf rules, there is no play-off to define individual ties. The first tie-breaker rule is that whoever scores the best last round, wins.
Marc Leishman took third place in the LIV Golf London event with the same score as Reed (but with a worse last round). This is Leishman's best performance by far this season.
The team tournament was no less interesting, as the first place was also defined by a stroke (according to the rules, team play-offs are a possibility). The tremendous performance of Patrick Reed and the no less excellent one of Dustin Johnson (5th, -10) and Pat Perez (7th, -9) gave the victory to the 4Aces.
Your Team Champions in London 🏆 @4AcesGC_
#LIVGolf https://t.co/NkF3s1Y7xf
The fight literally extended to the last hole, as Smith and Leishman kept the Ripper GCs in contention for the LIV Golf London team title. But the team's third-highest qualifier, Jediah Morgan, was unsuccessful in getting a better score than even par.
Smith, however, had it in his hands to force the team playoff, but made a bogey on the 18th hole. That shot would have forced the extra opportunity for Ripper GC, despite Morgan's quiet performance.
LIV London final leaderboard
Here is the final leaderboard of the LIV Golf London tournament, singles and teams:
Singles
1 Cam Smith -15
2 Patrick Reed -14
3 Marc Leishman -14
4 Louis Oosthuizen -12
5 Dustin Johnson 10
6 Richard Bland -9
7 Pat Perez -9
8 Cameron Tringale -9
9 Henrik Stenson -9
10 Thomas Pieters -9
11 Ian Poulter -8
12 Harold Varner III -8
13 Bryson DeChambeau -8
14 Anirban Lahiri -8
15 Kevin Na -8
16 Abraham Ancer -8
17 Brooks Koepka -7
18 Peter Uihlein -7
19 Dean Burmester -7
20 Laurie Canter -7
21 Sebastian Muñoz -6
22 Talor Gooch -6
23 Joaquin Niemann -6
24 Branden Grace -6
25 Sergio Garcia -6
26 Eugenio Chacarra -5
27 Jason Kokrak -5
28 Chase Koepka -5
29 Graeme McDowell -4
30 Brendan Steele -4
31 Carlos Ortiz -3
32 Danny Lee -3
33 Matt Jones -3
34 Charl Schwartzel -3
35 Scott Vincent -2
36 Bernd Wiesberger -2
37 Bubba Watson -1
38 Lee Westwood -1
39 Jediah Morgan E
40 Mito Pereira +1
41 Phil Mickelson +1
42 David Puig +1
43 James Piot +1
44 Charles Howell III +2
45 Martin Kaymer +2
46 Sihwan Kim +5
47 Matthew Wolff +8
48 Paul Casey E (WD)
Teams
1 4 Aces GC -34
2 Ripper GC -33
3 Stinger GC -29
4 RangeGoats GC -26
5 Majesticks GC -24
6 Cleeks GC -23
7 Crushers GC -22
8 Fireballs GC -21
9 Iron Heads GC -18
10 Torque GC E -17
11 Smash GC -17
12 Hy Flyers GC -16