ADELAIDE, Australia — Talor Gooch nearly lost a double-digit overnight lead but recovered in the second half to win the inaugural LIV Australian Tournament at Grange Golf Club on Sunday.
After two rounds of 10-under 62 without bogey, Gooch posted a 1-over 73 to take his first LIV golf win, three strokes behind the fast-moving Anirvan Lahiri.
As the tournament leader, the 31-year-old American started the round on Sunday’s 1st hole in a shotgun start format and scored a birdie on the par-3 5th hole, but eventually bogey-free ran the par-5. finished on the 7th hole.
He dropped a shot at the eighth and a slide worsened with a double bogey at the tenth, cutting his lead to just two strokes over the fast-moving Lahiri with eight holes still to play.
It was very close, as Gooch birdied the 11th and 13th holes and made par on the par 4 18th to win and take home $4 million of his $20 million prize.
Lahiri hit 65 to finish at 16-under for second, two-stroke four-way tie with Cameron Tringale (67), Pat Perez (67), Patrick Reed (65) and British Open champion Cameron Smith (66). It was a draw with a difference. Finished at 15 under 201.
Phil Mickelson finished tied for 11th after 69 with a 12-under 204. As was the case for his first two rounds, Mickelson was clearly a crowd favorite, cheered most of the way in his round by another sold-out crowd of 35,000. Grange Golf in Adelaide A warm day at his club.
Chase Koepka made a definite shot of the day with an ace on the par-3 12th hole. The shot was enthusiastically celebrated by thousands of fans lining up at the so-called “watering hole”.
Play was delayed for several minutes while marshals cleared the teeing area of the hundreds of plastic cups and bottles thrown by fans in situations not generally associated with golf.
Koepka went 6-under 66 in the final round and went 10-under overall.
Over 90,000 fans attended the three-day event, making it the most successful LIV golf tournament in its second year.
The 14-event season continues next weekend at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club.
Leave a Reply