Brendan Steele shot a 68 on Sunday at The Grange Golf Course to claim his maiden LIV Golf title at the Adelaide tournament.
The 41-year-old American entered the final round with a one-stroke lead and produced a string of five consecutive birdies on Sunday to give himself a sufficient cushion against the hard-charging Louis Oosthuizen, who shot a 7-under 65. Steele finished with an 18-under total, and was able to hold off all challengers, including the South African major winner.
The win earned the Hy Flyers team member $4,000,000 and momentum heading into this week’s stop in Singapore.
“Really surreal,” said Steele, who won for the first time since 2017 in Napa. “I’m pretty overwhelmed, but to win this event is really special. I can’t say enough good things about the fans and the golf course and the whole experience this week.”
The bigger story, though, was the battle for team supremacy in Australia.
And it did not disappoint.
After two-plus seasons and 28 tournaments, LIV Golf’s first team playoff finally took place on Sunday at LIV Golf Adelaide – and it resulted in an epic storybook ending for the hometown Ripper GC.
The all-Australian team, captained by Cameron Smith, beat the all-South African Stinger GC on the second playoff hole to capture a victory that the entire country had been hoping to experience, with more than 90,000 fans attending the three rounds of high-end tournament golf.
“This is unreal,” said Smith, standing on the 18th green and draped in an Australian flag with his teammates Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert. “It’s a dream come true for us.”
When Smith bogeyed his last hole of the day, the 18th, while Oosthuizen birdied his next-to-last hole, both teams finished at 53 under for the week – a record-low counting score in LIV Golf League history.
In overtime, Smith and Leishman represented the Rippers, while Oosthuizen and Burmester played for Stingers’ banner. (All players’ scores counted for their respective teams on each playoff hole.)
The Stingers appeared to have the advantage on the first playoff hole, with Oosthuizen and Burmester hitting similar tee shots and approaches, leaving them both with balls on the green, above the 18th hole pin. Meanwhile, neither Smith or Leishman found the green in regulation.
As he walked toward the green, Leishman estimated his chances of extending the playoff at twenty-five percent – and that was being optimistic. But both Smith and Leishman managed to get up and down to save par, while both Stinger players missed their birdie putts, with Oosthuizen’s lipping out.
“How we got out of that, I don’t really know,” Leishman said. “We were done and dusted by the looks of it.”
Given a second life, the Rippers took advantage: Leishman was on in two and made par, while both Stingers found the back greenside bunker, eventually leading to bogeys. Smith had two putts for a bogey to win and needed both of them to set off a raucous celebration that resulted in the Rippers drinking shoeys on the podium.
“You couldn’t have staged a better place to do the first playoff,” said a gracious Oosthuizen in defeat. “Probably couldn’t script it better with the Rippers winning. We had chances. We had two putts on the first hole. And I hit a good putt on the second playoff hole as well. Some days they go in, some days they don’t.”
For the Australian quartet, it was the dream ending for a week of incredible support. For Smith, it was the reason why he joined LIV Golf in 2022, shortly after winning the Open Championship at St Andrews.
“This week has far exceeded my vision for what was ahead,” Smith said. “I think I always knew internally that Australia would really embrace LIV with the culture, with the music, with the entertainment, everything that goes on around it. I always felt like this was the place where it was going to make it big, and how it’s been the last couple of years has been just insane.
“Last year I said, I’m biased, this is the best tournament I’ve ever played. I think this year it’s done it again.”
LIV Golf Adelaide Leaderboard
Top-10 Individuals
Pos-Player-To Par (Final Rd)
1. Brendan Steele -18 (-4)
2. Louis Oosthuizen -17 (-7)
3. Charl Schwartzel -16 (-8)
3. Jon Rahm -16 (-8)
3. Andy Ogletree -16 (-7)
3. Joaquin Niemann -16 (-6)
3. Dean Burmester -166 (-5)
8. Mito Pereira -15 (-3)
9. Abraham Ancer -14 (-8)
9. Brooks Koepka -14 (-6)
9. Matt Jones -14 (-4)
9. Jini Kozuma -14 (-4)
9. Danny Lee -14 (-1)
9. Brooks Koepka -14 (-6)
Top-3 Teams
Pos-Team-To Par (Final Rd)
1. RIPPER GC -53 (-20)
2. STINGER GC -53 (-24)
3. HYFLYERS GC -48 (-14)
Top-5 Money Makers
Pos-Player (Money)
1. Brendan Steele ($4m)
2. Louis Oosthuizen ($2.25m)
3. Charl Schwartzel ($920k)
3. Jon Rahm ($920k)
3. Andy Ogletree ($920k)
3. Joaquin Niemann ($920k)
3. Dean Burmester ($920k)
Credits: Getty Images, LIV Golf Communications
