Gooch holds on to win LIV Golf Adelaide – Golf News


Leading the field by 10 shots with 18 holes to play, Talor Gooch duly completed a wire-to-wire victory at LIV Golf Adelaide, although the American had to endure a few tense moments as he closed out a three-shot victory at The Grange Golf Club in Australia.

Gooch, fired back-to-back 62s to take what looked like an unassailable lead into the final round of the 54-hole tournament, but he had to dig deeper that he expected when he dropped four shots around the turn and at one point led by only two shots. But after a double bogey at 10, Gooch responded with birdies at 11 and 13 to restore some breathing room, then parred in the rest of the way for a 1-over 73, leaving him at 19 under for the tournament..

Gooch said: “It’s hard to put back-to-back days together like I did and even harder to do it three times in a row. I actually played fine out there today. The golf gods, I think, said, ‘We don’t want this first win to be easy on you.’

“I had a couple bad breaks here and there, so it made things interesting, but it was cool to kind of overcome the adversity and dig deep after I made a double on 10. It was kind of a point of we’re either going to dig deep and do this or you’re going to stumble coming in. It was pleasing to get the job done.”

Anirban Lahiri shot a closing 65 to claim second place at 16 under, while four players tied for third at 15 under: Patrick Reed, Pat Perez, Cameron Tringale and home favourite Cameron Smith, the captain of Rippers GC. Reed took third place on countback.

The 4Aces team featuring Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez and Peter Ulhein won the team event

Gooch’s over-par closing round opened the door for Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces team to clinch the team prize, with Patrick Reed shooting a 7-under 65, Peter Uihlein contributing a 66 and Johnson adding a 67 to finish on a collective 47 under to win by a stroke over the Gooch’s RangeGoats team led by Bubba Watson.  The all-South African Stinger GC took third.

The week saw the biggest ever crowds turn out to watch a LIV Golf event, with all three days being a sell-out. Cameron Smith, whose all-Australia team was loudly supported throughout the tournament, said: “There’s obviously a want in Australia for really high-quality golf, and I think the fans here really enjoyed what LIV offers. There’s no reason why we can’t make it bigger.”

Crowds surround the 18th green at The Grange on the final day, which attracted record galleries for a LIV Golf event
Rain man: Chase Koepka was showered with beer by the packed galleries after bagging a hole-in-one at The Grange’s par-3 12th hole on Sunday



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