LIV GOLF SINGAPORE: KOEPKA BECOMES FIRST TO WIN FOUR TIMES; RIPPERS WIN SECOND STRAIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

BY LIV GOLF STAFF SINGAPORE – While Ripper GC rode the momentum of last week’s home victory to a second straight team title Sunday at LIV Golf Singapore, Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka lit the fuse of a hot streak he hopes will produce a successful title defense at the upcoming PGA Championship. Led by captain Cameron Smith and veteran Marc Leishman, the all-Australian Rippers overcame any concerns of a hangover effect after their emotional victory in Adelaide, shooting a final-round counting score of 10 under at Sentosa Golf Club to win by three strokes over Fireballs GC and Cleeks GC as the 2024 season reached its halfway point. “I kind of knew all year that we were going to get the ball rolling at some point,” said Smith, whose team finished at 32 under and moved to third in the season-long points standings. “I think internally that we’re the best team out here, and we’re going to be tough to beat when we all have our best stuff.” Certainly, when Koepka has his best stuff, he’s nearly impossible to beat. On Sunday, he shot a 3-under 68 to finish at 15 under for a two-stroke victory over Smith and Leishman, in the process becoming the first player in LIV Golf history to win four individual tournament titles. He’ll head into the PGA Championship at Valhalla in two weeks feeling confident about his chances to win a sixth career major.

 

 

“It’s all starting to come around,” said Koepka, who became the first active LIV Golf player to win a major with his victory last year at Oak Hill. “I like the way things are trending.” Koepka started the day with a three-shot lead, but a variety of challengers closed the gap throughout the round. Koepka never gave up the lead, though, and he bounced back from his only bogey – a three-putt at the ninth – with a birdie. A late Leishman birdie moved the Aussie within a shot, but a bogey on his final hole gave Koepka a two-shot lead going into the par-5 18th, and he played conservative to avoid the water on the finishing hole. “I felt the heat, but it was mainly because of how hot it was,” Koepka said. “Just played very consistent, missed it in the right spots. When you’re playing with a lead, you do that. You don’t have to force anything.”

The Rippers started the day one stroke back of Smash but grabbed the lead 11 holes into the round when Smith and Leishman heated up. The captain was six under during a 10-hole stretch en route to a 7-under 64, which tied for the lowest round of the day. Leishman was 5 under during a nine-hole stretch as he shot a 66. Matt Jones had a 70 while Lucas Herbert shot a 74 but steadied the ship after suffering a double bogey on his sixth hole. “It’s amazing,” Jones said. “Last week was a very special week for us, but to come out here this week and do it again, it’s really special.” The vibe was certainly different than a week ago when the Rippers had 94,000 Aussies hanging on their every shot. But the outcome was the same. “It was certainly a challenge,” Leishman said of fighting the hangover effect. “It might have been a blessing in disguise. Yes, we partied pretty hard for a couple of days, but then we all had Tuesday off. I don’t know if many of us left our hotel rooms. “And I think conserving energy this week was pretty important, particularly for the end of the week when everyone is worn out. We were worn out, but I think just taking it so easy early in the week might have helped us just to have that little bit of mental strength that it took to get across the line.” In two weeks, Koepka will try to make it two straight PGA Championship wins. And next month in Houston, the Rippers will try to make it three consecutive LIV Golf team titles. “It’s probably a good thing to have a couple of weeks off,” said Smith. “It’ll be another hot one in Houston. We all love the heat. I think we’ve all played that golf course before. We’re looking forward to getting there and keeping the momentum rolling.”

TEAM COUNTING SCORES Standings and counting scores for Sunday’s final round of the team competition at LIV Golf Singapore. The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title. 1. RIPPER GC -32 (Smith 64, Leishman 66, Jones 70, Herbert 74; Rd. 3 score -10) T2. FIREBALLS GC -29 (Chacarra 68, Garcia 68, Puig 68, Ancer 71; Rd. 3 score -9) T2. CLEEKS GC -29 (Samooja 64, Bland 69, Kaymer 71 Meronk 71; Rd. 3 score -9) 4. SMASH GC -28 (Gooch 67, Koepka 68, McDowell 71, Kokrak 73; Rd. 3 score -5) 5. LEGION XIII -26 (Hatton 66, Rahm 67, Surratt 71, Vincent 71; Rd. 3 score – 9) T6. TORQUE GC -25 (Ortiz 64, Niemann 67, Pereira 70, Muñoz 71; Rd. 3 score -12) T6. RANGEGOATS GC -25 (Watson 67, Uihlein 68, Pieters 69, Wolff 76; Rd. 3 score -4) T8. 4ACES GC -21 (Johnson 66, Reed 66, Perez, 71 Varner III 72; Rd. 3 score -9) T8. HYFLYERS GC -21 (Mickelson 67, Ogletree 67, Steele 71, Tringale 71; Rd. 3 score -8) 10. STINGER GC -19 (Burmester 68, Grace 69, Oosthuizen 71, Schwartzel 71; Rd. 3 score -5) 11. CRUSHERS GC -17 (DeChambeau 69, Casey 70, Lahiri 70, Howell III 71; Rd. 3 score -4) 12. IRON HEADS GC -6 (Na 67, Lee 69, Kozuma 76, Vincent 76; Rd. 3 score +4) 13. MAJESTICKS GC E (Horsfield 70, Poulter 73, Stenson 73, Westwood 75; Rd.3 score +7)

ROUND 3 NOTES CELEBRATING WITH CREW: Brooks Koepka’s win on Sunday at LIV Golf Singapore is the 20th of his professional career. But it’s his first as a father, and he enjoyed the celebration on the 18th hole with his wife Jena and their 9-month-old son Crew. Koepka wore a huge smile as he held his son, who was wearing a black onesie and a floppy blue hat for protection against the sun. “Super awesome,” said Koepka, who turned 34 last Friday. “It’s great to have him out. Like I said earlier in the week, it’s been kind of disappointing because he’s watched me finish 45th, which is kind of embarrassing. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of is having Jena and Crew there when I win. To have them here is super special and something I’ll never forget.” This week was Crew’s third tournament to attend. His father had finished tied for 45th the first two times, at LIV Golf Miami and the Masters. AUSSIES IN SINGAPORE: This week was not a home game for the all-Australian Ripper GC, but they still had noticeable support at Sentosa Golf Club. “It’s a pretty easy flight from Australia,” said Matt Jones, “and I think they’re either expats or a lot of people traveled up here, so it was great to have Ripper fans out here again this week. Hopefully there’s more and more. The more we play, there’s more Ripper fans everywhere we go.” The Rippers certainly celebrated their second consecutive win in a very Aussie manner, with shoeys on the podium just like last week in Adelaide. “I said to the boys, surely we’ve got to draw the line somewhere, don’t we?” Marc Leishman said. “They’re like, no, we’re doing it. I’m like, all right, so we did.” Captain Cameron Smith even autographed his shoes before drinking out of them, then he handed the pair to fans who helped the team celebrate. “Even though I’ve had a couple of wins, they’re only a few weeks old, so I feel like I should go and get them back, to be honest,” Smith joked. BEST RESULT FOR CLEEKS: Cleeks GC tied for second on the final team leaderboard – the team’s third career podium finish and its best-ever result in LIV Golf. The previous two podiums were third-place finishes in Bangkok in 2022 and Jeddah in 2023. “It’s nice to know that we have a team now that we all play good golf, and we know that if we can play well, we actually have a chance to be on the podium,” said Cleeks captain Martin Kaymer. Although Adrian Meronk had the team’s highest finish of the week, a 9-under total that left him tied for 10th, it was LIV Golf Promotions winner Kalle Samooja who produced the low round for his team Sunday with a 7-under 64. Richard Bland added a 69, while Kaymer and Meronk shot even-par 71. “That performance today, it was very important for him,” Kaymer said of Samooja, whose tie for 14th at 8 under is his first points result (top 24) of the season. “He was struggling during the practice rounds and the last two days. He must have found something yesterday on the course.” HATTON’S WEIRD WEEK: Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton holed his third shot at the par-5 18th from 118 yards, dunking it into the cup. Earlier in the tournament, he holed a shot from 76 yards. That was the good news on a week in which he tied for 5th, his sixth top-15 finish in his first seven LIV Golf starts. Unfortunately, his putter never heated up, and it cost him a chance to catch winner Brooks Koepka, as Hatton missed three early putts Sunday inside 10 feet that could’ve applied pressure. “Bit of a weird week,” Hatton said. “Definitely tee to green, I played good enough to give myself a chance. But I really struggled holing putts out here. Normally, I’m all right on the greens but this week, putts just didn’t want to go in.” Hatton wore his cap backwards on the greens, but he said it meant nothing more than trying to avoid sweat from dropping off his bill as he stood over his putts. ANOTHER TOP 10 FOR RAHM: Hatton’s Legion XIII captain, Jon Rahm, shot a 4-under 67 to finish in a tie for 10th at 9 under. Rahm remains the only player this season to finish top 10 in each of the seven tournaments. He’s second in the season-long points standings to Joaquin Niemann. Koepka moved to fifth in the standings with his Singapore win. ROUND 3 STATS LEADERS Driving accuracy: Brooks Koepka, 85.71% (12 of 14 fairways hit) Driving distance: Kieran Vincent, 344.5 yards avg. Longest drive: Kieran Vincent, 390.0 yards, 5th hole Greens in regulation: Cameron Smith, Talor Gooch, Joaquin Niemann, Kevin Na, Anirban Lahiri, Branden Grace, Paul Casey, Bubba Watson, 83.33% (15 of 18 greens) Scrambling: Patrick Reed (7 of 7), Carlos Ortiz (6 of 6), Matt Jones (5 of 5), Brooks Koepka (5 of 5), Kalle Samooja (4 of 4), Cameron Smith (3 of 3), Kevin Na (3 of 3) 100% Putting: Mito Pereira, 1.28 putts per hole Bogey-free rounds: Brooks Koepka (64), Bryson DeChambeau (66), Adrian Meronk (66), Marc Leishman (67), Harold Varner III (67), Richard Bland (68)

 

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