For the first time on LIV Golf, there was a double playoff in Spain.
Fourth time is the charm for Sergio Garcia.
The Spaniard found himself in a playoff for the third time this year on the LIV Golf League and fourth time since joining the circuit. Finally, he gets to hoist a trophy.
Garcia shot 5-under 66 on Sunday at LIV Golf Andalucia to get into a playoff with Anirban Lahiri, and then he won with a par on the second playoff hole to get his first professional victory in nearly four years.
“I knew I was playing well,” Garcia said. “I love this place. I love these people. So thankful to everyone for what we were able to achieve today.”
For Garcia, the win was extra special coming in his home country at Valderrama. Garcia bogeyed his final hole Sunday to drop to 5 under overall, but Lahiri missed a putt of about 2 feet to win outright, leading to a playoff.
And for the first time in LIV Golf history, there was also a playoff for a team title in addition to the individual one.
On the first playoff hole, Abraham Ancer and David Puig from Fireballs GC, captained by Garcia, beat Crushers GC’s Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey on the first playoff hole for the $3 million team prize.
” I’m very lucky, I feel it every time wherever I go, but obviously on my home turf and here at Valderrama where I’ve done so well, I always feel it,” Garcia. “That’s one of the main reasons why I love playing here. Not only the difficulty and the beauty of the course but the support that we get here, it’s amazing.”
He has had memorable hole outs in each of the first three major championships this year, all coming on the 18th hole. He added another one to his resume on Saturday during the second round of 2024 LIV Golf Andalucia.
DeChambeau holed out from the 14th fairway for eagle on the 370-yard hole. The big bird moved him to 2 under for the day, and he signed for a 4-under 67 on Saturday at Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain, one of the lowest rounds of the week.
.@b_dechambeau with a SLAM DUNK eagle hole out on No. 14
However, it’s DeChambeau’s Crushers GC teammate, Anirban Lahiri, who is on top of the leaderboard after 36 holes. While DeChambeau is T-6 at 1 under overall, Lahiri is at 7 under with a four-shot lead going into the final round.
Crushers GC, which won the team championship in 2023, also leads by four over Fireballs GC, featuring Spanish captain Sergio Garcia.
Phil Mickelson said “not a single” LIV Golf player wanted to return to the PGA Tour and his colleagues backed him up.
As the powers that be continue to iron out details for the proposed framework agreement that aims to unite professional golf, one of the biggest questions is what must happen for players who left for LIV Golf to return to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Phil Mickelson didn’t mince words when he recently claimed “not a single player” who joined LIV Golf wanted to play on the PGA Tour. Are there some events players have fond memories of and wish they could play? Absolutely. But a full PGA Tour schedule, or even an abbreviated one, doesn’t sound appealing to the vast majority of those who made the leap to the 48-player, 12-team league.
We asked a handful of players what they thought ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Bedminster event at Trump National in New Jersey, and the answers were very similar.
The former European Tour and PGA Tour player said he’s enjoyed his time with the new league, but it has come with a price.
Anirban Lahiri has spent significant time on a number of premier golf circuits around the world.
With seven wins on the Asian Tour, a pair of European Tour victories, a dozen titles on the Professional Golf Tour of India as well as time on the Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour, and now with LIV Golf, Lahiri certainly has perspective when he ponders the mental state of players on his current circuit.
And since the Saudi-funded operation has drawn heat over accusations over the regime’s wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners, it’s made the climate for players on LIV Golf peculiar, to say the least.
Lahiri, who nearly dropped out of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, told the Indian monthly sports magazine Sportstar that he’s enjoyed his time with the new league, but it has come with a price.
“There are many different perspectives from which you can give the current golf scenario. I won’t just single out LIV Golf. There are a lot of different organizations that are not necessarily taking the high road of behaving in the most amicable manner. LIV Golf has been very black-and-white with what they are trying to do. There is going to be a new format, there is a big change, there is going to be a big disruption. With that comes negativity, nobody likes disruption,” Lahiri told the magazine.
“Being a part of LIV, we almost feel a bit ostracized. I think a lot of the criticisms are invalid. Some of them are (valid), I understand. There are a lot of criticisms on the other side too, but nobody wants to talk about that because the media comes across as biased, let’s put it like that. Only time will tell where this goes.”
Lahiri made his first LIV Golf start in Boston, the circuit’s fourth tournament, reaching a playoff that was decided by Dustin Johnson’s spectacular uphill putt. Lahiri missed a short eagle putt on the 18th hole that would’ve given him an outright victory.
And although he’s yet to follow that impressive debut with another top-5 finish, Lahiri said he’s been pleased with the treatment the players have received from the league.
“It has been a wonderful experience. Starting out, I had some reservations because I did not know what I was going into. I had spoken to my friends who had already transitioned,” he said. “It has been fantastic, they have taken unbelievable care of us and the golf courses have been immaculate. The attention to detail is very impressive. I can’t speak highly enough of how they have conducted the events and have taken care of the players.
“In four, five years, if … people start enjoying it, then it will be a completely different story. On the other side, if it does not come up on all their targets, we will see how it works out. Professional golf is in a transition phase and everybody needs to be patient and mature in how to handle the situation. All three parties: the players, the fans and spectators, and the organization, are three different stakeholders and they all have different views on the topic. We have to be sensitive to all of them.”
“I think in terms of the conditions, it’s pristine.”
After hosting four consecutive events in the United States, the LIV Golf Invitational Series has packed up shop for a two-week trip abroad.
The upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is hosting its first of consecutive events in Asia this week at the newly-opened Stonehill Golf Club, located an hour north of Bangkok, Thailand. Before the series heads home next week to the familiar Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – the host of the PIF Saudi International on the Asian Tour – players made sure to heap praise on this week’s course.
One player compared the new track to one of the most heralded properties in the game.
“I think in terms of the conditions, it’s pristine. It’s literally — it’s holy ground. It’s so pure out there,” said Anirban Lahiri, who is making his third start on the series this week. “I would say this is the closest you’d come to maybe comparing to conditions in Augusta, just in terms of the pure turf conditions. It’s phenomenal.”
“It’s ridiculous how good it is,” he added.
Lahiri has played in the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club twice, finishing T-49 in 2015 and T-42 in 2016.
Stonehill has been described as a pet project of Sarath Ratanavadi, Thailand’s fourth-richest man, and his son, Saris Ratanavadi. Bloomberg reports that Sarath, the 57-year-old founder and CEO of Gulf Energy Development, is worth $11.1 billion. The tycoon approached LIV Golf this summer and has hinted at other golf tours hosting events at Stonehill.
“I think the good thing is everybody is playing it for the first time, so no one has got an advantage,” said Lahiri, the two-time European Tour winner in 2015 and seven-time Asian Tour winner from 2011-2015. “I think obviously it’s wide open, so you’ve got to hit it good off the tee, but it’s a second-shot golf course.”
“I think I need to eat a lot of curry and pad Thai maybe and help my distance, find another 30 yards before I tee off,” said Kevin Na, who noted the wide fairways will be a bomber’s paradise. “It’s a very, very long golf course.”
“The only thing I feel like that can play in my favor,” explained Na, “there’s good undulations on the green. There’s some runoffs. I feel like you have to putt very well out here, and I think that’s one way that I can make up for the driving distance.”
Na thinks this week’s event will be decided based on how LIV sets up the course
“I hope the rules committee set it up sensible because if you play a back tee every hole and tuck every pin, I just don’t think that’ll be exciting. It won’t be exciting,” said Na, who spoke with rules officials about drivable par-4s and reachable par-5s. “The fans are out here to see birdies and eagles. I’m not saying set it up easy, but I’m saying you have to have a good mixture, and especially with a golf course that nobody has ever played and we don’t know what’s capable.
“I think the first day you have to play it on the safe side and see what happens.”
He smashed an eagle putt up the hill on the 18th green at The International in Bolton, Massachusetts, knowing if it went in, he would win. It carried speed when hitting the back of the hole, bounced up and them tumbled in.
Johnson’s eagle putt gave him a victory on the first playoff hole at the LIV Golf Invitational event in Boston, the series fourth event. It is the first time there has been a playoff, and Johnson is the first American to win a LIV event.
“It’s a great victory,” Johnson said “Obviously we’ve got a great field, a lot of great players. Yeah, it’s up there for sure.”
Johnson beat Joaquin Niemann and Anirban Lahiri, who both were playing in their first LIV event after leaving the PGA Tour, in the playoff. Lahiri had a short birdie putt and Niemann had one for par when Johnson made his eagle.
Lahiri missed a short eagle putt on the 18th hole that would’ve given him an outright victory.
The 4 Aces, which is Johnson’s team and also consists of Talor Gooch, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed, won their third straight event, ending at 32 under. Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers finished second at 30 under while Lee Westwood’s Majesticks came in third at 27 under.
“I felt like we had a really good read on it,” Johnson said of his putt. “I might have hit it a little harder than I wanted to, but as soon as I hit it, I’m like, ‘whoa,’ and then it was on a good line, and I’m like, ‘hit the hole, hit the hole, hit the hole,’ and it went in somehow. I think the hole is indented for sure.”
Lee Westwood made a bogey on the final hole to finish one shot out of the playoff at 14 under. Cam Smith, the world No. 2, bogeyed his second-to-last hole and also finished at 14 under in his LIV Golf debut.
LIV’s next event is in Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms in two weeks.
It’s been more than a month since we last saw LIV golfers on the course.
It’s been more than a month since we last saw LIV Golf Series players on the course but that’s how it’s going in this breakaway league, which has only eight events in 2022.
Ahead of the fourth event during this inaugural season, LIV introduced its six newest members Wednesday in Bolton, Massachusetts, outside Boston.
The International is the host venue for the three-day, 54-hole, no-cut event that starts Friday.
Cam Smith, Champion Golfer of the Year and Players Championship winner, makes his circuit debut. He’s ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking and is now the highest ranked member of the Saudi government-backed golf series.
Two-time Masters champ Bubba Watson is also making his first appearance but he won’t be playing just yet. Still recovering from knee surgery, Watson is LIV Golf’s first non-playing captain.
There are 12 teams of four golfers, and Watson’s squad includes fellow newcomer Harold Varner III.
Other recent signees include Anirban Lahiri, Cameron Tringale and Marc Leishman.
At the conclusion of the Tour Championship, expect the next wave of LIV Golf announcements to come quickly.
Cameron Smith, who has long been rumored to be heading to the Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led series, is among at least five other players who will tee it up at LIV Golf’s fourth event in Boston next week, according to reports from Sports Illustrated and Golf Channel. Smith declined to comment on his departure at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and Niemann told Golf Channel on Friday he had yet to make up his mind.
Joining Smith and Niemann will be Marc Leishman, Cameron Tringale, Harold Varner III and Anirban Lahiri, according to the reports. Golf Channel reported Mito Pereira is also heading to LIV Golf, but SI said Pereira wasn’t going to play in next week’s event.
Smith, Niemann and Pereira are all automatic qualifiers at the Presidents Cup for the International Team, but if they were to join the breakaway series, they would all vacate their spots and be suspended from the PGA Tour.
The Presidents Cup is set for next month at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Both Smith and Niemann are playing in the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta this weekend.
The now sixth-ranked player in the game has put the golf world on notice, and will surely be one of the favorites at Augusta in less than a month.
He wasn’t the only one to gain a few fans on Monday however, as Lahiri was nothing short of class after falling short. And, to take a little sting out of the whole week, he won more than $2 million.
This week on the Twilight 9 podcast, Andy Nesbitt and I recap the long week at the Players Championship. Andy was there for most of the week and tells his favorite moments from on the ground.
We then dive into a Valspar Championship preview, including a few of our favorite picks for the week.
The 322nd-ranked player in the world knows how close he was to a life-changing victory.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Anirban Lahiri gave it his all.
After shooting 3-under 69 in the final round of the Players Championship and finishing one shot back of champion Cameron Smith, Lahiri was asked whether he took positives from the week or if his close-but-no-cigar performance filled him only with disappointment.
“Hang on, hang on. Now that you’ve asked me that question I’ve got to show you something. This is something I sent my coach a few weeks ago. Here it is. No, not this one. Give me a minute,” said Lahiri as he found the proper image on his smart phone. “This is from two weeks ago, February 25 screenshot. Honda Classic week. Strokes Gained: Off the tee 29th, Around the green 4th, Putting 15th, 144th Approach to green.”
That last number made him sick to his stomach. He entered the week ranked 212 in Strokes Gained: Approach to the green.
“My only goal coming in was to change that, and I did. It was a very successful week,” said Lahiri, who ranked 13th in that category for the week, gaining more than four strokes on the field at the Players.
“His turnaround this week is as extraordinary as the week on the greens that Cameron Smith had,” Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee said. “I don’t know that I’ve seen a transformation like that.”
A successful week, indeed, for the 322nd-ranked player in the world, but Lahiri also knows how close he was to a life-changing victory.
“I want to win. I’ve been here seven years. Haven’t gotten over the line yet. That’s definitely a monkey I want to get off my back,” he said. “Today was as good an opportunity as any.”
Lahiri let us into his heart and shared the hardships of grinding to get better but not seeing the results.
Anirban Lahiri reacts as after missing a chip to force a playoff at the 2022 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images)
“When you go through such a lean period for such a long time, you start asking yourself, ‘Man, was that a flash in the pan? What are you doing? You haven’t played good in so long.’ Your belief takes a hit, so this for me is – I’m going to re-cement the foundation and work upwards from here.”
And he also gave a window into what he was feeling as he came down the stretch with a chance to win at TPC Sawgrass.
“I guess at one point on 16 I thought it was kind of out of reach, but then again, birdieing 17, Cam kind of opened the door,” he said. “But I gave it a good go. Made some mistakes today that I could have avoided, but that’s golf. I picked up a few shots, too, so I’m happy.
“This is a really positive week for me going forward.”
After several years of battling to keep his card, he was asked if this result would free him up for the rest of the season?
“I don’t know about that,” he said. “I’ll answer that in week. It’s too soon.”
