Tag: Cameron Smith

Abraham Ancer wins three-way playoff at 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong; Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers claim another team title

Anthony Kim shot one of the low scores of the day on Sunday for his first round under par with LIV.

Abraham Ancer loves a playoff.

His lone win on the PGA Tour went to extra holes and the same can be said of his first LIV Golf victory. Ancer defeated Cameron Smith and Paul Casey with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong on Sunday.

After rounds of 7-under 63 and 8-under 62 on Friday and Saturday at Hong Kong Golf Club’s Fanling Course in Sheung Shui, Ancer struggled on Sunday to a 2-over 72, which opened the door for Casey (64) and Smith (66) to tie him atop the leaderboard at 13 under. Joaquin Niemann shot the low-round of the day, a 7-under 63 to finish T-4 alongside Carlos Ortiz (66), one shot outside of the playoff.

“Man, I made that so hard on myself. The ball-striking wasn’t there, but mentally I was really strong, so I felt really good. I felt like I was not going to give up. That round could have gone south really quickly,” Ancer explained. “Hit some good bunker shots, some good putts that I needed to and just kept myself in it and hit the right shot at the right time there in the playoff.”

MORE: Best shots from LIV Golf Hong Kong

On the team side, Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC won for the second consecutive week after another strong Sunday to finish at 35 under, two shots clear of Niemann’s Torque GC. Smith and his Ripper GC earned their first top-three finish of the season at 32 under.

“I love these guys. They fight for every shot, and I can tell you when four scores are counting, we’re a pretty deadly team,” said DeChambeau. Before this season LIV switched its format to make all four player scores count to the team score in the final round. The worst score is dropped in the first two rounds.

“We know with four scores counting, we’re going to be in it no matter what the last day,” he added. “We put the pedal to the metal today and showcased who we are.”

Last year’s team champions, the Crushers have finished 2-4-1-1 in LIV’s four events so far this season. After winning the season opener, Jon Rahm’s new squad, Legion XIII, finsihed T-5 and fifth the last two events before coming in dead last this week in Hong Kong.

Anthony Kim has struggled in his return to pro golf with LIV, but after shooting over par in his first five rounds, the 38-year-old finally found the red numbers with a 5-under 65 on Sunday. Kim made seven birdies and two bogeys and finished 50th in his second event.

LIV is off for the rest of the month and returns to Trump National Doral, April 5-7, for 2024 LIV Golf Miami.

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These are the six golfers who have won the Hawaii Double (Sentry, Sony) on PGA Tour

Chris Kirk now has a chance to join the short list.

The PGA Tour’s 2024 season is off and running.

The first event of the new year is in the books with Chris Kirk winning The Sentry on the Plantation course at Kapalua in Maui. He bested a field of 59 golfers who vied for a $20 million prize in the first signature event of the new year.

With that victory, Kirk now has a chance to join a short list of golfers who have put the career Hawaii double dip on their resumes.

Here’s a closer look at the six golfers who have won both The Sentry and the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Ring in the New Year: LIV Golf’s Cameron Smith marries girlfriend Shanel Naoum

Smith and Naoum have been pictured together dating to his 2022 Players Championship victory.

Cameron Smith took the phrase “ring in the New Year” quite literally.

The 30-year-old Smith married his girlfriend, Shanel Naoum, on Dec. 30, 2023, in Brisbane, Australia, at the Cathedral of St. Stephen. Pictures began to leak online over the holiday weekend that featured Smith and his signature mullet, of course.

Naoum is a chiropractor in Florida where the two live and has been spotted with Smith at tournaments dating to his 2022 Players Championship victory at TPC Sawgrass near their home in Jacksonville.

Smith had a breakout season in 2022 that featured a trio of wins at the Sentry, Players Championship and Open Championship – his first major victory – before he took his talents to LIV Golf for the end of the 2022 season. Over 19 starts on the Saudi-backed circuit, Smith has three wins and eight top-five finishes.

Cameron Smith gets choked up after missing cut at Australian PGA Championship by nine strokes

Smith won this event in 2017, 2018 and 2022 and called his performance “unacceptable.”

Cameron Smith knew a good showing at this week’s Australian PGA Championship was imperative if he wanted to earn his way into next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

Since Smith plays on the LIV Golf circuit, meaning he can’t maintain what was once a lofty spot in the Official World Golf Rankings, he needed to play well this week in Brisbane and then again next week at the Australian Open in Sydney.

The reigning champion failed miserably on the first test, missing the cut for the PGA by nine strokes on Friday by shooting a 7-over-par 78.

Smith, who was once No. 2 in the OWGR but has slipped to No. 18, was paired with Min Woo Lee, who ended the day with six birdies on his card and the top spot on the leaderboard.

For Smith, the poor showing left him emotional to the point where he was nearly moved to tears.

“Yeah, no words. Shit. I’ve performed under pressure before and it’s not acceptable, a bit upsetting actually,” he said. “I know what I’m doing, it’s just going out there and committing to something is another thing.”

Smith, who tied for 10th at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, also won this event in 2017 and 2018. He called his performance “unacceptable.”

“Australia’s been so good to me even when I have been tired so there’s no reason to really perform that way. I’ve performed under pressure before, it’s just unacceptable,” he said. “I just got on the wrong side a bunch of times and was trying to do a bit too much I think, it’s very frustrating.”

While Smith was struggling to score, Adam Scott was buzzing along, firing a 65 to tie for the day’s best round. Scott sits at 11 under at the tournament’s midpoint and just a stroke behind Lee.

“It’s always nice to have a bogey-free round, I probably haven’t had many of them this year,” Scott said. “I feel like my swing from the tee to the green is feeling better than it has for a while and that’s a nice thing for me.”

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Storylines, what to watch for at the 2023 LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami

Everything you need to know for the weekend in Miami.

DORAL, Fla. — Who’s ready for a little match play?

The LIV Golf Team Championship is back at Trump National Doral this week, where the league’s 12 teams will contend for a $50 million purse that will see a whopping $14 million go to the winner just a week after Talor Gooch claimed the $18 million individual championship. Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC are back to defend their title – this year with Peter Uihlein instead of Gooch – and are one of four teams to earn a bye for Friday’s quarterfinal round of matches.

The format is unlike any other in golf (par for the course for LIV) and features a mix of both match and stroke play. Friday’s quarterfinal and Saturday’s semifinal matches will include three matches in each round, two singles and a foursomes (alternate shot). No ties. The first team to two points wins and advances. (You can read more about the format here).

Come Sunday, all 12 teams will compete in stroke play, where all four scores will count (in regular season events, the worst score is dropped from the team total), but only the top four teams can win the top prize. The teams to lose on Saturday will compete for places 5-8, with Friday’s losers going for places 9-12.

Here’s everything you need to know and storylines to watch for this week near Miami.

Photos: 2023 LIV Golf Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms

The Saudi-backed circuit returns after over a month off.

The LIV Golf League returns this week to Chicago for its 12th event of the season. The Saudi-backed circuit has been off for a bit, with its last event coming over a month ago at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey — Cameron Smith claimed the individual title by seven shots while his team, Ripper GC, won the team competition.

With just the Chicago and Jeddah stops before the Team Championship in Miami, 4Aces GC leads the team point standings with Torque GC in second and Stinger GC in third. On the individual side, Smith leads the way followed by Talor Gooch and Patrick Reed.

Here are some of the best images from the week in Chicago.

Aussie Sweep: Cameron Smith, Ripper GC claim wins at LIV Golf Bedminster

The win is Smith’s second of the season and third of his LIV Golf career.

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The Aussies took over New Jersey this week as Cameron Smith and his Ripper GC swept LIV Golf Bedminster.

The 29-year-old won Sunday for the third time since joining the upstart circuit after claiming the event at Trump National Bedminster at 12 under, seven shots clear of runner-up Anirban Lahiri. Abraham Ancer, Patrick Reed and Dean Burmester finished T-3 at 4 under. Smith has five top-five finishes in 11 starts this LIV season and hasn’t finished worse than T-26 in the 48-player field events.

Smith led his all-Australian Ripper GC to its first team victory of the season at 20 under, a whopping 11 shots clear of runners-up Crushers GC and Stinger GC at 9 under. Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats GC finished fourth at 8 under.

Next up for the shotgun-start circuit is LIV Golf Chicago at Rich Harvest Farms in Illinois, Sept. 22-24, followed by LIV Golf Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Oct. 13-15, and the LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump National Doral near Miami, Oct. 20-22.

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Drama awaits at 2023 British Open thanks to new hole at Royal Liverpool

Any shot missing the green will leave a “devilishly difficult” up and down to save par.

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HOYLAKE, England — Adam Scott took one look at the gaping hole of a bunker to the right of the 17th green at Royal Liverpool during a Tuesday evening practice round and turned to defending British Open champion Cameron Smith and said, “That’s death.”

Then he tossed three balls into it and jumped into the coffin of a bunker. After he splashed two of the three out, Smith wandered over and asked, “Lobbie?” a reference to using a 60-degree wedge and Scott nodded in the affirmative. “Let’s not go in there this week,” he said.

Royal Liverpool has undergone a few changes since it last hosted the British Open back in 2014, when Scott finished T-5, most notably the new par-3 17th, which replaced the old 15th.

Known as “Little Eye,” the new hole plays to 136 yards and features a raised horizon-line green, with the Dee Estuary as a backdrop, guarded by bunkers with massive fall-off areas on all sides.

“It’s a pretty hole, but it’s pretty extreme,” Scott said. “Every thing else out here is pretty straightforward and then this one has a lot of drama. I think it is going to be very entertaining. You’re going to see some twos and some fives, hopefully no more than five.”

Adam Scott splashes out of a bunker at the 17th hole at Royal Liverpool GC during a practice round. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)

Open Championship 2023: Leaderboard, scores, news, tee times, more

As Royal Liverpool head professional John Heggarty said, any shot missing the green will leave a “devilishly difficult” up and down to save par.

“I see what they tried to do,” said Jon Rahm of the new hole. “The old 15, par-3, was the complete opposite of the hole. You have a short downhill hole most likely downwind with basically all the edges sloping towards the center of the green. I thought it was a good hole. You could make a birdie, and if you miss the green, a bogey was lurking.”

The layout at Royal Liverpool was altered to accommodate the new hole. What was the 16th hole is now the 15th. The former 17th hole is now No. 16, and the old par-3 15th hole has been removed.

“This time they made a really difficult turtle shell par-3,” Rahm continued. “If you hit a good shot, put it on the green, you have a clear look at birdie. If you miss the green, you have a clear look at bogey. It’s hard to say anything is fair or unfair because it’s so short.”

“It’s way more difficult than it was before,” he added.

Brooks Koepka loves a challenging test on the golf course, so it should come as no surprise that the reigning 2023 PGA champion is a fan of the new-look 17th.

“I’m a big believer in the short par-3s, make it difficult, exactly like that,” he said. “I think all the best par-3s in the world that have ever been designed are 165 yards or shorter — 12th at Augusta, (17th at TPC) Sawgrass. I mean, Postage Stamp (eighth at Royal Troon)…I like it.”

“There’s not much room for error up there,” said Smith, who hit a 7-iron on Sunday into a 30-40 mph wind.

2023 British Open
The new 17th green is pictured during practice ahead of the 2023 British Open at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England on July 16, 2023. (Photo by Paul Ellis/AFP)

English qualifier Matthew Jordan grew up playing the course as a member and is as interested in hearing what players have to say about the new hole as anyone. He’s concerned that the success of the hole may come down to the weather. “I think if you’re having 120 yards with no wind and it’s soft, I think it’s not going to create the drama that you guys probably want, that members probably want,” he said.

Another Englishman, the world No. 9 Matt Fitzpatrick, termed the hole “interesting.” Asked to elaborate, he would only add, “I’ll leave it at that.”

But Fitzpatrick’s caddie Billy Foster may have expressed a sentiment that both he and his boss share.

“Unfortunately I think this Open Championship could be remembered for a calamity that happened,” Foster told Golf Monthly. “There was nothing wrong with the little par three they had before and they’ve created a monstrosity in my opinion.”

The new hole was conceived in 2019 by Martin Ebert, who has become the British Open doctor, fixing courses in the rota ahead of their next starring role and making sure they hold up against the onslaught of modern technology. Ebert may have a bone to pick with his work being deemed a “monstrosity,” but he doesn’t disagree with Foster’s contention that someone in contention could make a mess on Sunday at Little Eye.

“I imagine the leader, standing on the 71st tee, won’t be confident of victory even with a three- or four-stroke lead,” Ebert told Links Magazine.

On Tuesday, he went to see how his creation stacked up against the pros, but didn’t stay too long.

“It’s even a bit wet for me,” he said.

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Cameron Smith held back tears when he returned the Claret Jug. Now he wants it back

“It’s the coolest trophy ever,” said Smith, who shot a Sunday 64 at St. Andrews to win last year.

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HOYLAKE, England — Cameron Smith held back tears when he returned the Claret Jug on Monday.

“I thought I was going to do all right,” he said. “A bit of a moment, I guess, that crept up on me.”

Smith became the Champion Golfer of the Year at the 150th British Open at St. Andrews by shooting a final-round 64 to clip Cameron Young and 54-hole co-leader Rory McIlroy.

“It’s the coolest trophy ever,” said Smith, who among other trips took the trophy back to Brisbane, Australia, where he grew up and celebrated with the members at the club where he learned the game.

“Had a ripping night,” he said. “For a little country club outside of Brisbane to have the Claret Jug in it I think was a pretty cool moment.”

MORE: 2023 British Open content hub

On the night Smith won his first major, Australian Penfolds Grange wine, tequila and beer all were poured into the Claret Jug, which got quite a workout in the days and months to come. What Smith loved most was seeing the reaction of lovers of golf when their eyes would meet with the famed jug.

“It’s like they’ve seen a ghost,” he said.

During his year of having custody of the trophy that dates back to 1872, Smith recalled some random moments when he’d walk into his home office in Florida and be sorting through mail and he’d bump into it as surreal.

“There was a few moments like that, I guess,” he said. “It still doesn’t feel real, even a year down the road. But yeah, hopefully I can get it back. I want that thing back so bad.”

It’s not farfetched to think Smith could be the first repeat champion since Padraig Harrington successfully defended in 2007-08. Smith is coming off a win at the LIV London event at Centurion Golf Club just two weeks ago.

“I think I’m actually a better golfer now than what I was last year. I think the stuff that I had to clean up is progressing. It’s still a little bit of a work in progress,” he said noting that 5-iron and up to the driver are the clubs that he tends to lack consistency. “That’s an area of the game that we’ve worked probably harder than we have on in the past.”

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Smith expressed no regret in making his decision to defect to LIV Golf for a lucrative signing bonus. He’s optimistic about the future of golf despite being unsure what the future holds for LIV Golf. Smith did show a level of support for fellow Australian Greg Norman, the LIV Commissioner who lured him to leave the PGA Tour nearly a year ago.

“I think I’ve kind of become a bit of a friend of Greg’s, I guess, the last eight or nine months,” Smith said. “Personally I think he’s doing a great job for our tour. He’s looking out for our best interests. That’s all you can ask of a guy that’s running the show. Yeah, I’d love to see him keep on.”

But what Smith is really focused on is regaining possession of the Claret Jug. Someone during his pre-championship press conference asked him if he was OK after having to part ways with it.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Smith said. “I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

But he’s already joked with his buddies that this is going to be a one-week separation and he intends to be drinking fine wine and beer out of it again for another 365 days.

“You never know, sometimes you can play your best golf at major championships and you can run fourth or fifth,” he said. “Hopefully it’s another week like last year and I’m back with the trophy.”

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The top 10 betting favorites for the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool

Rory McIlroy, the betting favorite, won the 2014 Open in Hoylake.

It all comes down to this, the final men’s major championship of 2023.

The best players in the world are set to take on Royal Liverpool for the 151st Open Championship from July 20-23.

Cameron Smith, a member of the LIV Golf League, is the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year thanks to his come-from-behind victory at St. Andrews over Cam Young and Rory McIlroy.

Smith has made the cut in all three majors so far this year, tying for 34th at the Masters, for ninth at the PGA and finishing solo fourth at the U.S. Open.

McIlroy, who grabbed solo second at Los Angeles Country Club and is looking for his first major win since the 2014 Open, which was held at Royal Liverpool, is the betting favorite at +750.

Here are the top 10 betting favorites for the 151st Open.

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