Cameron Smith wins for second time at LIV Golf London; Patrick Reed leads 4Aces to team title

Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces claimed another team title at Centurion Club.

Popular names dominated the leaderboard at LIV Golf London as Cameron Smith claimed the individual title while Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces claimed the team title Sunday.

The 29-year-old Aussie claimed his second win since joining the Greg Norman led and Saudi Arabia-backed circuit, this time by just a single shot at 15 under over his Ripper GC teammate Marc Leishman and Patrick Reed of the 4Aces. Smith made bogey on the par-5 18th to sign for a 3-under 68, opening the door for Reed (65) who failed to take advantage and made par. Leishman (66) made birdie to tie Reed at 14 under with Louis Oosthuizen (68) in fourth at 12 under and Johnson (67) rounding out the top five at 10 under.

Photos: LIV Golf London at Centurion Club

Smith’s late bogey doomed Ripper to second at 33 under, one shot behind the 4Aces who claimed the win at 34 under. Oosthuizen and his Stinger GC finished third at 29 under.

The league returns to action next month with LIV Golf Greenbrier, Aug. 4-6, at the Old White at The Greenbrier.

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Here are 10 storylines for 2023 U.S. Open final qualifying worth keeping an eye on

Time will tell if these players can earn their way into the 123rd U.S. Open.

The longest day in golf is just around the corner as players are preparing to chase their spot in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angles Country Club, scheduled for June 15-18.

Final qualifying will be held over 36 holes, and 10 venues around the country (and Canada) are set to host some of the biggest names in the sport.

Members of the LIV Golf League who are not already exempt into the field will take part in the annual tradition. Some of those names include Harold Varner III, Marc Leishman, Brendan Steele, Carlos Ortiz and Matthew Wolff.

There are several PGA Tour players participating as well, including both 2023 Ryder Cup captains, Zach Johnson and Luke Donald.

Here are the 10 venues set to host final qualifying.

  • Lambton Golf & Country Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Hillcrest Country Club, Los Angeles California
  • Pine Tree Golf Club, Boynton Beach, Florida
  • Hawks Ridge Golf Club, Ball Ground, Georgia
  • Woodmont Country Club (North Course), Rockville, Maryland
  • Canoe Brook Country Club (North & South Courses), Summit, New Jersey
  • Old Chatham Golf Club, Durham, North Carolina
  • Brookside Golf & Country Club and The Lakes Golf & Country Club, Columbus, Ohio
  • Springfield (Ohio) Country Club
  • Tacoma Country & Golf Club, Lakewood, Washington

Here are 10 players to keep your eye on Monday, June 5, as they try to earn their way into the 123rd U.S. Open.

‘I’m fine not playing them’: Marc Leishman has come to terms with potentially not playing in major championships due to LIV Golf move

“I’ll try to qualify for the British Open and the U.S. Open and if the world rankings happen, I’d love to get into the Masters.”

With the upcoming major season on the horizon, LIV Golf members being eligible for the game’s biggest events has been a hotly debated topic over the last few weeks.

It seems as though one player doesn’t seem fazed by the idea of missing majors.

Marc Leishman, whose best performance at a major was a T-2 at the 2015 Open, spoke with The Sydney Morning Herald about the repercussions of joining the Greg Norman-led circuit.

“(Not playing the majors) was one of the things I had to weigh up when I did make the move,” Leishman said ahead of this week’s Fortinet Australian PGA Championship. “I’ve played at pretty much all the majors for the last 12 or 13 years. I’ve had my chances. Obviously, I want to play them, but I’m fine not playing them.”

Leishman, who turned 39 on Oct. 24, understands the game is getting younger and his highest level of golf may not stick around much longer.

“I’ve loved my time on the PGA Tour,” he said, “and I certainly enjoyed the transition. That was one of the things that drew me to it. I’m not getting any younger and you can play golf forever, but you don’t know how high a level you can play at as you get at into your 40s.”

Although he’s come to terms with potentially no longer playing major championships, that doesn’t mean he won’t try to earn his way into fields.

“I’ll try to qualify for the British Open and the U.S. Open and if the world rankings happen, I’d love to get into the Masters,” he said. “If not, I’ll watch it on the TV and hopefully watch Cam (Smith) win it.”

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Harold Varner: ‘I hate being hated’ among the interesting things said at LIV Golf Invitational Boston press conference

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.

Report: Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann among group of players heading to LIV Golf next week in Boston

The announcement is set to come next week.

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.

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Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman headed to LIV Golf, per Aussie pro: ‘Unfortunately, yeah, they’re gone’

Rumors have circulated about Smith since his win at the 150th Open.

After his win at the 150th Open Championship, Cameron Smith was asked about the LIV Golf Series and if he plans on making the move to the Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led breakaway circuit.

His answer wasn’t exactly comforting to PGA Tour fans.

“I just won the British Open, and you’re asking about that?”

Well, rumors have continued to circulate around the 2022 Champion Golfer of the Year and we may now know for sure that he’s bag chasing.

Cameron Percy, an Australian golfer who just tied for eighth at the Wyndham Championship, did an interview with RSN Radio Australia and inferred Smith and fellow Aussie Marc Leishman are already gone.

Percy, however, said his source was not Smith or Leishman.

If they do in fact make the move, it’ll be interesting to see if they wait until after the Presidents Cup. Smith is No. 1 in the International Team standings while Leishman is 16th.

Both players would be ineligible for the team event if they left after the FedEx Cup playoffs.

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LIV Golf announces field for event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, leaves three spots open for new players

Who’s next to make the move to LIV Golf?

Get ready for three more players to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Greg Norman-led, Saudi Arabia-funded upstart circuit announced the field for its upcoming third event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 29-31, but three spots were left to be filled “in the coming days.” Teams have yet to be finalized, as well.

Paul Casey, a former UNICEF ambassador who once spoke out against competing in Saudi Arabia, will make his debut in the 54-hole, no cut team and player competition that boasts $25 million in prize money due to its backing from the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom. Speculation has run rampant on who will be the next to make the move to LIV after British Open champion Cameron Smith’s non-denial when asked if he was joining the upstart series.

“I just won the British Open, and you’re asking about that,” said Smith. “I think that’s pretty not that good. I don’t know, mate. My team around me worries about all that stuff. I’m here to win golf tournaments.”

More: A week at a LIV Golf event
Report: Longtime NBC/Golf Channel broadcaster bound for LIV Golf

Others who have been linked to LIV include fellow Aussies Adam Scott and Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson and European Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson.

Meet the confirmed field competing at LIV Golf Bedminster:

  • Abraham Ancer
  • Richard Bland
  • Laurie Canter
  • Paul Casey
  • Eugenio Chacarra
  • Bryson DeChambeau
  • Hennie du Plessis
  • Sergio Garcia
  • Talor Gooch
  • Branden Grace
  • Justin Harding
  • Sam Horsfield
  • Yuki Inamori
  • Dustin Johnson
  • Matt Jones
  • Sadom Kaewkanjana
  • Martin Kaymer
  • Phachara Khongwatmai
  • Ryosuke Kinoshita
  • Brooks Koepka
  • Chase Koepka
  • Jinichiro Kozuma
  • Graeme McDowell
  • Phil Mickelson
  • Jediah Morgan
  • Kevin Na
  • Shaun Norris
  • Louis Oosthuizen
  • Wade Ormsby
  • Carlos Ortiz
  • Pat Perez
  • Turk Pettit
  • James Piot
  • Ian Poulter
  • David Puig (am)
  • Patrick Reed
  • Charl Schwartzel
  • Travis Smyth
  • Hudson Swafford
  • Hideto Tanihara
  • Peter Uihlein
  • Scott Vincent
  • Lee Westwood
  • Bernd Wiesberger
  • Matthew Wolff

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Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson highlight list of PGA Tour players and majors champs to miss the cut at 2022 Wells Fargo Championship

Plenty of big names just couldn’t handle the elements at TPC Potomac.

A rainy day on Friday at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm made for tough scoring conditions and some big names didn’t have the right stuff.

Few struggled as mightily as Patrick Reed, the former Masters champion, who shot 79, his worst single-round score since March 2020.

He wasn’t the only former major champion hitting the road on Friday. Among the cut casualties, who failed to shoot even-par 140 or better for 36 holes, were three former U.S. Open champion and a pair of British Open winners.

Also heading home: Masters champ Charl Schwartzel and PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner.

Marc Leishman nearly takes out playing partner with shank from the bunker at 2022 Wells Fargo Championship

On today’s episode of “Professional Golfers, They’re Just Like Us!” we welcome Marc Leishman to the mix.

On today’s episode of “Professional Golfers, They’re Just Like Us!” we welcome Marc Leishman to the mix.

Coming off a string of four consecutive birdies, the six-time winner on the PGA Tour then found himself in a greenside bunker on the par-3 16th at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm during Thursday’s first round of the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship. Leishman didn’t have much green to work with for his third shot, and he made matters worse after a mishit from the sand that found the water and nearly took out one of his playing partners, Corey Conners.

I wonder if the Aussies have another word for shank?

Wells Fargo: Leaderboard | Best merch

Leishman took a drop from the bunker and proceeded to get up-and-down for a triple-bogey six, but had a short memory and bounced back with a birdie on the 18th to make the turn at 1 under.

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Marc Leishman’s horrible shank from a bunker came so close to hitting another PGA Tour player

LOOK OUT!

I don’t care what you say – golf is a very dangerous game! Danger is lurking around every corner on every course and you could get hurt at any moment!

Ok, I’m having a little fun there because normally golf isn’t a very dangerous game at all, at least physically. Though if you’ve played then you know it can do a lot of damage to you mentally.

Well, in Thursday’s first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac, PGA Tour veteran Marc Leishman almost took out his playing partner, Corey Conners, with a terrible shank from a greenside bunker.

The second replay in this video below shows Connors’ quick feet.

Who hasn’t hit a shot like that from the bunker?

I’m just glad Conners was paying attention and was able to get out of the way.

Leishman ended up with a triple bogey on the hole, which is also relatable.

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