Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman clinched an extremely popular home victory for Ripper GC at LIV Golf Adelaide on Sunday in the 54-hole circuit’s first-ever team playoff.
The Australian’s success came at the expense of their South African counterparts from Stinger GC – Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester – writing another chapter into the history of this long-standing sporting rivalry between the two nations.
Both teams played sensational golf to reach a playoff, too, with Ripper carding a cumulative 20-under on Sunday while Stinger stood head and shoulders above everyone else via a collective 24-under.
The pair could not be split at the end on a grand total of 53-under for the week, a LIV team record, and so the unique playoff format made its bow for LIV. Both captains chose another of their teammates to play alongside them in a fourball sudden death format.
After Oosthuizen missed a tricky downhill putt at the first playoff hole to seal victory for Stinger, the Australian pair – backed by an extremely boisterous following – piled the pressure on at the second go down the par-4 18th and eventually closed out with a bogey via Smith.
Speaking immediately after the winning putt dropped, Smith was almost at a loss for words. He said: “This is unreal. It is a dream come true for us, I think. We’ve been talking about it all year. It’s one that we wanted to win, obviously… I don’t even know what to say – it’s just so good.”
Meanwhile, Smith’s playoff partner Leishman admitted the Ripper GC squad knew the pressure was on them to deliver for their home fans this week.
He said: “It’s unbelievable. We had a fair bit of pressure this week, and I think we really embraced it this year. It was tough playing in front of home fans, but we loved every second of it and this is the dream result.”
Ripper’s success was largely based on consistency from all members of the team, with Smith, Leishman, and Lucas Herbert – who was celebrating his first team victory – all ending the week T14 on 13-under in the individual standings.
Matt Jones, who labelled himself as “the old man” out of the quartet, finished just one stroke ahead in a tie for ninth. The 44-year-old said: “I’m the old man out here. To get to do it with these boys – we’re all good friends. I’ve been out here for a few years now and…
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