LIV Golf Adelaide Recap
When LIV was formed, the intention of Greg Norman and the company was for the Tour to be seen as a viable alternative to the main PGA Tour. Aimed at a younger generation the hope was that the team element, shotgun start, and music would appeal to the masses and start a golfing revolution. It’s fair to say that through the first season of LIV, the tour hasn’t quite proved to be the revolution that Norman had promised. However, LIV’s first journey into Australia showed what this tour could be LIV Golf Adelaide Recap.
Packed grandstands, raucous crowds, and superb golf were all on show across three tremendous rounds. For the first time, LIV seemed viable, it looked cool and it suggested it could be here to stay.
LIV Golf Adelaide Recap
Gooch hangs onto win his first LIV title
When LIV has officially announced just over a year ago, one of the first players to sign up for the breakaway tour was Talor Gooch.
A winner on the PGA Tour, Gooch’s defection to LIV was seen as a real coup and he showed exactly why here.
Through the first two rounds of this week’s tournament Gooch was nothing short of sensational. Through 36 holes the American had shot a stunning twenty under and led the field by an astonishing ten shots.
Heading into the final round the only question people had was how far he would win by. Instead, the opposite happened, and for a short time, one of golf’s all-time greatest collapses looked to be on the cards.
Unable to find the crucial early birdies, Gooch posted two bogeys in his first nine holes then doubled the par 5 tenths. With Gooch unraveling, others were charging up the leaderboard.
India’s Anirban Lahiri picked up four birdies in the first nine holes before finding another three on the back nine. Clawing Gooch’s lead back to two, Lahiri just ran out of holes but played some truly wonderful golf to fire himself into second position.
The reigning Open Champion Cam Smith is one of Australia’s biggest sporting stars and the Aussie attracted terrific volumes of support throughout the week. Seeking to lift his first LIV title in front of his feverish fans, Smith saved his best for last, firing a superb 66 to finish in a tie for third, three behind Gooch.
Pat Perez and Patrick Reed joined Smith in a tie for third. Perez helped seal the team victory for the 4 Aces with a superb forty-foot birdie that sent the crowd into raptures. A special mention must also be given to Chase Koepka who sparked wild scenes with a stunning hole-in-one on the par 3 twelfth hole.
It was a day when all of LIV’s big hitters came out to play. Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Phil Mickelson all finished in the top 11. This weekend marked the first time that all of LIV’s stars had been able to shine.
Despite the pressures, it would end up being a defining week for Gooch, who despite shooting a one-over par 73 for his final round was able to hang on by two strokes.
The LIV Tour will now move back to the States with the wind in its sails. The week was a defining moment for Gooch but who knows it could also be a defining moment for the LIV Tour as a whole.
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