In the final start before his Open Championship defense at Royal Liverpool, Cameron Smith claimed victory at LIV Golf London. Entering the winner’s circle for the second time in his LIV Golf career, Smith fended off his Ripper GC teammate and fellow countryman Marc Leishman as well as admirable charges from Louis Oosthuizen and Patrick Reed in the penultimate group.
“It was a gutsy win over the weekend,” said Smith. “I definitely didn’t have my best stuff with driver, which has actually been feeling really good. I think there’s still some work to do on that, but I’m really happy with the win.”
Smith began the final 18 at the Centurion Club in command of a three-stroke lead. Early birdies saw his lead grow before Leishman made his voice heard. A pair of birdies around the turn allowed Leishman to remain in shouting distance before a soft bogey from Smith on the par-4 12th cut his lead to two.
Leishman persisted while Reed made a charge. The former Masters champion rattled off seven birdies in his final 11 holes to become Smith’s main pursuer. With Smith failing to take advantage of the par-5 15th after a wayward drive, Reed saw his opportunity to pounce.
Birdies from Reed’s blade on 15 and 17 trimmed Smith’s lead to one and provided a spark for his 4 Aces team. Reed ultimately would miss his birdie bid on the par-5 finisher and allowed the Ripper GC headman a relatively stress-free walk up 18.
Smith needed only bogey to secure the individual title by one stroke over Reed and Leishman at 15 under, but the dropped shot on the last proved costly from a team standpoint. With his par effort sliding by, the 4 Aces collected the team portion of LIV Golf London by a single stroke with Reed, Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez all finishing inside the top 10.
“I’m thrilled about the individual win, but it would have been nice to get up there with the boys,” said Smith. “I hit a good putt, too. It’s a bit of mixed emotions, I think, at the moment. We [Ripper GC] showed some form early last week, and we’re showing form again here. It’s good to see Leishman play really good golf. He played incredible this weekend. I got to play with him the last two days, and he might not be too far behind me.”
After a slow start to the season, the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year is rolling. His victory in London is the culmination of months of consistency that began following a disappointing outing at the Masters in April. Since his trip to Augusta National, the Australian has rattled off eight straight top-12 finishes between the major championships and LIV Golf.
Top-10 efforts at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open have Smith firmly on the radar of prognosticators and competitors alike. It has been 15 years since a player successfully defended his Open crown with Padraig Harrington doing so in 2008. Smith will have a realistic chance to join the Irishman — who, coincidentally, got the better of LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman that championship Sunday at Royal Birkdale — in the history books.