LIV Golf Hong Kong: Day Three
Ancer prevails in the playoff despite a push from Smith and Casey: After a rainy, exciting, and suspenseful round, Abraham Ancer gets his first LIV Golf victory after 55 holes. Going into the day, Ancer sported a 5-shot lead but that started to diminish after three bogeys and only one birdie. Cameron Smith held strong all day, going bogey-free with four birdies and gaining four strokes. Paul Casey made the biggest push into a share of the lead, shooting a 64 and gaining six to get to -13. A birdie from the bunker on his 18th hole of the day proved crucial and got him into the playoff. The playoff took place on the 18th hole, which was a tricky one for players all week as today there were only five birdies in regulation in the field of 54. A strong drive into the fairway for Ancer helped set him up for a birdie. Smith and Casey bogeyed the hole which left Ancer a lot of lee-way. This was both Casey and Smith’s best result of the season, marking the second top 10 for Smith and the second top five for Paul Casey. Today marked not only Ancer’s first win but his first top-10 finish of the season and is now 4 million dollars richer.
Rest of the Top 10: In a share of fourth at -12 are Torque teammates Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz. Just when you think Niemann can’t do anything better, he does, add an ace to his name. Shooting a 63, Niemann shot a hole-in-one on his third hole of the day. Shooting eight birdies, three to end the day helped propel him into a top 5 finish. Ortiz shoots a 66 with five birdies to earn his first top-five of the season and his best result by 11 spots. In a tie for 6th at -11 is Kevin Na and Bryson DeChambeau. Na’s Sunday featured his lowest round of the season, shooting a 64 with seven birdies. This marks Na’s first top-10 of the season. Bryson DeChambeau shot a 66 with three birdies and an eagle to earn his third top 10 of the season. Rounding out the top 10 in a tie for 8th at -10 are Richard Bland, Charles Howell III, Graeme McDowell, Dean Burmester, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, and Jon Rahm. ‘Blandimonium’ continues to play some of the best golf of his life, equaling his best round of the week with a 66 featuring five birdies. Today marks Bland’s first top 10 of the season. Today’s tie for 8th is the third top 10 for Howell III, going bogey-free on Sunday, shooting a 67. McDowell continues to thrive with Smash GC, shooting a 67 with three birdies and an eagle for his second top-10 of the season. Burmester improved by a stroke from yesterday, earning his third top-10 of the season. Teammates Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson have their best finishes of the season, shooting a 68 and 69 respectively on Sunday. Jon Rahm saving par on his last two holes proved crucial after two late bogeys. shooting a 69 on Sunday. This now extends Rahm’s top-10 streak to four to start his LIV Golf career.
Crushers shock the world, again: Last weekend’s final round was certainly a shock and looked improbable. Today the Crushers proved that lightning can strike twice. Powered by Paul Casey’s performance and solidified by his late birdie, the Crushers improved 14 strokes today to walk away from Hong Kong with the team title with a final score of -35. The top 10s of DeChambeau and Howell III helped add to the mix while Anirban Lahiri shot a birdie on his last hole to help put them two ahead. This is the Crushers second victory of the season. Torque finishes in second at -33, with the fourth-place ties of Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz leading the way. Sebastian Munoz had a strong weekend, finishing 21st while Mito Pereira shot a 68 on the final day. Munoz had a birdie on his 18th of the day which put them one place ahead of Ripper GC. Ripper finishes the weekend in third, led by the podium finish of Cameron Smith. The Majesticks miss the podium by a stroke but a much improved performance from last weekend where they finished last in 13th place.
Niemann’s ace was not the only one: Joaquin Niemann shot an ace on his third hole of the day but this wasn’t the only one of the day. Kalle Samooja shot a hole-in-one on-two today, which helps him finish the weekend at -2 in a tie for 41st. Samooja has helped contribute to the resurgence of the Cleeks who finished fifth this weekend.
Anthony Kim — Performance of the Day: The comeback trail continues for Anthony Kim, but he certainly cleared a big hurdle today. Today Kim broke par and not only par but the third lowest round of the day, shooting a five-under-par 65. Kim shot seven birdies and only two bogeys, including three in a row from his 15th to 17th holes of the day. Pretty incredible for someone who is only playing his sixth round in 12 years. Kim ends the weekend at +3 and will head to Macau this week to play on the Asian Tour.
Looking ahead: LIV will return to Miami, April 5th through 7th at Trump National Doral. After hosting the last two team championships, this will be the first individual event for LIV in Miami. 2022 was the 4Aces and 2023 was the Crushers. Many LIV players have had success at this course before signing on. The course hosted the WGC Championship from 2007 to 2016. Phil Mickelson won the 2009 edition. Charl Schwartzel was runner-up in 2010. Patrick Reed won in 2014 and Dustin Johnson in 2015. Bubba Watson has been a runner-up three times at the tournament.
