ADELAIDE, Australia — Taylor Gooch saw his double-digit lead overnight almost evaporate but rallied late to win Sunday’s LIV Australia inaugural tournament at Grange Golf Club.
After two under-62 rounds with no bogey, Gooch hit 1 in 73 to take his first win at LIV Golf with 3 strokes from a quick move Anirban Lahiri.
As the tournament leader, the 31-year-old American started his round on the first hole on Sunday in a shotgun start and scored a birdie on the par-3 fifth hole. but his bogey-free run finally ended on the par-5 seventh hole.
He dropped a shot in game eight and the slide worsened with a double in game 10, giving him a two-stroke lead over fast-moving Lahiri with eight holes left to play. .
That almost happened, when Gooch regrouped with birdies on the 11th and 13th holes and a tie on the 18th par 4 for the win and $4 million of the $20 million.
Lahiri hit 65 to finish second with 16-under, 2 strokes ahead of a four-way draw to take third with Cameron Tringale (sixty seven), Pat Pérez (sixty seven), Patrick Reed (65) and champion The Open Cameron Smith (66) all ended 15 under 201.
Phil Mickelson finished 12 under 204 in a draw in 11th place after 69. As was the case with the opening two innings, Mickelson was clearly the crowd favorite and was cheered for most of the half by a half-selling crowd. Another ticket includes 35,000 people on a hearty stadium. day at Adelaide’s Grange Golf Club.
Chasing Koepka certainly took the shot of the day with an ace on the 12th par-3, which was wildly celebrated by the thousands of fans lined up along the so-called “watering hole”.
The game was postponed for several minutes while the sheriff cleared away hundreds of plastic cups and bottles thrown into the teeing ground by fans in scenes not normally associated with golf.
Koepka shot a final game with the final score of 66 under 66 and 10 under.
Over 90,000 fans attended the three-day event, the most successful edition of LIV Golf tournaments, now in its second year.
The 14-event season will continue next weekend at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.
