The Aramco Team Series – Jeddah finished in dramatic fashion with both competitions ending in a playoff as Team Garcia and Chiara Noja claimed victory at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

In the Individual, it was Germany’s Noja who triumphed after a sensational final round of 65 (-7) to finish level with leader at the start of the day Charley Hull. The teenager then made a birdie on the first play-off hole putting pressure on Hull, but she duly rolled in her birdie putt. And the duo headed back down to 18 for the second time, but this time it was 16-year-old Noja who rolled in her birdie putt to clinch her maiden LET title.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in quite yet! I think the stress and happiness will come later this evening,” said the teenager, who finished second on the LET Access Series Order of Merit in 2022. It is hard work over a lot of years, and a lot of commitment and just trying not to back out of shots and commit to everything that I do and not be afraid to fail.”

Noja started the day brightly with back-to-back birdies before sinking an eagle on the fourth hole, and she finished her front nine with a bogey in-between two birdies to make the turn in 31 (-5). Two further birdies on 11 and 12 put the German rising star in pole position before she finished her round with a birdie on 16 and bogey on 17.

“This course, when you can go into par-fives in two, it is a massive advantage,” she continued. “I tried to take advantage of that this week, and it paid off. I  can’t even like begin to fathom what I’ve just done. I’m just going to try and relax tonight. Maybe have a burger, I don’t know, treat myself! Sleep. I think it’ll be the best night of sleep I’m probably ever going to get, and see how I feel tomorrow.”

South Africa’s Nicole Garcia had a great final day with an eagle putt on 18 to finish in third place on 12-under-par, Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta was fourth just one shot further back. England’s Bronte Law and South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace finished T5 with Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall in seventh place, while Scotland’s Laura Beveridge, India’s Vani Kapoor and Slovenia’s Pia Babnik rounded out the top 10 on eight-under-par.

At the end of day two, Team Garcia and Team Wolf finished tied at the top of the leaderboard on 29-under-par each and both teams contested the playoff on Saturday afternoon. Team Garcia made up of South African duo Garcia and Casandra Alexander alongside Czechia’s Tereza Melecka and Moroccan amateur Sonia Bayahya chose Alexander to contest the playoff on 18.

For Team Wolf – the quartet of Austria’s Christine Wolf, Scotland’s Beveridge, Alexandra Swayne of the US Virgin Islands and Saudi amateur Raghdah Alessawi – it was the Captain who took the responsibility. The players went back down to 18 and Alexander managed to make the green in two, while Wolf chose to lay up and it was the South African who nailed her birdie putt for Team Garcia to win. And it is a second win in an Aramco Team Series event for each of the professionals with Garcia victorious in London earlier this year, Melecka in Sotogrande and Alexander in the inaugural Team event in 2020.

Speaking of her decision to elect her compatriot to play, Garcia said: “We’ve obviously had a few rounds together and we have known each other for a long time. Before we even knew we were in the playoff, we had spoken yesterday in the round and I said if we do get into a playoff, you know you’re in. It was already decided yesterday. It was a bit nerve-wracking but I kind of knew what I was going to have in from playing earlier,” said Alexander. “I went to the range and hit a couple and kind of had an idea what I was going to hit. I took a 7-iron and fluffed it a little bit. I still had a putt left-to-right, but a fluffed 7-iron was enough to get the job done.”

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For the first time in more than a year, Brooks Koepka is victorious. Capturing the 2022 LIV Golf in Jeddah event on Sunday, Koepka finished at 12 under and needed three playoff holes to overtake his teammate and 36-hole leader Peter Uihlein at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. Playing alongside each other on the final day, up-and-down rounds were experienced by the two members of Smash GC.

Beginning the day one stroke off Uihlein’s pace, Koepka quickly went in front as his playing competitor carded a double bogey and bogey in his first three holes. The four-time major champion remained steady on his outward half, and ultimately turned in 1 under before adding another birdie on No. 10 to command a two-stroke lead over Uihlein, Sergio Garcia and a large cast of pursuers.

Only then did Koepka begin to experience some troubles of his own. Making three consecutive bogeys from Nos. 11-13, the 33-year-old’s name plummeted down the leaderboard. An unlikely birdie from the desert on the par-4 15th put Koepka back on the straight and narrow before he added another birdie on the 54th hole alongside Uilhein to knock Garcia and Joaquin Niemann out of contention at 11 under.

The two traded birdies on the first two extra holes, but disaster struck for Uihlein on the third playoff hole when he hit his third shot from the greenside bunker into the water. Leaving the door open for Koepka, the Smash GC captain marched on through and secured his first win on LIV Golf with yet another birdie.

“The last two years, they haven’t been fun. It’s been a long road, I am super excited,” said Koepka. “My whole team, we got the band back together, literally. We got Claude [Harmon] on the team, Peter [Cowen] — I’ve worked with Pete very, very hard — and Jeff [Pierce] as well, so shoutout to them, this is for them.

“I didn’t know if my career was over for a half second. I told Claude that I wasn’t sure if I was going to play. It’s nice to be able to come back and to be able to win.”

Koepka not only triumphed individually but also led his team to its first victory. While Brooks was the star of the show, it was younger brother Chase who provided the steady hand as his scores were used in each of the three rounds. With the victory, Smash GC moved up to fifth in the team standings — narrowly missing out on a bye in the first round of the Team Championship — and will be the first to pick their quarterfinal opponent for the LIV Golf finale in two weeks.

Team leaderboard

ZOZO Championship + LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah Recap, Reaction & Analysis | PGA Tour Podcast. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

What is next for LIV Golf?

The Team Championship is set to take place Oct. 28-30 at Trump National Doral in Miami. The 4 Aces, Crushers, Fireballs and Stingers have all secured a bye on the first day of competition while the teams ranked 5-12 will partake in the quarterfinals. 

Koepka’s Smash GC is the fifth seed, and as such will have the first opportunity to select the opponent it wishes to face. This selection process will continue for the Majesticks, Torque GC and the Hy Flyers. Teams will compete in three matches — two singles and one alternate shot — on the first two days of the championship before taking to stroke play where all four members’ scores will count.

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A rollercoaster second round of the 2022 LIV Golf Jeddah saw Peter Uihlein’s name climb to the top of the leaderboard. Ultimately signing for a 7-under 63, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy backed up his round of 5-under 67 on Friday and now sits alone at the top at 12 under.

Beginning his day on the second hole, Uihlein shot out of the gates with four consecutive birdies and applied pressure on overnight leader (and team captain) Brooks Koepka. Another birdie on the 10th saw the LIV Chicago runner-up reach 10 under for the tournament before finding the water on the difficult par-4 13th leading to a double bogey — his only mistake of the day.

Needing to recover quickly, Uihlein did just that with a birdie on the par-4 14th and an eagle-birdie finish to his second round. At 12 under, he finds himself only one stroke clear of Koepka and three ahead of former Masters champions Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia.

Not only will Uihlein need to deal with the stress of capturing the individual title, but he and his closest pursuer must keep an eye on the team portion of the event. Currently at 30 under, Smash GC commands a six-stroke lead over the Fireballs, which won last week at LIV Bangkok. With a triumph, Smash GC would ascend to fifth in the team standings, which would grant it first selection of which team to face on Day 1 of the Team Championship at Trump National Doral.

The leader

1. Peter Uihlein (-12)

Uihlein’s play both on and off LIV Golf has been sneaky good the past few months and has continued at LIV Golf Jeddah. Kicking off his LIV Golf campaign with a podium finish at LIV Golf London, the 33-year-old has since added a T7 result on the Asian Tour, a runner-up effort at LIV Golf Chicago and a top-10 finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour.

He sits eighth in the season-long points race and with a win could conceivably climb into the top three to earn a massive payday. Nothing will be given to Uihlein in the final round as he goes up against Koepka, a four-time major champion with whom he has a history. Rooming together in Europe while both traversed through the Challenge Tour, the two grew close and will surely make for a comfortable final grouping.

Other contenders

2. Brooks Koepka (-11)

T3. Charl Schwartzel, Sergio Garcia (-10)

T5. Abraham Ancer, Paul Casey (-9)

T7. James Piot, Dustin Johnson, Sihwan Kim, Anirban Lahiri (-8)

Following up an 8-under 62 is always a difficult task, but Koepka acquitted himself nicely in the second round. Signing for a 3-under 67, his biggest mistake came on the par-4 13th. Finding the desert off the tee, he compounded one poor swing with another and found the water with his approach to put a double-bogey on his scorecard. Able to bounce back from this mishap, Koepka added birdies on the par-3 16th and par-5 18th to come in at 11 under for the tournament. 

Koepka has never been a glass half full type of guy and his comments following his round confirms he still has stuff to work on. He was disappointed with his driving on Friday and Saturday, and it was his putter which fell flat. Still, he is only one stroke off the Uihlein’s pace, and if he is able to piece together the entirety of his game, a score similar to that of Round 1 may be in store for Sunday.

Team leaderboard

With Kevin Na’s WD, Iron Heads GC must use each team member’s score (3) in the final round.

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A corner was turned at LIV Golf Bangkok for Brooks Koepka last week as he captured his first top-10 finish since becoming a member of the new golf circuit. Carrying that momentum, the 32-year-old was at it again at 2022 LIV Golf Jeddah on Friday and opened with a flawless round of 8-under 62 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

Beginning his day on the back nine, Koepka quickly ascended to the top of the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 16-17. Unable to take advantage of the gettable par-5 18th, the four-time major champion then caught fire on the front nine of Royal Greens making five birdies against zero bogeys. 

Koepka added another on the 10th and murmurs of 59 began to circulate around the broadcast as Koepka saw not only his name, but that of his brother atop the leaderboard. Letting a few scoring opportunities fall by the wayside coming home, Koepka ultimately signed for his 62. 

Good for a two-stroke lead over LIV London winner Charl Schwartzel, Koepka is now in position to raise his first trophy since the 2021 WM Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour. His Smash GC team is also primed for its best effort of the season as Koepka’s team owns the top spot on the leaderboard at 15 under.

The leader

1. Brooks Koepka (-8)

Koepka has always been a golfer to play his best golf in the second or third week of a competitive stretch. He mentioned this repeatedly when asked about his preparations for major championship and with the switch to LIV Golf, continuity has been hard to come by. With the tournament schedule spread out, Koepka has visibly struggled up until last week at LIV Golf Bangkok and the first round in LIV Golf Jeddah.

“I think last week was kind of a turning point for me,” Koepka said. “I’ve worked pretty hard with Claude [Harmon], with Pete [Cowen] and Jeff [Pierce] over these last few months, getting back together with Claude and getting to see Pete a bit more. So this is the first time I’ve played back-to-back weeks since February. So tough to build a rhythm. I could see it coming. I’m very pleased with it, pleased with last week, and you know, hopefully just put together two more good rounds.”

Other contenders

2. Charl Schwartzel (-6)

T3. Hideto Tanihara, Peter Uihlein, Patrick Reed (-5)

T6. Turk Petit, James Piot, Carlos Ortiz (-4)

T9. Marc Leishman, Jediah Morgan, Anirban Lahiri, Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson (-3)

A possible engagement bump is brewing for Turk Petit who popped the question to his now fiancée Thursday on the Red Sea. The former NCAA individual champion carded five birdies against just on bogey and is tied with his fellow Niblicks teammate James Piot. They are two of the younger competitors on LIV Golf and have struggled throughout their tenure, but perhaps this is the week where the former collegiate studs will finally find their footing much like Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra did at LIV Bangkok.

Team leaderboard

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