NBA players have flocked to the golf course during their down time for ages. Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Steph Curry … the list of legends who enjoy the occasional round goes on, and Lebron James could be the next to join them. J.R. Smith, James’ former teammate and current member of the North Carolina A&T men’s golf team, discussed the possibility of the four-time MVP taking his talents to the golf course on Golf Channel’s Golf Today

“I would love to get him on the course,” Smith said. “For him, I think it would be amazing. Being in nature, being outdoors and being away from everybody, you get to throw your phone in the bag, have a drink, smoke a cigar, just enjoy the time. I think that would be such an amazing part of his life and give him time to himself, that peace of mind.”

Unlike some of the biggest stars in the world of sports, little video evidence of James’ swing existed —  until early October when footage of the 37-year-old at TopGolf surfaced on the internet. The swing needs … work, to put it lightly, and while longer clubs may help, Smith already has a potential coach in mind for James: 15-time major champion Tiger Woods.

“I don’t know if he [LeBron] has the fluidity, I’m just gonna say, to perfect that swing – or not perfect it, but to be one of those guys who can move it around early. I think it’s going take him a while, he’s going to have to get some lessons. I’m open to teaching him, but obviously I’m not the best either. He has access. I mean he and Tiger [Woods] are Nike [ambassadors], so they can figure that out.”

Woods has played golf with NBA superstars in the past, including Dwayne Wade, one of Lebron’s closest friends, and Jordan. With Woods confirming at the 2022 Hero World Challenge that his playing schedule will look much more relaxed moving forward due to his lengthy list of injuries, perhaps it will open a 6-foot-9 door to teaching. 

Source link

Cameron Smith won the Australian PGA Championship for a third time with a three-shot victory at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane.

Smith, who was playing in his native country for the first time in three years, held an overnight three-shot lead, but was caught early on the back nine, shortly after the second of two separate suspensions due to thunderstorms, which resulted in more than two hours of play lost.

Three birdies in a five-hole stretch from the 12th saw the 29-year-old reassert his command as a closing three-under-par 68 saw him claim victory in the DP World Tour’s season-opening tournament, which is co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Australian Jason Scrivener and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune finished in a share of second at 11 under after posting rounds of 67 and 65 respectively, while Australian Min Woo Lee was two shots further back in fourth alongside Challenge Tour Graduate John Parry.

An exhausted Smith fought back tears as he credited his grandmother for fuelling the final push to a third Australian PGA Championship and cap a magnificent homecoming. The Open Championship winner admitted there were doubts he had the energy to add to his 2017 and 2018 titles. But in his grandmother Carol, who just completed a second round of chemotherapy, walking all 72 holes beside him, he found his inspiration.

“I can’t believe she did it; everyone was telling her to pace herself but she was out there all day, every day,” Smith said, adding that it was also his father Des’s birthday. “Pretty amazing, inspiring, I don’t know how she did it. When I got back tied [after a bogey on the 11th hole] I really wanted to do it for those two.”

Smith, who joined LIV Golf almost immediately after his Open win at St Andrews, and may yet be prevented from taking part in further DP World Tour co-sanctioned events. A meeting is due to be held in London in February to determine whether the DP World Tour can follow the PGA Tour’s lead in banning LIV golfers who are also members of the DP World Tour from competing in their events.

Source link

When looking back at the wild world of golf in 2022, you will be hard pressed to tell the tale without Cameron Smith. Adding to what has already been a career-defining year both on and off the golf course, Smith claimed the 2022 Australian PGA Championship — the third of his career — at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane, Australia. 

Playing in his home country’s PGA Championship for the first time in three years, the world No. 3 was able overcome weather, nerves and his fellow countrymen en route to his fifth win of the year. Getting the better of Jason Scrivener and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, Smith finished with a 72-hole total of 14-under 270 to win by three shots.

“It’s awesome, mate,” Smith said. “I really didn’t think I had it in me this week me to be honest. The start of the week was a little bit scratchy. The game just got better and better as the week went on other than the front nine today.”

Smith’s game has gotten “better and better” not only throughout this week but throughout this year as a whole. Entering 2022 with three worldwide victories to his name and only one of which resided on the PGA Tour, the Australian shattered what many believed his ceiling to be and continues to do so.

A duel with Jon Rahm kicked off Smith’s 2022 at the Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. Needing to set the PGA Tour scoring record, a scorching Smith reached 34 under for the week to eek by the then-world No. 1 by a single stroke. Finishing atop a limited field of only 38 competitors, it really wasn’t until the spring when the conversation around Smith began to move from “He’s a pretty good player” to “He’s one of the best in the world.”

A weather-riddled Players Championship saw many of the world’s finest curl up as a brutal system rolled through the Jacksonville area the week of the “fifth major.” With a bit of tee time luck on his side at the onset of the tournament, Smith converted this golden opportunity into a golden moment with 10 birdies in the final round at TPC Sawgrass. 

Highlighted by his wedge shot on the famed island green par-3 17th, Smith’s bold action on the 71st hole of the championship gave him his biggest victory to date. Similar words would be uttered just four months later when a comeback for the ages transpired at the oldest major championship in the game.

Five birdies in a row and a back-nine 30 saw Smith leapfrog crowd-favorite Rory McIlroy the final day of the 150th Open. Taking on water throughout the third round, Smith reset on Sunday and leaned on his trusty putter for his last stroll around the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Boasting 25 one putts on the week, it was an unlikely up-and-down from behind the road hole bunker on the 71st hole that secured Smith’s first major championship and the title “Champion Golfer of the Year.” Celebrations, beers from the Claret Jug and praise ensued, but not before an eyebrow-raising moment occurred at his winner’s press conference.

“I just won the British Open, and you’re asking about that? I think that’s pretty not that good,” said Smith when asked about a potential move to LIV Golf.

With rumors swirling, intensifying and seemingly coming to life in real time, Smith was again bombarded with questions ahead of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Brushing off the interrogation in a way only a man with a mullet can, the 29-year-old ultimately chose to join the PGA Tour rival after completion of the Tour Championship.

“It felt like I didn’t sleep for a few months,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I was constantly thinking, ‘what will other people think?’ That was a really big factor for me. I feel like I do most things by the book and to be one to step away … was really tough for me.”

Smith’s decision paid dividends almost immediately. Falling one stroke short of a playoff in his debut at LIV Golf Boston, Smith made amends two weeks later with a victory at LIV Golf Chicago. Rounding out his inaugural LIV campaign with a 7-under 65 at Trump National Doral, Smith single-handedly carried his team Punch GC to within one of the LIV Golf Team Championship.

Fast forward to present day, and Smith should have no issues sleeping after his win at the 2022 Australian PGA Championship. Adding to what was already a memorable year, yet in the same sense equally bizarre, Smith has now captured five victories in five different time zones on three different continents on three different tours. 

While McIlroy will head into the new year as world No. 1 and winner of the season-long races on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, it may actually be Smith who was the most eye-catching, head-scratching, thought-provoking player of 2022. 

Winner of two of the biggest prizes in golf, the subject of controversy and again a champion in his home country, Smith will continue to saunter on. While the path may be one less traveled moving forward, it is a path no less, and one which helped shape Smith’s world class year.

Source link

Two days after losing the 150th Open Championship to Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy made a phone call he undoubtedly did not want to make. He called Smith to congratulate him on winning the Claret Jug, and then talked him through all the reasons he should stay on the PGA Tour.

Smith did not heed McIlroy’s advice, obviously, opting instead to sign a reported nine-figure deal with LIV Golf and making his debut at LIV Boston just after the Tour Championship. Those two, along with PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler, owned most of the year in 2022. That trio combined for 11 victories worldwide, including half the major championships.

However, it was what happened off the course that often dominated the headlines. Smith opened up recently about what McIlroy said to him during that post-Open Championship phone call.

“I’ve always had respect for Rory and I’ve liked what he says on the golf course,” Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald. “He said, ‘Congrats’. There were maybe a couple of little jabs in there. He was happy I played well and it was a good tournament. Then we talked about the PGA Tour and LIV. There was a bunch of stuff he wanted me to know before I made my decision. I wouldn’t say he tried to directly talk me out of it, but he definitely wanted me to stay.”

There was good reason. At the time, Smith was the No. 2 player in the world and the reigning Players Championship and Open Championship winner. His recap of the conversation squares with what McIlroy said at the Tour Championship in August:

“I wanted to congratulate him, but also I wanted — guys that are thinking one way or another, honestly I don’t care if they leave or not,” said McIlroy. It’s not going to make a difference to me. But I would at least like people to make a decision that is completely informed and basically know this is what’s coming down the pipeline. This is what you may be leaving behind.”

What’s coming on the PGA Tour is a set of elevated events with massively increased purses — 12 tournaments with an average purse size of $20 million in 2023 — as well as an opportunity to play in the TGL, which is run by a company Tiger Woods and McIlroy own. TGL is essentially televised screen golf in an arena where players will have the opportunity to make some money in conjunction with a PGA Tour-affiliated event. This has not been the case in the past.

Smith was not the biggest name LIV landed in 2022, but he was probably its best player. Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson are all bigger draws than the Australian, but you could argue that only Scheffler had a better year than Smith this year, although he certainly didn’t have a richer one.

Source link

Source link

LIV Golf is now more than halfway through its inaugural season after completion of play in Chicago. Making headlines both on and off the golf course, LIV Golf has taken its battle to the courtroom, social media and beyond. While the actual play in LIV Golf has been compelling at times, the overall structure, presence and future of the organization remains its most intriguing component in the context of men’s professional golf.

Plenty of questions have been answered since its inaugural event in London from June 9-11, but still more remain without a response. What will the future of this rival tour look like? How will the team aspect of the competition clash with the individual side? Will LIV Golf be able to recruit some of the best players in the world with its Official World Golf Rankings status in the air? Is a court date with the PGA Tour inevitable?

At every step along the way, answers about this league have only produced more questions and clarification has only made the future more complicated. 

The breakdown below is our attempt to share with you everything that’s known to this point as we head into the whatever LIV Golf is going to look like in the future. Whether this turns out to be a fork or bump in the road of professional golf remains to be seen (only the future will retroactively determine that), but it does feel monumental in the moment.

LIV Golf, empowered by its unlimited war chest of resources to throw at the best players, is officially at odds with the PGA Tour. It’s a period of time that has been promised for a long time, and is finally taking place. Let’s take a look at what we know and what we can expect in the weeks, months and years ahead as LIV Golf wraps up its first season at the end of October.

What is LIV Golf?

LIV Golf is a rival golf league to the PGA Tour where the tournaments consist of 54 holes, the fields are limited to 48 golfers and the purses are an astronomical $25 million. Twelve, four-man teams will compete in each event, and the individual purses will be $20 million while the other $5 million will be divided up among the best teams each week.

Who leads LIV Golf?

LIV Golf Investments runs the league, and its CEO is two-time major champion Greg Norman. It is funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which is effectively the financial arm of the Saudi Arabian government. These funds are seemingly limitless as the league has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to players just to guarantee their appearances at the LIV Golf Invitational Series events.

Who is playing for LIV Golf?

It began with Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson headlining the London event and has since grown into a respectable roster. Major champions Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed quickly followed the lead of their fellow Americans. 

More recently, and more importantly, world No. 3 and Champion Golfer of the Year Cameron Smith made the leap after the completion of the 2022 Tour Championship. He was joined by young Chilean Joaquin Niemann as two international players who chose to forgo the Presidents Cup in lieu of playing in the LIV Golf event in Boston. While the initial demographics skewed towards older players like Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Mickelson, there has been an influx of younger talent with Abraham Ancer and Harold Varner III among others.

Here’s a look at the 49 men who currently play for LIV Golf and their Official World Golf Rankings (Bubba Watson is a non-playing captain and is set to compete once fully recovered from injury).

What is going on legally between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour?

Originally, 11 LIV Golf players were a part of an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. This suit also sought a temporary restraining order for Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones and Talor Gooch to participate in the 2021-22 FedEx Cup Playoffs — which was ultimately denied and barred them from playing in the PGA Tour postseason.

Since then, slowly but surely, more and more of the original members have removed their names from the lawsuit. Previously, Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Jason Kokrak and Pat Perez left the suit. More recently, Talor Gooch, Mickelson, Poulter and Swafford followed in their footsteps. 

This leaves only three players seeking punitive damages in a legal battle with the PGA Tour: Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Jones. The trial is set to begin in January 2024.

The Tour has over and over again pointed back to its rules and regulations in this matter and remains set on keeping those who have played on LIV Golf off the PGA Tour. Commissioner Jay Monahan was asked at the Tour Championship if there was any chance LIV Golf members would be welcomed back onto the PGA Tour to which he blatantly answered, “no.”

How has the PGA Tour reacted to LIV Golf?

After a players-only meeting at the BMW Championship led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, sweeping changes have been made to the PGA Tour schedule and the treatment of its star players. Here are the spark notes of this new-look PGA Tour starting this season.

• Top players will commit to at least 20 PGA Tour events: These tournaments will include the eight elevated events as previously designated, four additional elevated events with purses of at least $20 million (to be announced), The Players Championship, the four major championships and three other FedEx Cup events of players’ choosing.
• The PIP will be expanded: The PIP has been increased from the top 10 players to the top 20 for 2022 and 2023. Not only has the player pool expanded, so has the prize pool, which will now total $100 million, double the $50 million previously announced. It is from these top 20 lists that “top players” will be defined.
• Modifications  made for Lifetime Membership: No longer will 15 seasons of membership be necessary. Once a player reaches 20 wins, he will be eligible. With this change, McIlroy has secured his lifetime membership with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth only being a handful of wins away.

Will LIV Golf receive Official World Golf Rankings points?

LIV Golf is still awaiting the status of its OWGR application despite its best attempts to expedite the process. All 49 players recently sent a letter to the OWGR chairman requesting that world ranking points be retroactively applied to its events. Comparing the OWGR without LIV to college football without the SEC or FIFA without Belgium, it is unlikely this holds any merit. 

Meanwhile, players have begun to tee it up on the DP World Tour with some consistency on weeks in which there is no LIV Golf event. The top 50 players in the OWGR at the end of the calendar year will be invited to the 2023 Masters making it a mad dash for players to accumulate as many points as possible before then.

Will the majors allow golfers to play?

That’s an even better question that has at least some clarity. The answer in the short term is: yes. The major organizations — PGA of America, USGA, R&A and Augusta National — likely won’t announce suspensions or bans of players who participate. There is a potential that qualifying criterias are modified in the future, however as of now if a LIV player gains entry through previous exemptions or the adequate OWGR (points which LIV has yet to secure) he should be able to compete.

What is the LIV Golf schedule?

Five events have already taken place in 2022, with three remaining. Here’s a look at what’s left on the schedule for the inaugural season.

• Bangkok, Thailand: Oct. 7-9
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Oct. 14-16
• Miami, Florida: Oct. 27-30

LIV Golf has released a tentative schedule for 2023 with 14 stops around the globe spanning Washington D.C., Spain and Australia. This is unofficial as details have yet to be confirmed.

• February: Florida (course TBD)
• February: California (course TBD)
• March: Tucson (Dove Mountain or the Gallery)
• April: Australia (Sydney or Queensland)
• April: Singapore (Sentosa)
• May: Washington D.C. (CBS Sports can confirm Trump National DC the week after PGA Championship)
• June: Philadelphia (course TBD)
• July: London (Centurion)
• July: Spain (Valderrama the week before The Open)
• August: New Jersey (Trump National Bedminster)
• August: West Virginia (The Greenbrier)
• September: Chicago (course TBD)
• September: Toronto or Mexico (course TBD)
• September: Florida (Trump National Doral)

What does LIV Golf’s season finale look like?

It will not look like the Tour Championship, that is for certain. Taking place from Oct. 28-30, the top four teams in LIV will receive a bye on the first day while teams 5-12 will compete in match-play competitions with the higher-ranked teams selecting their opponents. For each matchup, three matches consisting of two singles matches and one alternate-shot match will take place.

The same format will be used for Day 2 of competition with the four victors from Day 1 and the four teams which received a bye all playing. From there, the four winners from Day 2 will advance to the final stage which will be different.

The four winning teams will compete in stroke play on the final day of competition. All 16 players will compete and all four scores will count towards the team’s score. The lowest team score will be crowned the LIV Golf Invitational Series Team Champion.

Source link

Playing in only his second LIV Golf event, reigning Open Champion Cameron Smith proved that he is arguably the hottest player in world golf right now following a three-shot win at the series’ fifth tournament held at Rich Harvest Farms in Chicago.

The 29-year-old Australian, who had already won three times this year, said he felt immense pressure to prove to everyone that just because he had switched to a tour that had no cut and guaranteed prize money for all players, that his level of play would somehow drop off.

Smith fired rounds of 66, 68 and 69 for a 13-under-par total that saw him finish three shots clear of Dustin Johnson, who won the previous LIV Golf event in Boston, and Peter Ulhein.

Smith added: “That was the most pressure I’ve been under all year inside of an event. I feel as though I needed to prove to myself, and probably more so to other people, that just because I’ve changed tours doesn’t mean I’m a worse player for it. I’m still out here to win.”

Smith, who finished one stroke out of the three-man playoff won by Johnson in Boston, suffered a couple of early bogeys before bouncing back with three birdies in a five-hole stretch midway through his round. The key moment came in response to Johnson’s birdie at the par-5 7th to momentarily grab a share of the lead. Smith then drained his own birdie putt on top of Johnson’s to reacquire the lead, then followed with another birdie at the 8th to extend it.

“I think it was quite frustrating at the start of the day,” said Smith, who won $4 million in individual prize earnings. “My warm-up wasn’t fantastic. I didn’t feel like I was striking the ball as well as I had the first couple of days. I just kind of stuck in there.”
Johnson, however, did get to celebrate with his 4 Aces GC team, which won for the fourth consecutive time, completing the sweep of the US regular-season events before the Invitational Series heads overseas to Thailand and Saudi Arabia for the next two tournaments. Patrick Reed’s 68 – which included two chip-ins, one for eagle and one for birdie – and Pat Perez’ 69 led the way on Sunday, with Johnson supplying a 70.

Even though Johnson, rarely put heat on Smith on the back nine, the 4 Aces captain delivered the winning birdie on the par-5 18th for the $3m first-place team prize. Uihlein’s Smash GC, captained by Brooks Koepka, made its first appearance on the team podium and shared second-place prize money of $1.5m.

In the individual event, Sergio Garcia shot a closing 67 to finish alone in fourth, while Phil Mickelson had his best result in the series with an eight-place showing following a final round 66 that included nine birdies.

For the final leaderboard from the LIV Golf Invitational – Chicago, click here. 

Source link

For Cameron Smith, it lacked the historic nature of his final round at this year’s Open Championship or the lights-out golf of his last 18 holes at the Tournament of Champions or the dramatic finale at TPC Sawgrass when he took the Players Championship in March.  But the result Sunday at LIV Golf Chicago as he shot 69 in the final round of his second LIV event to finish at 13 under was exactly the same: he lifted a trophy.

Nobody would compare this trophy — which he won over Dustin Johnson, who finished at 10 under and Peter Uihlein, who also came in at 10 under — with any of his other three this year, but the field Smith conquered was solid and he took home more money ($4 million) than he did at any of the other three events where he was the champion.

Smith, who shot 64, 65 and 66 in the final three rounds of his other wins in 2022, posted was just 1 under through 16 holes after firing 66 and 68 over the first two days at Rich Harvest Farms but shut things down before they could get too dramatic with a birdie-birdie finish to put first place completely out of reach. Johnson, who shot 63 in Round 1 and curiously followed it with a 73-70 finish, could not chase him down on Sunday after ceding an early tournament lead to him in the second round on Saturday (they swapped 1-2 spots on the top of the leaderboard). It was actually Uihlein who gave the best effort, firing 66-69 over the last two days and securing his best finish yet (T2) in the LIV Golf League.

Smith has proven himself an elite closer in big time events, but he can also be a menace to try and catch because of how few big numbers he makes on account of his elite short game. He made just four bogeys on a tough golf course over the final two days at Rich Harvest Farms and cruised to a victory in which he was far and away the top player in the field.

“I think I have to prove to probably myself and some other people that I’m still a great player,” Smith said after his victory. “I’m still out here to win golf tournaments. I’m proud of how I hung in there today. I didn’t really have my best stuff the first eight or nine holes, but stuck it tough and made a few putts coming in. It was nice.”

It’s true that Smith, who started on the first hole in the shotgun start format, did not have his best stuff early. Two of his four bogeys on the weekend came on the first six holes on Sunday, but he righted the ship over the last 12 holes and played them in a combined 4 under to pull away from Uihlein and D.J., who Smith noted provided a nice benchmark for great play in LIV.

“He’s probably the one on the group of players here that you look at and you think he’s going to be pretty close to the top of the leaderboard every week,” Smith said. “I hope he thinks the same about me, and hopefully we can keep this going.”

The duo finished in the top five at the LIV Boston event as well with D.J. taking the trophy in a playoff, and Smith missing that playoff by a single stroke.

It was actually D.J.’s team — the 4 Aces — that pulled through for the team win with D.J. making a birdie at the last to seal the victory. His squad of Talor Gooch, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed squeaked out its fourth consecutive LIV Golf win (all but one of the five team finishes have gone to the 4 Aces) by a single stroke over Smash GC, made up of the Koepka brothers (Chase and Brooks), Jason Kokrak and Uihlein, who anchored them this week against the Aces.

Smith’s word choice after the win was interesting. He said he felt like he needed to prove himself to himself “and some other people” after moving over to LIV, even after winning the final major of the year in The Open at St. Andrews. Certainly Smith has heard from chirpy fans that he sold out to go to LIV and that his game will fall off as he moves away from the most competitive tour in the world, and it was clear in this week that he wants to prove that wrong.

Only time will tell how that plays out. However, his three round at Rich Harvest Farms this week were a reminder of what has been very clear over the last nine months, which is that Smith is unequivocally one of the top three players in the world, just as he’s been for all of 2022.

Source link

The two best players in the field at the LIV Golf event in Chicago remain the top two players on the leaderboard after 36 holes. However, they switched positions on Saturday. Dustin Johnson followed his 63 on Friday in Round 1 with a 73 on Saturday — his first over-par round in LIV Golf — and fell back to 8 under. He’s two back of Cameron Smith, who backed up his 66 in Round 1 with a 68 in Round 2 to get to 10 under and take the lead going into the finale on Sunday.

Smith and Johnson are the class of the field by almost any measure, and they have dominated the first two days of LIV’s first event in Chicago (or at least the first event near Chicago). They should be the two that duke it out on Sunday as they play in the final group starting on the first hole.

The task ahead for Johnson is formidable. Smith is the reigning Players champion and Open Championship winner, and in his three victories this year he has shot 65-66-64 in those final rounds. D.J. is looking for his second consecutive LIV victory, but his play has been inconsistent so far this week with one round in the low 60s and the other one ballooning over par. It’s unclear what’s in store for Sunday, and Smith is the only player in the field to shoot 68 or better in each of the first two rounds.

“It was tricky out there today, and I think I got a couple of breaks and D.J. didn’t quite make the putts he usually does,” said Smith.”It’s going to be tight, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

When asked if there was any part of his game that needed work going into Sunday, Smith declined.

“It all feels pretty good to be honest.” 

It all looked pretty good as well. Smith went out in 32 before making an early bogey on the back, which he erased with two birdies on his final two holes. When he’s driving it accurately — which he was for the most part on Saturday — he is perhaps the best player in the world. Every other part of his game is world-class.

Fittingly, D.J.’s team (4 Aces) and Smith’s team (Punch GC) are fighting for the top spot in the team competition this week as well. For the first time since LIV started, D.J.’s score was not used for his team — only the top two scores are used in the first two days — but Pat Perez (-1) and Patrick Reed (-3) picked him up on Saturday. The 4 Aces are -15, one shot ahead of Punch GC, which used Smith’s 4-under 68 and Matt Jones’ even-par 72.

As for who could challenge Smith and Johnson on Sunday, the list is not lengthy. Peter Uihlein shot the best round of the day on Saturday to slide into third at 7 under, and he’s three back of Smith and one back of Johnson. Beyond that, Laurie Canter and Charl Schwartzel are 6 under, and Bryson DeChambeau, Charles Howell III and Lee Westwood are all 5 under.

Sunday is likely going to be what Friday and Saturday were: a Johnson-Smith showdown for $4 million and the fifth LIV Golf title of the year. LIV Golf has been (rightfully) criticized in a lot of ways, but it’s undeniable this week that it’s a league providing a strong Sunday clash between two of the 10 best players on the planet currently. Even though it remains difficult to contextualize what a win for either would mean as it relates to the bigger picture, it should be a fun final 18 holes as Smith and Johnson try to do what they’ve done for the first 36 holes of this tournament: stay ahead of the rest of the pack.

Individual leaderboard

1. Cam Smith: -10
2. Dustin Johnson: -8
3. Peter Uihlein: -7
T4. Charl Schwartzel: -6
T4. Laurie Canter: -6
T6. Bryson DeChambeau: -5
T6. Lee Westwood: -5
T6. Charles Howell III: -5

Source link

At the LIV Golf Chicago event on Friday, Dustin Johnson picked up where he left off a few weeks ago at the LIV Golf Boston event, where he claimed his first title. Shooting an opening round of 63, D.J. leads Cam Smith by three strokes going into Round 2 on Saturday. He also helped his team, 4 Aces, to a total of 11 under, which puts them in line for what would be their fourth consecutive team win.

Johnson, who started on the first hole on Thursday, went out in 30 and only missed one or two shots over the five hours of play in Round 1. With a chance at 59 lingering, he stalled out a bit in the end but was still pleased with his performance, despite playing the last six holes in just 1-under par.

“I struck the ball really well obviously … it was really solid all day,” said Johnson. “Hit it really close. I didn’t have many long putts, but I holed a lot of putt inside 10 feet. I struck it really, really well today.”

When D.J. gets hot, this is what he does. He has the tendency to rip off multiple events in a row no matter where he’s playing or whom he’s playing against. This happened most notably back in 2017 when he won three straight tournaments leading into the Masters before withdrawing from the first major of the year with an injury. He was asked after his round Friday how he was maintaining such a high level of play despite probably playing less competitive golf than he’s ever played in his life (Johnson has played just six times since the PGA Championship in May).

“Right now I feel like I got my swing in a nice groove,” he said. “For me, as long as I hit a couple balls every other day then I can keep it there. Right now, I’m just swinging really well. Fortunately, I’m keeping it going.”

In addition to Johnson’s score, the 4 Aces also counted Talor Gooch’s 2-under number and lead the Punch GC squad — which counted Cam Smith’s -6 and Matt Jones’ -4 — by a single stroke going into the second round.

And if it’s Johnson who is the hottest LIV player going right now, it’s Smith who has been the best LIV player all year, albeit mostly on the PGA Tour and in the major championships. After winning the Tournament of Champions, Players Championship and Open Championship at the Old Course in July, Smith moved over to LIV Golf and finished T4 in his first event in Boston behind D.J. and two other players.

While Smith doesn’t have the beautiful game of Johnson when it comes to ball-striking, he’s been a better scorer throughout the entire year. Whether that’s enough to overcome a three-stroke deficit and the machine-like ball-striking performance D.J. has been putting on of late remains to be seen, but Smith has his Punch GC squad in position to end the mini-run the 4 Aces have been on and get his first post-PGA Tour victory at Rich Harvest Farms this weekend.

Regardless of what you think about LIV, the PGA Tour or the ongoing feud between the two, we can all agree that a Smith-Johnson battle over the weekend would be a delight. The towering, effortless game of a two-time major champion in Johnson facing off against the biggest “he’s got that dog in him” player alive today in Smith. A battle for the ages in the fifth LIV event of the year? Probably not, but the golf should still be great.

Leaderboard

1. Dustin Johnson: -9
2. Cam Smith: -6
3. Matthew Wolff: -5
T4. Charles Howell III: -4
T4. Matt Jones: -4
T4. Henrik Stenson: -4
T4. Lee Westwood: -4

Source link