Australian LIV Golf team Ripper GC has won a dramatic teams event in Adelaide after edging South African outfit Stinger GC in a second playoff hole at Grange Golf Club.
Star Aussie pair Cam Smith and Marc Leishman had to hole nervous putts to survive the first playoff on the 18th as Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester both missed birdie chances that would have sealed an incredible come-from-behind victory, having been five shots adrift of Ripper with three holes to play on Sunday.
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But it was advantage Australia on the deciding-56th hole of the tournament when the South African pair both found the greenside bunker.
Burmester took two shots to get up and down from the sand before making a bogey five, while Oosthuizen managed to get out of the bunker in one but could still only manage a bogey.
Leishman then sank a tournament-winning par-putt and Ripper captain Smith sealed the victory — albeit with one shot more than he would have liked — with a two-putt bogey five.
“It is a frenzied atmosphere here at The Grange,” commentator Arlo White said as the heavily pro-Australia crowd cheered every false shot from the Stingers.
The thousands of fans packed into 18 erupted when Smith’s tap-in bogey confirmed Ripper’s first teams event win on home soil, in what was LIV Golf’s first teams playoff.
![Cam Smith led Australia to an epic victory.](jpg/fb5ad72a5debcf1109e6ea80b69a782e0b1dda67e2c3.jpg?imwidth=650&impolicy=sevennews_v2)
“This is unreal. It’s a dream come true for us,” Smith said after the win.
“We have been talking about it all year. It’s the tournament we wanted to win obviously.
“It’s just so good.”
American Brendan Steele won the individual even by one shot, finishing 18-under par, ahead of Oosthuizen at 17-under.
“That’s one of the most thrilling sporting events that I’ve ever covered in my career,” White said of the tournament.
Steele held off the fast-finishing Oosthuizen after firing a four-under 68 in Sunday’s final round.
Oosthuizen charged with a blemish-free seven-under 65.
Former world No.1 Jon Rahm also threatened with an eagle and six birdies in a superb 64 but fell short.
Australia’s Matt Jones (14 under) topped the standings for the locals, with Smith, Leishman and Lucas Herbert all 13 under.
Smith started Sunday as the best-placed Australian at 11 under, three shots shy of overnight leader Steele.
But the Queenslander bogeyed the third hole, a 222-metre par-three, and watched a series of putts shave the hole in his two-under 70.
Compatriot Jones started the tournament with a six-under 66 and then four-under 68.
And the 44-year-old got hot in a seven-hole stretch that reaped his four birdies for the day.
Leishman carded a fine seven-under 65, while Herbert made a stunning comeback after a one-over 73 on the opening day.
Herbert shot a seven-under 65 on consecutive days to finish with a flourish.
Some notable big names were off the pace, including Brooks Koepka (nine under), Bryson DeChambeau (10 under), Dustin Johnson (nine under), Phil Mickelson (seven under) and Sergio Garcia (six under).
- With AAP
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