The third LIV Golf Invitational Series event came to an end on Sunday as Henrik Stenson was able to edge out the 48-man field at Trump National Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey. Claiming victory in his LIV Golf debut, the former European Ryder Cup captain was able to put aside the early-week noise and focus solely on his game en route to the winner’s circle.
“It’s certainly been a busy and emotional week, no question, or 10 days,” Stenson said Saturday. “Like I said, I didn’t have my best stuff (Saturday), but I was still focused and good attitude, and that’s what kept me in the ballgame. Yeah, pleased with the way I’ve kind of kept my head down and focused on business.
Beginning the final round at 9 under and with a three-stroke edge over Dustin Johnson, Stenson continued to keep his head down and leaned on his historically sound ball striking. Tacking on two birdies in his opening five holes, the 46-year-old saw his lead grow to as many as five while Johnson struggled and the likes of Matthew Wolff and Ian Poulter did their best to gain ground.
Wolff closed the gap to two when he made eagle on the par-4 10th and ultimately signed for the round of the day with a 7-under 64. However, in the end, Stenson’s even keel nature proved to be too much to overcome.
Carding eight consecutive pars in the middle of his round, Stenson took his advantage of his opportunities when they were presented and converted a crucial par save on the par-4 17th to maintain a two-stroke margin heading into the closing hole. Another par secured Stenson’s first worldwide victory in five years as he finished at 11 under and two ahead of Johnson and Wolff.
Not only did Stenson claim the individual title — and the $4 million grand prize — but he also led his Majesticks squad to a second-place finish in the team-portion of the event. Raising the team trophy for the second straight tournament was Johnson’s 4 Aces.
Johnson once again factored in his third LIV Golf event as he finished T2 alongside Wolff at 9 under and captured yet another top-10 finish. Following them on the leaderboard were Johnson’s teammates Patrick Reed in solo fifth and Talor Gooch who was among the logjam of players tied for sixth. As they did in Portland, Johnson, Reed, Gooch and Pat Perez split the $3 million top prize.
Team Results
1 | 4 Aces | Talor Gooch, Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed | -25 |
2 | Majesticks | Sam Horsfield, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson | -17 |
3 | Fireballs | Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra | -12 |
4 | Hy Flyers | Justin Harding, Bernd Wiesberger, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Wolff | -9 |
5 | Stinger | Hennie Du Plessis, Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel | -8 |
T6 | Crushers | Shaun Norris, Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III | -8 |
T6 | Niblicks | Turks Petit, James Piot, Hudson Swafford, Peter Uihlein | -4 |
8 | Smash | Richard Bland, Chase Koepka, Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak | -2 |
9 | Cleeks | Laurie Canter, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, David Puig | E |
10 | Iron Heads | Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phachara Khongwatmai, Kevin Na, Scott Vincent | +3 |
11 | Punch | Matt Jones, Jediah Morgan, Wade Ormsby, Travis Smyth | +7 |
12 | Torque | Ryosuke Kinoshita, Jinichiro Kozuma, Hideto Tanihara, Yuki Inamori | +10 |
What’s next for LIV Golf
The fourth event of the inaugural season is set to take place at The International in Boston, Massachusetts from Sept. 2-4. Scheduled for Labor Day weekend, LIV Golf will see Bubba Watson make his debut in a non-playing capacity as he will captain one of the squads which will be announced ahead of the tournament.
While it is unknown whether additional players will sign on with LIV between now and then, the rival league does have one thing going for it. With the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship wrapping up the season on Aug. 28, LIV will presumably have the golf schedule to themselves before the Presidents Cup takes center stage at Quail Hollow from Sept. 22-25.
