The second LIV Golf Invitational Series event concluded in dramatic fashion Saturday evening at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club just outside Portland, Oregon. With $20 million up for grabs in individual prizes and an additional $5 million for the top teams, it was Branden Grace, yet another South African who claimed the title.
Beginning the day at 6 under and three strokes off the pace set by Carlos Ortiz, Grace was nearly flawless in his final 18. Signing for a 7-under 65 and the round of the week, the 34-year-old leapfrogged the 36-hole leader as well as Dustin Johnson en route to victory.
Despite carding the lowest individual 54-hole total and claiming the $4 million winner’s check, Grace was unable to lead his squad to the team trophy. Instead, that honor goes to the 4 Aces captained by Johnson and accompanied by Pat Perez, Patrick Reed and Talor Gooch. Johnson and Reed both finished in a tie for third at 9 under and four strokes behind Grace. While Perez plummeted down the leaderboard with a final round 80, Gooch held steady and ultimately finished in solo seventh.
As for a few notables, Matthew Wolff showed some promise in his LIV Golf debut, signed for rounds of 72-71-70 and finished in a tie for eighth. Bryson DeChambeau rounded out the top 10 while Kevin Na, Abraham Ancer and Brooks Koepka all finished inside the top 20.
For only its second event, LIV Golf and CEO Greg Norman must be proud of how the product is shaping up. With big names like Johnson and Reed in contention on the back nine and the team competition coming down to one of the final putts, the Portland event was more than able to make up for the lack intrigue in the inaugural tournament which it was sorely missing.
Team Results
1 | 4 Aces | Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch | -23 |
2 | Stinger | Branden Grace, Hennie du Plessis, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel | -16 |
3 | Fireballs | Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra | -12 |
4 | Torque | Hideto Tanihara, Jinichiro Kozuma, Yuki Inamori, Ryosuke Kinoshita | -11 |
5 | Iron Heads | Sihwan Kim, Kevin Na, Phachara Khongwatmai, Sadom Kaewkanjana | -5 |
6 | Smash | Brooks Koepka, Chase Koepka, Richard Bland, Adrian Otaegui | -3 |
7 | Niblicks | James Piot, Hudson Swafford, Travis Smyth, Graeme McDowell | -2 |
8 | Majesticks | Sam Horsfield, Laurie Canter, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood | E |
9 | Crushers | Justin Harding, Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein, Shaun Norris | +1 |
10 | Cleeks | Martin Kaymer, Scott Vincent, Ian Snyman, Turk Petit | +2 |
11 | Hy Flyers | Matthew Wolff, Phil Mickelson, Bernd Wiesberger, Itthipat Buranatanyarat | +5 |
12 | Punch | Wade Ormsby, Matt Jones, Jediah Morgan, Blake Windred | +7 |
What’s next for LIV Golf
The third event of the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series is scheduled for July 29-31 at Trump National Bedminster. With the signing of Paul Casey announced Saturday, it will be interesting to see if any other players will be added to the field between now and then.
No longer allowed to play on the PGA Tour and select DP World Tour events, those not qualified for the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews will be away from competition for the next four weeks. This is not the case for the likes of Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson as they will compete at the Old Course in the fourth and final major of the year in two weeks’ time.
