In what would be another embarrassing week for the Official World Golf Ranking, American Talor Gooch became the first player in the short history of LIV Golf to win back-to-back individual titles, defeating Sergio Garcia in a battle that looked more like a boxing match than a round of golf.
The 18 holes on Sunday, and even the 54 holes this week, were not enough to separate the two as they matched each other blow for blow. At the end of regulation play, both players were tied at the top on 17-under-par 199, thus needing extra holes to decide the champion.
Garcia’s resolve finally wavered on the first extra hole. He pushed his second shot slightly into the greenside bunker, from where he could not make his up and down. Gooch, on the other hand, hit two glorious shots to reach the heart of the par-5 18th green, and two-putted for a birdie to claim the $4 million first place check.
Last week, after winning the LIV Golf Adelaide title, Gooch fell two places in the OWGR to No. 59. The slide will continue in the absence of any points this week as well, despite the fact that he soared above some of the biggest names in the sport.
The 31-year-old from Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Spain’s Garcia started the day at 13-under. Gooch made three birdies and a bogey in his first four holes to be two-under at that stage. Garcia replied with two birdies to move to 15-under as well.
On the eighth hole, Gooch made a terrific birdie from 25 feet, while Garcia needed to save par from 15 feet to prevent a two-shot swing. He then quickly nullified the advantage by making another 15-footer on the ninth hole, this time for birdie.
There seemed an opening for Gooch when Garcia missed a four-footer for par on the 12th hole for bogey, but he bounced back quickly with an imperious 8-iron second shot to three feet on the next. The two were tied again.
On the short par-4 15th, Garcia made another mistake, this time pushing his tee shot with a three-iron into the right trees and making a bogey. However, he struck another beauty on the 16th to again draw level at 16-under-par. Both made birdies on the par-5 18th in regulation to steer one clear of four-time major champion Brookes Koepka (-16) and two ahead of Asian Tour member Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe, who punched much above his weight and finished solo fourth at 15-under-par.
After winning the playoff, Gooch said: “Sergio is playing so good right now. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go down that last hole and have a chance of winning by making par. I knew that I needed to birdie the last. So, I stood on the tee — and I don’t like that tee shot at all — and I just decided to hit the driver. I thought ‘I’m just going to step up and do it. If it doesn’t go well, then we’ll deal with it’.
“But it was just a perfect way to end the day. We were going back and forth all day. Even yesterday, we did the same. It was fun, it was special. I grew up watching Sergio. He’s one of the greatest golfers of this generation. To go and battle with him and come out on top is something I will never forget.”
The Team Championship followed the fate of the individual event, with Gooch’s Range Goats managing to win by three shots on 37 points. Harold Verner III, the 2022 Saudi Invitational champion, played a key role in that win with a six-under-par 66.
Garcia’s Fireballs, with Eugenio Lopez Chaccara contributing 65, were second at 34-under. A crucial birdie putt on his last hole by India’s Anirban Lahiri (67) ensured Crushers zoomed to the podium with a stunning 20-under final-round effort that was set up by fantastic rounds of eight-under-par 63 by both Paul Casey and Charles Howell III.
England’s Laurie Canter scored the third hole-in-one in LIV Golf history and second in as many weeks following Chase Koepka’s unforgettable one at the Watering Hole in Adelaide.
The Englishman, who said “he was gutted” when he felt he thinned his tee shot on the 185-yard 17th hole, realized how good it turned out to be only after hearing the roar from the crowd.
The next LIV Golf tournament is scheduled for May 12-14 at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a course that is an hour’s drive from Gooch’s hometown.
