Talor Gooch survives final day examination to win in Adelaide
Talor Gooch and his Australian caddie Mal Baker embrace on the 18th green- photo LIV Golf
Liv Golf’s first venture to Australian shores has resulted in one of the most heavily attended events ever seen in Australian golf and a three shot victory to American Talor Gooch with India’s Anirban Lahiri alone in second place ahead of a four way tie involving Patrick Reed, Cameron Tringale, Pat Perez and Cam Smith in third position.
Gooch took a ten shot lead into today’s final round after his amazing opening rounds of 62 and 62 but leads, however big in tournament golf, often come under attack from others and the leader himself and such was the case today.
Gooch appeared to be well in control when he birdied his 5th hole but his troubles began when he dropped four shots in four holes from the 7th and his lead was reduced to just two as Lahiri reached the 10th tee at 5 under for the day.
Gooch steadied the ship with a birdie at the 11th and when he added a birdie at the 13th the outcome was all but assured.
He would par his last five holes and had the luxury of negotiating the huge crowds who surged onto the 18th hole to welcome the winner with a comfortable lead which he converted to victory and the US$4 million first prize.
“I think golf is just really hard,’ said the champion. “It’s hard to put back-to-back days together like I did and even harder to do it three times in a row. I actually played fine out there today. The golf gods I think said, we don’t want this first win to be easy on you.
“Had a couple bad breaks here and there, so it made things interesting, but it was cool to kind of overcome the adversity and dig deep after I made a double on No. 10. It was kind of a point of we’re either going to dig deep and do this or you’re going to stumble coming in. It was cool to dig deep and get the job done.
“It’s incredible, and even more special with my caddie being from Australia. We’ve been looking forward to this tournament for so long, and I couldn’t have picked a more fun, more meaningful tournament to win on LIV than here in Australia in front of the greatest crowds we’ve had, the greatest environment we’ve had. The course was phenomenal. Everything about it was just first class.”
Gooch made a special tribute to his caddie and outlined just how his role assisted his win this week.
“Yeah, like I’ve said the last few days, his green reading ability out here is incredible. I leaned on him more this week than I have in a long time. He was so spot on early on, and it just gave me confidence in him, and I think it gave confidence in himself.
“I made a bunch of putts the last couple days, a bunch of 8-, 10-, 12-footers, and without him, I don’t make as many putts, plain and simple. Having the confidence in his green-reading ability was a huge difference maker, and then today, when things were shaky, he was a constant.
“He does a great job of not wavering, not getting too high, not getting too low, and he knows that I don’t need a cheerleader that’s going to kind of pump me up when I’m down. He knows that, you know what, we’re just going to keep doing the same things, and we know if we do what we’re supposed to do, good things will happen.
“His constant mentality and emotions, just how he conducts himself in those moments are huge for me for keeping me calm and making things easier than what they feel like they are in the moment.”
Patrick Reed came from the clouds on the final day with a round of 65 to finish in a share of third while Smith added a second consecutive 66 to finish in that 4 way tie for 3rd in what was an impressive effort given the expectations on him throughout the week.
“Yeah, pretty exhausted,” said Smith when asked how he was feeling after the event was over. “It was a big week to get through with lots of commitments and the fans. It’s so cool to have those people behind you, but it’s also really draining, as well, having the ovations on every green and tee. Yeah, it was an epic week but a very tiring week.
“I think we do more stuff, get more people in here. There’s obviously a want in Australia, I think, for really high-quality golf, and I think the fans here really enjoyed what LIV offers. Yeah, there’s no reason why we can’t make it bigger.
“I think I did a really good job of actually just playing golf with all the outside noise. There was a lot of good on the golf course. There was a lot of putts that could have gone in. To finish up the week wherever I did, I think fourth or fifth, I think it was a really good effort.”
Smith’s share of 3rd earns him US$1081,000.
For those who are interested, the teams event was won by The 4 Aces, Patrick Reid, Peter Uilhein, Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez who pocket US$750,000 each for their win.
Cam Smith during his impressive final round – photo LIV Golf Jason O’Brien
