DORAL, Fla. — Four teams were left standing for Sunday’s final round of the LIV Golf Team Championship and it was Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC who came out on top.
Louis Oosthuizen’s Stinger GC were out of the picture for the majority of the day, leaving the battle for the top three to the 4Aces, Cameron Smith’s Punch GC and Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC. The latter fell off later in the round, leaving a two-way race to the finish.
The 4Aces led by one stroke with one hole to play before Punch’s Marc Leishman tied the 4Aces at 6 under with a late birdie, just his second of the day. Patrick Reed then delivered a birdie on his final hole to reclaim the lead at 7 under and eventually earn the win after his teammate Johnson made par on the last.
“Hell yeah, I knew where I was,” Johnson said of the late-round situation. “I was watching (Reed) make his putt. I was like, ‘All right, I’ve just got to two-putt and we win,’ because I knew Cam — I played with Cam. He hit it to 10 feet for par. He made everything he looked at so I knew he was making it. I’m like, ‘I’ve got to two-putt.'”
“I do not like stress, so that was a little more stress than I was looking for,” he continued. “If that was an individual tournament, it would have been no problem, that putt. It’s straight in from three feet. But with it being the team aspect and I knew the whole team — like I had to make that for the team to win — I didn’t like it very much. My hands were not real steady.”
“I don’t know where I hit it on the putter face, but it went in the middle.”
The 4Aces were unbeaten on American soil this year and were the dominant team for most of the season after winning four consecutive events during the series’ U.S. swing. Johnson also claimed the season-long individual title a week before the regular-season finale in Saudi Arabia. The win earns the team the top prize of $16 million, with $4 million going to each player.
Smith shot the low round of the day, a 7-under 65, as his Punch finished one shot back in second at 6 under to take home $8 million.
“65, yeah. That was probably right up there for me,” said Smith. “I feel like I really didn’t miss a shot today. I felt like I holed everything.”
Smash finished in third, 11 shots behind the leaders at 4 over, to take home $6 million. Stinger closed out at 10 over to win $4 million.
