Winning in one’s home country is special and Cam Smith’s Ripper GC lived that dream in LIV Golf Adelaide. They may not have an individual winner but came out strong as a team to defeat Louis Oosthuizen’s Stinger GC. After their second-team victory in the Saudi-backed league, the Aussie players expressed their feelings at the winners’ press conference.
Despite shooting 6 under par in the front nine at the Grange Golf Club, Lucas Herbert’s bogeys on 11th and 13th could have cost his team the playoff chance with Stinger GC. However, he soaked into the pressure well and shot three birdies on the 15th, 16th and 18th. While speaking on the pressure of entering the final round, the 28-year-old revealed the game plan that he spun with his caddie.
“I don’t know that I felt too much pressure… I sort of chatted with purely my caddy before the round.” Herbert talked about his game plan and continued, “I thought was where we were going to really take advantage of the golf course. So I was kind of prepping myself for a pretty hot start… Then I think we played that stretch of holes… I was kind of like, “oh, damn it, that was our advantage gone.'”
Ripper GC’s second LIV title came after Smith and Leishman faced Oosthuizen and Burmester in the playoff match. They did beat them with one stroke, but the nerves were felt all across the arena. When the winning team’s Matt Jones was asked to sum up their first win in their home country, the Australian revealed it was a feat they wanted to achieve last year.
“No, it’s not that easy to sum up. For us to win in Australia as a team, that’s something we wanted to do last year.” Jones highlighted Rippers GC’s winning reason as he said, “To do it with these guys, we’re all good friends. We have such a good time together, and I think that’s one of the aspects that makes our team so good.”
The 44-year-old described LIV Golf Adelaide’s win as special because of his Aussie teammates. And quite evidently so, as they managed to grab their hands on the hefty prize money!
How Much Did Each Ripper GC Member Earn From The $25 Million Purse?
LIV Golf Adelaide saw Brendan Steele become the first HyFlyers GC player to lift the individual title. He beat Louis Oosthuizen by one stroke to win the biggest paycheck of $4 million. Meanwhile, Ripper GC won their second title at the Grange Golf Club to receive a massive amount of $3 million as prize money.
Matt Jones was the highest-ranked Ripper finishing T9 on the leaderboard. His teammates, on the other hand, finished on T14 rank on the leaderboard. Captain Cameron Smith reflected on his team and their bond. He recalled that since their foundation they have been good friends and it has helped them look at golf in a “different way.”
“Ever since Leish and I had come into this team with Jonesy and Wade, that’s all we talked about. It’s such a different way to think about golf. Especially for us, I think, because we’re all such good mates… There’s a couple of teams that don’t quite get along as well as what we do, but doing something for your mates is special.”
In addition to the $3 million as a team, Jones earned $385,500, and his other teammates Smith, Leishman, and Herbert earned $275,000 from the individual prize purse. The LIV Golf team will now head to Sentosa Golf Club to play in the LIV Golf Singapore event. With their current form, each Ripper GC team member has, one of them can surely contend for the first individual title of the 2024 season this week.
