Golf

Ripper GC Takes the Crown at 2024 LIV Golf Team Championship

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Sep 24, 2024 / 3441 Views

Evan Walker

Australians are as comPetitive as they come in world sport, and Ripper GC were an embodiment of that spirit once more by coming up tops at the 2024 LIV Golf Team Championship on Sunday, September 22.

Led by Cameron Smith, the all-Aussie outfit of Mark Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones made another point through the week at Dallas’ Maridoe Golf Club with the three-shot win over the 4Aces and Iron Heads. Legion XIII finished fourth.

An individual win eluded the quartet through the season — the closest to get there was Smith with two runner-up results, but as a group, Ripper GC was an altogether different outfit with a mindset that befits champions.

Through the season, they delivered when the onus was on them, and the back-to-back triumphs on home turf in Adelaide and Singapore stood proof.

The captain had attributed this accomplishment to his teaMMAtes’ excellent character, and re-emphasised the point post the season’s crowning glory on Sunday.

“They are better people. That’s what being a Ripper is all about. Just so happens that we’re good Golfers, too. It’s a good combo. But to have those three guys out there, or six other guys (our support staff) really to lean on trying to get the job done, there was something in me that was telling me that we were going to be all right,” said Smith.

Ripper GC triumphs at 2024 LIV Golf Team Championship

Winning formula

Though impeccable as individual players, incidentally all four Aussies have won on the PGA Tour and Smith has three wins on LIV, team competitions are like an orchestra with the team members in the constant endeavour to perform in sync.

Starting with the runner-up at London in July last season, which set the tone for the maiden win at Bedminster a month down, Ripper GC discovered the template for team success.

The pattern came to be replicated many times in 2024, the back-to-back triumphs, and consecutive runner-up finishes in United Kingdom and Greenbrier.

Adelaide, in particular, stands out as the Ripper GC boys won in a playoff in what was LIV’s first in the team format. The nerves took a toll in a way that Smith said, “It happened to us in Adelaide, and just didn’t want to let it happen again.”

This and the spur of the team motto, “If you are not first, you are last,” Smith and his men looked worthy champions.

Holding nerve

As Smith promised to himself and his team, there wasn’t a repeat of Adelaide on Sunday, but the turbulence due to the fast-changing leaderboard as the Aces and Iron Heads mounted a challenge was a test all the same.

“Watching the leaderboard was pretty stressful. I almost wanted to take my eye off it, but I couldn’t, I was so intrigued with what we had to do, but there was something in me that told me that the boys were going to come through,” said Smith.

They did, and the hero was Herbert, the man who prides in calling himself ‘The Gladiator’. Featuring in his first season on LIV, the 28-year-old brought to life what he has always believed in as a professional Golfer.

Waking up every day with an objective in mind and giving it all to achieve it; this has been Herbert’s calling since he turned pro in 2015, and there couldn’t have a better platform than scripting a high in his maiden Team Championship.

The heat was on his team as they strove for their best finish in the team format, and true to his nickname, Herbert rose like a colossus. Making light of the double bogey and bogey earlier in the round, Herbert ran into hot form on the back-nine with three consecutive holes, 15-17, and captain Cam Smith nailed a pressure putt to swing it their way for a winning total of 11-under par.

When asked what made the Ripper GC team such good closers, Smith replied with a smile, but the answer had grit written all over it. “We are Aussies.”

“There was a genuine feeling within the team that these guys are going to do the best. Having these three guys with me, I don’t think I’d want any other three guys closing a tournament…We’ve come second a couple times this year, we should have done it a couple more times, too, I think, without being greedy.”

For Herbert, closing the tournament was also reinforcing his strength on the green, especially when the pressure was on. “It’s a real asset of mine as a skill set. The last couple days when I made the putts, I really believed in the fact that I was obviously very, very good at holing putts when I needed to and tried not to let the moment get bigger than it needs to be,” he said on being one of the factors why the Rippers were the only seeded team to progress to the final after the others got knocked out in the quarter-finals and semis.

Play hard, party harder

Ending the season on a high, it is time to let the hair down — literally for Smith with his long mane — turn up the music and raise a toast.

Smith hosted his team in what Aussies would call a ‘Mad Monday’. The captain explained. “In Australia, it’s for all the footy teams that exit the final early or win. The day after they’re done, they generally go up and dress up. It’s a costume party.”

Herbert chipped in that the celebrations would last beyond a day, probably over 72 hours, but the underlining fact that kept reappearing through the week is of camaraderie scripting a success story in a format that can be cruel.

“You have guys that you genuinely care about, those moments out there, we’re all pulling for each other, you can’t replicate that. That’s a feeling that only friends really get. Teammates is a cool thing but wanting to win as friends is almost cooler,” said Smith.

Positives amid disappointment

There were times through Sunday when it seemed Dustin Johnson and his 4Aces, the 2022 team champions, were on their way to a double as all four players displayed their class by coming good.

“It was fun, obviously that’s what you want. But it was close and came down to the last couple holes. I felt like I hit a couple really good putts that didn’t go in, and that hurt,” said Johnson.

After a below-par season, Sunday’s show held out hope for the captain and the team members. “We all played well on the last day, which was what we struggled with all year. So, it was nice to be in the mix all day and have a chance to win come the end,” he said.

Tied at 8-under par with the 4Aces, the Iron Heads, with Kevin Na at the helm, were seeded last at 13th this season. From there to scripting a turnaround in the Team Championship, the team was the biggest talking point of the week.

Punching above their weight right through, they quelled the Brooks Koepka-led Smash GC before pulling off the biggest upset by blanking the top seeds and defending champions Crushers GC in the semi-finals.

Happy to run the opponents close in the final, Na was a picture of satisfaction. “Overall, I’m pretty pleased. We tied for second. Big week for the boys. Obviously, we want to win. But besides winning, this is second-best,” he said.

(Main and featured image: David Cannon/ David Cannon Collection/ Getty Images via AFP)