1 week Ago By Darren Walton
Lucas Herbert has upstaged celebrated countryman Cameron Smith with a record-equalling final round in a crazy climax to LIV Golf Mexico City. Sunday specialist Joaquin Niemann delivered yet again to reel in Bryson De Chambeau and claim a third victory of the season as Herbert scorched home to finish joint runner-up. Like he did in Adelaide and Singapore, Niemann fired a brilliant final-round 65 as he surged to 16 under and a three-shot triumph over Herbert (61) and De Chambeau (71), with Jon Rahm (68) outright fourth.
Niemann's LIV victory matches Brookes Koepka's tally and earned the Chilean a ticket to the US Open at Oakmont Country Club in June. Despite matching Rahm's course-record 10 under with eight birdies and a chip-in eagle two on the par-4 11th hole, Herbert also had to settle for second in the teams' event as his Ripper GC mates let him down. For all of Herbert's heroics, Smith (72), Matt Jones (74) and Marc Leishman (74) were a combined eight over on Sunday, leaving Ripper GC two strokes adrift of Rahm's triumphant Legion XIII outfit.
On a day of wildly fluctuating fortunes, the all-Australian team watched a five-shot lead turn into a six-stroke deficit, then briefly a late two-shot advantage. But ultimately Ripper skipper Smith's failure to fire down the stretch will likely hurt most. The 2022 British Open champion started the day just one shot behind De Chambeau but ended with his winless drought stretching to 20 months.
Smith couldn't buy a birdie on the front nine, opening with eight straight grinding pars as DeChambeau also struggled to find his A game. Smith's run of 20 successive holes without a dropped shot ended with a bogey on the ninth as DeChambeau hit the turn with a one-stroke advantage over the charging Niemann. Despite a couple of late birdies, there was no coming back for Smith after he made a mess of the par-4 11th from the middle of the fairway to slip five behind.
The one-time world No.2 eventually tied for fifth at 11 under with Englishman Tyrrel Hatton (68)..
