Joaquin Niemann received the primary occasion of LIV Golf’s third season with a play-off victory over Sergio Garcia at Mayakoba in Mexico.
The day ended much better than it had began, with the Chilean’s four-stroke lead having been halved to simply two after he was judged by guidelines officers to have made an incorrect drop throughout the second spherical. Penalised two pictures, he instantly discovered the chasing pack far nearer than he would have favored.
However the Torque GC captain – who opened the match with a 12-under 59 on Friday – overcame the setback, capturing a 1-under 70 to complete at 12 below to match Garcia, who shot a final-round 66 to make his second LIV Golf playoff. Final 12 months in Singapore, he misplaced in a playoff to Talor Gooch.
Niemann and Garcia exchanged pars for the primary three playoff holes. Within the fading mild and with the gallery chanting for yet another gap, each gamers agreed to proceed. Garcia’s strategy shot on the fourth playoff gap discovered a small patch of tough close to the greenside bunker whereas Niemann’s completed on the perimeter. He buried the putt because the close by scoreboard supplied mild
“DINNER WILL TASTE BETTER THAN BREAKFAST!”
“The final putt, which it was tremendous darkish, I believe it in all probability helped me simply not being so choosy on choosing my spot and simply trying on the gap, getting a sense and simply get it there,” mentioned the 25-year-old Niemann. “It was the easiest way to finish it up. I wished to make a putt on the final one to win.”
“I’m fairly completely satisfied that the day ended this fashion, particularly how the morning began,” Neimann mentioned. “I believe dinner goes to style a bit of bit higher than breakfast.”
In the meantime, Jon Rahm bogeyed his last two holes to overlook the playoff, however his new Legion XIII staff captured the staff trophy in a formidable LIV Golf debut, incomes the title by 4 pictures over defending Mayakoba champions Crushers GC within the first regular-season Sunday wherein each rating counted for every staff. Legion XIII shot a cumulative rating of 14 below on Sunday, better of any staff.
“It’s very good in a day wherein in any regular match I in all probability would have been upset at my end to really have one thing to have fun,” mentioned Rahm, who completed at 10 below to share third place with Dean Burmester. “That is among the large the reason why I made a decision to transition [join Liv Golf].”
Fellow LIV Golf debutant Tyrrell Hatton contributed Legion XIII’s lowest rating, a 7-under 64 which was the low spherical within the subject on Sunday. Kieran Vincent added a 69, however probably the most spectacular efficiency could have been from 19-year-old Caleb Surratt, making his skilled debut this week. After struggling a four-putt triple bogey on the par-4 seventeenth, Surratt reeled off 5 consecutive birdies to finish his spherical with a 4-under 67. These 5 birdies have been very important for Legion XIII to carry off the hard-charging Crushers down the stretch.
“I advised myself after that triple that I’m not going to be shaken from something that occurs,” mentioned Surratt, who solely just lately moved out of his dorm room on the College of Tennessee. “I put my head down and performed.”
TOP 3 TEAM POSITIONS AND FINAL ROUND SCORES
- LEGION XIII -24 (Hatton 64, Surratt 67, Vincent 69, Rahm 70; Rd. 3 rating -14)
- CRUSHERS GC -20 (Lahiri 67, DeChambeau 68, Howell III 68, Casey 68; Rd. 3 rating -13)
- TORQUE GC -17 (Niemann 70, Muñoz 70, Ortiz 70, Pereira 70; Rd. 3 rating -4)
