2025 Season in Review: Ripper GC
Tenth in a series of stories reviewing the 2025 season for each of the 13 LIV Golf League teams.
SEASON REVIEWS: 4Aces GC | Cleeks GC | Crushers GC | Fireballs GC | HyFlyers GC | Iron Heads GC | Legion XIII | Majesticks GC | RangeGoats GC
RIPPER GC REVIEW
TEAM: After winning the Team Championship in 2024, Ripper GC returned the entire team of of captain Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman , Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones. Although they didn’t repeat the success of 2024, the all-Australian team had a solid season that included a win in Miami and four podium finishes. Ripper GC was an extremely balanced team with three of their four players finishing the season inside of the Lock Zone. Their rivalry with Stinger GC was furthered when the South African team eliminated them in the quarterfinals of the Michigan Team Championship.
PLAYERS (FINAL POINTS RANKING)
Marc Leishman (13): Leishman had his best season to date on LIV Golf and has finished inside of the Lock Zone in three consecutive seasons. The veteran broke through for his first LIV Golf win in Miami, surviving an incredibly difficult golf course and a stacked leaderboard to celebrate both an individual and team victory. Leishman had only three top-10 finishes but the win certainly made up for his relative lack of consistency. The strong season was fueled by spectacular iron play as he ranked 5th in Strokes Gained: Approach. He played in both the U.S. Open and Open Championship and made the cut in both.
Lucas Herbert (15): Herbert’s season was a tale of two halves. In the first half of the season, he earned points by finishing in the top-24 in six of his seven starts, including a T2 in Mexico City and 4th-place finishes in both Riyadh and Hong Kong. In the second half of the season, Herbert finished outside of the top 24 in all six events. He won the International Series Japan in the middle of the season but missed the cut in his only major championship start at the Open Championship.
Cameron Smith (18): The Ripper GC captain finished inside of the Lock Zone but failed to match the form that made him one of the best players in the world. Smith had two LIV Golf wins in 2023 but hasn’t had a win since. 2025 marked his worst finish in the season-long standings and the first time he’s finished outside of the top 10 in his LIV Golf career (2nd in 2023, 7th in 2024). Smith had five top-10 finishes in 2025, which led Ripper GC, but had only one top 5, which was a T5 finish in Mexico City. With Smith’s first child being born in March it shouldn’t come as a major surprise that he wasn’t in peak form. Expect a bounce back campaign 2026.
Matt Jones (40): Jones showed some grit by beginning his move outside of the Drop Zone at Valderrama by storming the leaderboard on Sunday, shooting a round of 6-under 65 to finish 4-under overall and T4 on the leaderboard, his best result of the season. He wasn't able to use the momentum to his advantage, however, as he failed to register another point for the rest of the season. The 45-year-old has now finished 37th or worse in the season-long standings in all four of his seasons on LIV Golf.
TEAM OVERVIEW
Wins: 1
Podiums: 4
Points Finishes: 9
Seed: 6th
Team Championship: 9th
HIGHLIGHTS
- Earned both the team and individual (Leishman) win at LIV Golf Miami, winning the team event by 8 strokes as the only team under par in brutal winds.
- Matt Jones clutch performance at LIV Golf Andalucía to escape the Drop Zone.
- Marc Leishman earned a spot in the U.S. Open at Oakmont by qualifying after a 3-man playoff on golf’s longest day.
- 3 of 4 players finish inside of the Lock Zone.
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Quarterfinals: Lost to Stinger GC 2-1. Herbert lost to Burmester 4 & 2. Smith def. Grace, 3 & 2. Leishman/Jones lost to Oosthuizen/Schwartzel, 4 & 3.
Finals (Tier 3): 9th at 6-under. Leishman 66, Herbert 67, Jones 70, Smith 71.
REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS
Event
Team
Leishman
Herbert
Smith
Jones
Riyadh
T2
T6
T4
T25
33
Adelaide
9
T21
T31
T30
44
Hong Kong
T3
T12
4
T20
T35
Singapore
10
T51
T14
T19
T32
Miami
1
1
T18
T9
T21
Mexico City
2
T30
T2
T5
T17
Korea
T5
T34
T13
T7
T42
Virginia
T12
T10
46
T23
T50
Dallas
T7
T25
T40
T13
T46
Andalucía
6
50
T32
T7
T4
UK
6
T11
T34
10
T40
Chicago
T8
T13
T25
T29
T49
Indianapolis
13
T51
T45
T14
T47
PLAYER LEAGUE RANKINGS
Player
Off The Tee - Driving
SG: APP (Long)
SG: APP (Medium)
SG: APP (Short)
SG: ARG
SG: Putting
Marc Leishman
-0.45 (43rd)
+0.09 (15th)
+0.19 (6th)
+0.04 (23rd)
+0.05 (32nd)
-0.17 (36th)
Lucas Herbert
+0.30 (15th)
+0.04 (25th)
-0.19 (44th)
+0.03
(26th)
+0.29 (8th)
-0.11 (32nd)
Cameron Smith
-0.12 (29th)
+0.13 (6th)
-0.04 (31st)
+0.20 (12th)
+0.65 (1st)
+0.62 (4th)
Matt Jones
-0.40 (42nd)
+0.12 (9th)
-0.22 (47th)
-0.05 (32nd)
-0.18 (43rd)
-0.15 (34th)
TEAM PERFORMANCE
Category
Team
League Ranking
Season score
127 under
7th
Round 1
12 under
8th
Round 2
37 under
8th
Round 3
78 under
T6
Par 3
41 over
T8
Par 4
17 over
7th
Par 5
185 under
6th
