RIPPERS IN ADELAIDE: THE LOVEFEST BEGINS AGAIN

ADELAIDE, South Australia – It was just after noon on Tuesday when Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman arrived under the Gawler Place canopy at Rundle Mall in the heart of Adelaide’s city center, ready to sign autographs for their adoring fans who had started queuing two hours earlier.

For the next hour, the Ripper GC duo signed team hats and posters, golf balls and photos, programs and cardboard cutouts. When one young fan offered up his Crushers GC cap for autographs, neither player balked. Perhaps their signatures will put a hex on the current LIV Golf League leaders.

A redheaded youngster named Levi became a media darling, thanks to his mullet grown in honor of Smith. Local news stations put him on camera while his dad Wayne watched proudly, sending back photos to friends and family. Father and son are golf fanatics; in fact, the family is building a putting green in their backyard.

Tuesday’s event at the mall was the first public appearance this week for Smith and Leishman, and the unofficial public kickoff for LIV Golf Adelaide, the tournament that has become the league’s gold standard for attendance and enthusiasm. 

Last year, more than 77,000 fans were onsite at The Grange Golf Club for the three rounds of action. This year’s number will be even higher, making it one of the most attended golf events ever held in the Southern hemisphere. Tickets have been scarce the last few weeks.

“Last year was definitely our benchmark,” Smith said about the 2023 event in Adelaide. “Looks like it’s going to be that way again this year.”

The reason, Leishman added, is that the city of Adelaide – and in a further extension, the state of South Australia – has embraced the tournament. Walking around the Central Business District, you’d be hard-pressed to travel one block without seeing at least some reference to the event, whether a sign on a building, a billboard poster next to a bus stop, or the giant golf ball in the heart of the mall, among other promotions.

Even the local airport was filled with nods to LIV Golf, including the circular luggage carousels with artificial grass in the middle.

“This is one of the few golf tournaments around the world that there’s a buzz around the whole city, not just at the golf course,” Leishman said. “There are only a handful of golf tournaments like that. 

“It’s really cool to come back here, obviously to play the golf tournament but also to feel the electricity in the city and how the people embrace it.”

The players have embraced it, too – and not just the Aussie foursome that includes Matt Jones and Lucas Herbert. 

“It’s No. 1 for a lot of the other teams as well, which really says something about the event,” Leishman said. “There’s guys that come from other parts of the world and this is their favorite event of the year.”

For the Rippers, it’s obviously the regular-season event they would most like to win. A year ago, they finished eighth; this year, they plan to balance the off-course activities with increased preparation time for the tournament itself. They would like nothing better than to celebrate with shoeys at the top of the podium Sunday evening.

But for now, they want to appease their adoring public. Smith and Leishman signed roughly 250 autographs each on Tuesday, and the entire Ripper team plans a post-round autograph session on Friday at The Grange.

“It’s been a year in waiting for us,” Smith said. “It was a pretty big turnout last year, and as soon as we left, we talked about this year. We’re excited to be back.”