Smylie wins in his LIV Golf debut, leads Ripper GC to team title in Riyadh

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith believes his new teammate Elvis Smylie can one day become the best golfer in the world. After the 23-year-old Australian produced four sizzling rounds to win in his LIV Golf debut, the rest of the league may very well share the same sentiment. 

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Smylie capped off his impressive first week under the lights at ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh, shooting a final-round bogey-free 8-under 64 on Saturday to hold off a hard-charging Jon Rahm by one stroke. He also led the Rippers to the team title, as the Aussies swept both trophies going into their biggest tournament of the season at next week’s LIV Golf Adelaide. 

“It’s a dream come true,” said Smylie, who officially joined the team last month. “I really didn’t know what to expect this week. Playing at night is obviously a whole different ballgame out here. I wanted to come out here and make a statement. I wanted to prove that I’m one of the best out here, and I feel like I’ve done that. It’s only up from here.” 

Smith certainly agrees. “The crazy thing is I still think he’s got a lot of improving to go, which is pretty scary, really, for the rest of us, because he waxed us this week. I genuinely think he can be the best golfer in the world. He’s got all the tools of the trade. He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and knuckle down.”

With the win, Smylie earns the 23.03580 projected points allotted by the Official World Golf Ranking to the winner of this week’s LIV Golf tournament. The OWGR announced earlier this week that points will be awarded for LIV Golf tournaments this season to the top 10 and ties. Smylie entered the week ranked 134th and is expected to move up significantly with the victory. 

Smylie’s winning score of 24 under is the lowest in league history, a by-product perhaps of the league’s adjusted format from 54 to 72 holes. He also beat the biggest field in LIV Golf history after an increase from 54 to 57 players this season. 

But more impressive than the raw numbers was Smylie’s sublime play, especially with a new blade putter. “Everything looked like a bucket for me, which is nice,” said Smylie, who ranked third in the field in Strokes Gained Putting. 

He needed a hot putter down the stretch to create some separation from the field, then withstand the last-ditch rally by Rahm, the Legion XIII captain and two-time LIV Golf Individual Champion. 

Rahm started the day two shots behind co-leaders Smylie and Peter Uihlein and was three strokes behind when Smylie birdied the par-4 12th. But the Spaniard closed fast with birdies on five of his last six holes, including the last four.

He drove the green at the 396-yard par-4 18th but could not convert the eagle putt. Still, his final birdie put the finishing touches on a 9-under bogey-free 63, the lowest round of the week, and reduced Smylie’s lead to one. 

Smylie, however, didn’t realize the slim margin until hitting his approach shot at the 18th that left him on the edge of the green. 

“I actually didn’t know that I had to two-putt the last green,” he said. “I thought I would have had a two-shot lead going into 18. But as soon as I was walking up the green, I saw that I only had one, so I’m like, I’ve got to clutch up here and make sure to get this up-and-down.” 

Rahm, who shot a final-round 11-under 60 in his last regular-season LIV Golf tournament in Indianapolis last year to clinch his second consecutive season-long title, pointed to his failure to make birdie at the par-5 sixth and a poor approach shot at the par-4 11th as key missed opportunities. Even so, he was pleased with making a run to earn his fifth runner-up finish and 25th top-10 result in 27 regular-season LIV Golf appearances. 

“It was a fantastic round of golf, shot 9-under,” he said. “Elvis had a great day and a two-shot lead. If anything, if there’s one or two shots to look at, I’ve got to go to earlier in the week.” 

RangeGoats GC’s Uihlein finished solo third after shooting a 67 for 21 under, while Fireballs GC’s David Puig and 4Aces GC’s Thomas Pieters shot 65s to share fourth place with Torque GC’s Abraham Ancer. 

The team competition turned into a battle between Ripper and Torque. The Australians started off fast, with Marc Leishman beginning his round with four straight birdies; the team collectively was 11 under through their first six holes. 

Torque responded with Ancer, making his first start for his new team after four years with Fireballs GC, and Sebastian Munoz each shooting 66. 

But the 64s by Smylie and Lucas Herbert were supported by Smith’s 65 and Leishman’s 69 to produce a fourth-round team score of 26 under, the third-best single round team score in league history. Ripper’s tournament total of 69 under is a league record as they won their fifth regular-season team title by three shots. 

Now it’s on to Adelaide. 

“It’s a really big opportunity for us to create momentum from this week and keep it going,” Leishman said. “Obviously playing in front of the Australian crowds is a highlight of my year. It has been the last few years.” 

And now those crowds have a new champion to celebrate. 

“I knew he was going to come out here and do some pretty great things,” Smith said of Smylie. “The win on debut is pretty great. Probably really great. I probably wasn’t expecting that, but super proud of him.”

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

1 (-24) – Elvis Smylie, Ripper (66-69-65-64)

2 (-23) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (67-68-67-63)

3 (-21) – Peter Uihlein, RangeGoats (65-69-66-67)

T4 (-20) – Abraham Ancer, Torque (68-69-65-66), Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (70-68-65-65), David Puig, Fireballs (69-67-67-65)

7 (-19) – Thomas Detry, 4Aces (65-69-68-67)

8 (-18) – Sebastián Muñoz, Torque (67-68-69-66)

T9 (-17) – Lucas Herbert (75-67-65-64), Branden Grace (69-71-67-64), Byeong Hun An (67-70-67-67)

NOTE: All players finishing inside the top 10 (and ties) this season earn Official World Golf Ranking points.

Team Top 3 

1 (-69) – Ripper GC (Herbert 64, Smylie 64, Smith 65, Leishman 69; Rd. 4 score: -26)

2 (-66) – Torque GC (Ancer 66, Muñoz 66, Niemann 68, Ortiz 68; Rd. 4 score: -20)

3 (-59) – 4Aces GC (Johnson 64, Pieters 65, Detry 67, Tabuena 69; Rd. 4 score: -23) 

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ROUND 4 NOTES

HERBERT CLAWS BACK: On Wednesday, Lucas Herbert opened with a 3-over 75, tying for the worst score of the day. In the ensuing three rounds, he shot 20 under with rounds of 67-65-64. After his only bogey of the day, he made six birdies in his next seven holes to help the Rippers to the team title.

Herbert said he was proud of the way he handled the first-day disappointment.

“I didn’t overanalyze Wednesday too much, which is kind of tricky to do when you have the worst score in the field for the day,” he said. “But I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I was playing a lot better than that.”

His goal after Wednesday was a top-10 finish, and Herbert accomplished that, tying for ninth with Southern Guards GC’s Branden Grace and new Korean Golf Club Captain Byeong Hun An. All players inside the top 10 receive OWGR points at each LIV Golf tournament this season.

“I’m stoked the way I finished the week,” Herbert said. “I’m going to take a lot of positives of the last three rounds into next week and the rest of the season.”

SMYLIE SIGNING PAYS OFF: Ripper GC and Captain Cameron Smith said goodbye to original LIV Golf member Matt Jones in the offseason in order to open up the roster spot that was filled by Elvis Smylie. This week’s tournament was the first without Jones in the lineup.

Asked if Smylie’s individual win and the team’s success in Riyadh on Saturday helped justify the move, Smith replied: “It was an extremely tough decision to look elsewhere. Jonesy has turned into one of my best makes over the last four years out here. He’s a great guy. He’s a legend. I still love him. It does make it feel a little bit better. But it’s still one of the hardest things I think I’ve ever had to do. Yeah, pretty brutal.”

Added Marc Leishman: “Like anything, teams progress, and I think with all respect to Jonesy, it’s progressing in a good way. Elvis proved himself this week and hopefully we can continue to do that.”

RAHM ENJOYS 4TH ROUND: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm was a proponent of LIV Golf going to a 72-hole format, and he showed why on Saturday, shooting a 9-under 63 to finish second. 

“I think four rounds is better golf and better for the players who are playing good golf that week. It also gives you more time for a comeback, but if you’re playing good, it gives you more time to get a lead,” Rahm said. 

“I just think it’s better, too, for me personally. I thought it would be better for me and my team and as a golf fan in generally. I was always a proponent of 72 holes. I think today, both team and individual, showed why it can be such a good thing.”

UIHLEIN’S THIRD: Original LIV Golf member Peter Uihlein earned his first podium result since 2024 and his sixth overall with his third-place finish in Riyadh. The RangeGoats player started the day tied with Smylie for the lead, but a balky putter prevented him from keeping pace with the red-hot Australian.

“Overall, a good week,” he said. “Obviously if you would have told me at the beginning of the week I’d finish third, I’d probably take it. Today was just disappointing on the greens really. I had a bad three-putt and missed three real nothing putts.”

NEWBIES START STRONG: Besides Smylie’s win in his LIV Golf debut, several other newcomers enjoyed nice debuts in Riyadh.

• 4Aces GC’s Thomas Detry finished solo seventh at 19 under, as he and good friend Thomas Pieters helped the 4Aces to a third-place finish

• Byeong Hun An, captain of the rebranded Korean Golf Club, tied for night at 17 under

• Wild card players Richard Lee and Scott Vincent were among the four players tied for 13th. Lee earned his spot this season by winning LIV Golf Promotions while Vincent – who played three LIV Golf seasons before being relegated after 2024 – claimed the International Series championship

• Yosuke Asaji, who qualified through the International Series, tied for 17th after shooting 64, while Björn Hellgren, one of the Promotions qualifiers, finished 22nd

DEBUT WINNERS: Elvis Smylie is the first player to win in his LIV Golf debut since Henrik Stenson in 2022 at Bedminster. The only other debut winner came in the league’s first event with Charl Schwartzel. 

ROUND 4 STATS LEADERS 

Driving Distance: Richard T. Lee, 326.2-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Jon Rahm, 334.1 yards (10th hole)

Driving Accuracy: Elvis Smylie, 85.71% (12 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Josele Ballester, 100% (18 of 18)

Scrambling: 12 players at 100%, led by Dustin Johnson (9 of 9)

Fewest Putts: Dustin Johnson, 20

Bogey-free rounds: Jon Rahm (63), Branden Grace (64), Dustin Johnson (64), Elvis Smylie (64), Luis Masaveu (65), Thomas Pieters (65), David Puig (65), Josele Ballester (66), Tom McKibbin (67), Minkyu Kim (67), Peter Uihlein (67)

Cumulative Thru 4 Rounds

Driving Distance: Dean Burmester, 313.8-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Michael La Sasso, 341.2 yards (10th hole, Rd. 1)

Driving Accuracy: Elvis Smylie, 71.21% (41 of 56)

Greens in Regulation: David Puig, Josele Ballester, 86.11% (62 of 72)

Scrambling: Branden Grace, 93.33% (14 of 15)

Fewest Putts: Minkyu Kim, 105

Fewest Bogeys: David Puig, 1