Australian Cameron Smith shot a 3-under 69 on Sunday to win the LIV Golf Invitational Chicago, while 4 Aces GC finished atop the leaderboard in team play in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Smith carded six birdies and three bogeys in the third and final round at Rich Harvest Farms to earn his first victory on the upstart tour. He finished at 13-under 203, three strokes better than Peter Uihlein (69) and Dustin Johnson (70), who both tied for second place.
It was a relatively slow start for Smith, as he picked up two of his three bogeys of the round on the par-4 fourth and the par-4 sixth. However, he went on to birdie three of the next five holes to get back on track.
“I think it was quite frustrating at the start of the day. My warmup wasn’t fantastic. I didn’t feel like I was striking the ball as well as I had the first couple of days,” Smith said. “I just kind of stuck in there.”
Despite finishing as a runner-up as an individual, Johnson managed to lead 4 Aces GC to its fourth consecutive No. 1 finish. The team also consisted of Patrick Reed (68), Talor Gooch (73) and Pat Perez (69).
“Obviously the team part I wasn’t too stressed about,” Johnson said. “Myself, obviously, I was in a very good spot, just didn’t get off to a great start, especially 8 and 9 kind of killed me. Great day, though. Really proud of the guys. It was really nice to get that fourth victory in a row, though.”
After bogeying Nos. 8 and 9, Johnson was clean on the back nine, sinking three birdies.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia finished tied for fourth with Chilean Joaquin Niemann with a 5-under 67 on Sunday, and South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charles Schwartzel, who are teammates on Stinger GC, both finished six strokes behind Smith.
Phil Mickelson notched the low score of the day with a 6 under to finish with a 6-under 210 for the event.
–Field Level Media