Gooch overcomes mid-round slump to claim maiden LIV Tour victory

SYDNEY, April 23 (US): Talor Gooch held his nerve to win the LIV Golf Adelaide title at a sold-out Grand Golf Club on Sunday, overcoming a mid-round slump to keep Anirban Lahiri three strokes away from winning. and securing a first-place paycheck of $4 million.

Gooch held a 10-shot lead over former Masters champion Charl Schwartzell in the third and final round of the event, the Saudi Arabia-backed first round in Australia, only for his lead to decline throughout the day, Reuters reports. .

“Winning any round is tough, and winning on this kind of golf course in front of that kind of crowd is not easy,” said Gooch, who finished 19-minus. “There were a few moments where I was shaken up and knew this was going to happen.

“You can’t go three days on that kind of golf course and not make mistakes, so when I made the birdie on the 11th, that was the time to dig deep and take the victory.”

Gooch started the day 20-under after consecutive innings of 62 and caught another shot with a birdie on the fifth off par.

But the 31-year-old dropped four putts in four holes as he followed up two consecutive bogeys in the seventh and eight with a double bogey in the 10th to allow the chase group to close it in.

Lahiri, who opened the Day 11 shoot-out, put the most pressure on Gooch and at one point had pulled within two lengths of the lead.

However, Gooch rallied with birdies on the 11th and 13th, settling on the American as he went on to win his first LIV Tour event.

Meanwhile, the 4 Aces, led by Dustin Johnson and featuring Patrick Reid, Peter Ohlen and Pat Perez, took home the $3 million first prize in the team event, finishing one shot ahead of the Range Goats led by Bubba Watson.

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