Smash comes to Singapore seeking a spark to its season

SINGAPORE – Smash GC needs a jump-start to the 2025 season. Playing Sentosa’s Serapong course this week might just provide the necessary juice.

Captain Brooks Koepka enters LIV Golf Singapore presented by Aramco as the defending individual champion, having won by two strokes last season. Teammate Talor Gooch was victorious in Singapore two years ago when LIV Golf made its debut at Sentosa when Gooch represented RangeGoats GC.

Having the past two individual champions certainly should provide a bit of optimism for a Smash team currently tied for last place in the season-long team standings with zero points (top 8 finishes) through the first three events.

“We haven’t played as well as we would have liked,” Koepka said. “That’s pretty obvious.”

“It definitely goes without saying that we are very focused this week and looking to improve on past performances the last few weeks – which shouldn’t be difficult to do,” added teammate Graeme McDowell.

With a five-time major winner in Koepka, the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Champion in Gooch, a steady contributor in Jason Kokrak, and a gritty, re-energized past U.S. Open winner in McDowell, Smash figured to be one of the reliable contenders coming off a 2024 season in which they won two tournaments.

The new all-scores-count-each-round format also expected to work in their favor considering their proven track records and experience level, especially on the back end of the roster where a team’s fate is often decided.

But Smash has spent the early part of the season on their back heels, in large part due to their sluggish first-round performances.

Under the lights in Riyadh, they shot a collective even par and were last on the leaderboard after Rd. 1.

The next week in Adelaide, they were 3 over after the first day and tied for ninth.

Last week in Hong Kong, they were again 3 over after the first round, the only team over par, and were again in last place on the leaderboard, 15 shots off the lead.

Collectively, the Smash foursome is 6 over in the first rounds this season and trail the next closest team by a shocking 17 strokes.

“Counting four scores, it’s difficult if you get two guys that don’t play well on the same day,” Koepka said. “It’s very difficult and we get behind the 8-ball pretty quick as a team.”

An early warning sign came in the opening night of the season in Riyadh when three Smash players were among the 10 in the field who did not break par, with Koepka shooting a 2-over 74 that left him tied for 52nd.

In Adelaide, Gooch shot an opening 76, with McDowell and Kokrak shooting 73s on the challenging Grange course.

Last week, McDowell opened with a 68, the lowest opening score by any Smash member this season. But his three teammates failed to break par.

In essence, it’s been a group effort. To their credit, each Smash player is willing to shoulder the blame.

“The first three events, I think, were the three worst finishes in the last three years of my LIV career,” said Gooch, who has finished T44-T51-49 this year. “Hopefully I got the bad golf out of the way early and it's all up from here.”

Said Koepka: “I've been terrible, but I feel like I'm definitely playing a lot better than what the results are. It's just sometimes that happens. That's golf.”

Due to the slow starts, Smash has been forced to play catch-up. Kokrak said it’s been difficult to do that in the first three events, which is why the team looks forward to the difficult Serapong course.

“We haven’t played any courses that you can play catch-up like that,” he said. “This one of them this week.”

Even so, Smash will also need to play better on the three par 5s. The team is last in par-5 scoring this season with a collective 9 under. The next closest team is 20 strokes more productive.

Last year, with the same lineup, Smash ranked second in the league in par-5 scoring at 189 under.

Playing the Serapong, though, is hopefully an equalizer.

“It's one of the best courses we play all year,” Gooch said. “I like the sights, the lines of the place. It feels comfortable. It's fit for a guy who's a good ball-striker out here. It's nice being back at a place where I've had success and see if we can kind of get things kick-started.”

Added Koepka: “This will actually really be the first one where we're tested where our games are at instead of more of a wedge-and-putting competitions.”

Yes, it’s early in the season and course corrections can still be made. But in a 14-tournament season, Smash no longer has the luxury of a long runway to finding form.

“Golf is a crazy game,” Koepka said. “Everybody who’s up here has definitely gone through their struggles … Three tournaments aren’t going to make or break our year, but we’ve got a lot of road in front of us.”