Three tied for lead in Adelaide; Majesticks GC hot in Rd. 2

ADELAIDE, South Australia – Sam Horsfield wasn’t sure of the last time his Majesticks GC produced a top-3 podium finish. Told that it was LIV Golf Boston in 2022, he replied, “Yeah, my memory doesn’t go back that far.”

Since then, 33 LIV Golf tournaments have been played, but now the Majesticks are one round away from ending their record drought – and possibly sweeping both trophies. They enter the final round of LIV Golf Adelaide with a one-shot advantage on the team leaderboard, while Horsfield has a share of the individual lead with Torque GC’s Carlos Ortiz and Fireballs GC’s Abraham Ancer. That trio is three strokes ahead of the rest of the field, while Torque Captain Joaquin Niemann and Legion XIII Jon Rahm lurk in solo 4th and 5th, respectively.

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Sunday could be the biggest day in Majesticks history, with both Horsfield and Henrik Stenson (tied for sixth) in contention. Stenson, a team co-captain along with fellow European stars Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, has the team’s only trophy of any kind, winning individual honors in his LIV Golf debut in 2022 at Bedminster.

“I call them crafty veterans,” said Horsfield, the team’s youngest player. “They've been around the block a few times, and they know how to get it done. I think they're really, really excited. I can feel my phone vibrating in my back pocket, so I'm sure it's them in a group chat.”

They’ll have to conquer The Grange course that has proved quite formidable this week, especially with swirling winds that created plenty of challenges. The stroke average for the field Saturday was more than a half-stroke over par (72.611) and played nearly a stroke higher than the opening round.

The Majesticks were the only team in which all four players shot rounds under par Saturday, with Horsfield shooting a 3-under 69, Poulter and Westwood shooting 2-under 70s, and Stenson contributing a 1-under 71. Their cumulative 8 under total was four strokes better than any other team, and left them one stroke ahead of Rahm’s Legion XIII, the winners last week in Riyadh, and Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC.

The UK-centric lineup believes the new LIV Golf format in which all scores count for every round is beneficial to them. Playing in tricky conditions also should favor a team with three veteran players who possess more than 80 career professional wins.

“Looking back at some of the previous years, I think we've been one of the more consistent teams, but we haven't really had those low rounds getting in there,” Stenson said. “Especially with the conditions being as they are, being tough, then if we can just keep on grinding away and playing solid tee to green, then we should give ourselves some good chances.”

The 28-year-old Horsfield is seeking his first LIV Golf individual win and the fourth since turning pro in 2017. The solo leader after an opening 66, he bogeyed his first hole Saturday and was 1-over for his round at the turn but steadied the ship on the back nine and finished with two birdies to grab a share of the lead at 9 under.

“It was a real tough test,” Horsfield said. “I was really proud of the way that I hung in there and fought.”

His playing partners for the final round experienced LIV Golf success last season, with Ancer winning in Hong Kong and Ortiz in Houston. Ancer also knows what it’s like to win in Australia, having claimed the Australian Open in 2018. His 5-under 67 was the lowest score on Saturday.

“I love this kind of golf,” Ancer said. “I've always loved playing in Australia. Seeing the conditions like this is exciting. It's tough, but it's really good for me.”

Ortiz had three birdies in a four-hole stretch midway through his round en route to shooting 68. He’s picked his battles in the tricky conditions and has also escaped trouble better than anybody else. On Saturday, he was a perfect 7 of 7 in scrambling.

“You really have to be respectful of the golf course, almost play a little bit defensive, and I think I've done a good job of that,” Ortiz said. “I feel like I've taken my medicine when I've been out of play. I've honestly quite played conservative off the tee and into the greens, and I think that's paid off.”

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format now counts all four scores in every round in the team competition. (Click here for more on the new format). Here are the results and scores for each team after Saturday’s Round 2 of LIV Golf Adelaide.

1. MAJESTICKS GC -10 (Horsfield 69, Poulter 70, Westwood 70, Stenson 71; Rd. 2 score: -8)

T2. FIREBALLS GC -9 (Ancer 67, Puig 70, Garcia 74, Masaveu 74; Rd. 2 score: -3)

T2. LEGION XIII -9 (Hatton 72, McKibbin 71, Rahm 69, Surratt 73; Rd. 2 score: -3)

4. CRUSHERS GC -5 (Lahiri 70, Casey 71, DeChambeau 73, Howell III 74; Rd. 2 score: E)

5. TORQUE GC -3 (Ortiz 68, Niemann 71, Muñoz 74, Pereira 79; Rd. 2 score: +5)

6. STINGER GC -2 (Burmester 71, Grace 72, Schwartzel 73, Oosthuizen 75; Rd. 2 score: +3)

7. RIPPER GC -1 (Herbert 70, Leishman 70, Jones 71, Smith 73; Rd. 2 score: -4)

8. 4ACES GC E (Varner III 71, Pieters 72, Reed 73, Johnson 78; Rd. 2 score: +6)

9. HYFLYERS GC +2 (Steele 70, Tringale 71, Mickelson 74, Ogletree 75; Rd. 2 score: +2)

10. IRON HEADS GC +4 (Ormsby 71, Jang 72, Na 72, Lee 74; Rd. 2 score: +1)

11. SMASH GC +8 (Koepka 71, Kokrak 73, Gooch 74, McDowell 75; Rd. 2 score: +5)

12. RANGEGOATS GC +11 (Campbell 70, Uihlein 72, Watson 72, Wolff 80; Rd. 2 score: +6)

13. CLEEKS GC +18 (Bland 73, Meronk 75, Kjettrup 75, Kaymer 79; Rd. 2 score: +14)

Wild Cards: Lee 76, Kim 77

ROUND 2 NOTES

FRIENDLY COMPETITION: Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz were Fireballs GC teammates until Ortiz joined Torque GC prior to last season. The two also are countrymen, having represented Mexico in the Olympics. And they’ve known each other for many years.

On Sunday, they’ll be in the final leaders’ group at LIV Golf Adelaide, battling each other for the individual title. But they don’t see it as two friends chasing the same trophy.

“Hopefully tomorrow will be a great battle that we'll enjoy,” Ancer said. “But I can't be worried about that. I've just got to be focusing on my game, and like I said, we'll see where we end up at the end.”

Said Ortiz: “It's going to be just another round of golf. I think we've played quite a bit together, and I just heard him talk; when you go out there, shoot the best you can, and you hope it's good enough to win. If not, you go to next week.”

ANCER IN AUSTRALIA: In 2018, Abraham Ancer made his first visit to Australia – and promptly won the Australian Open by five strokes at The Lakes in Sydney. He remembers flying directly from a tournament in Mayakoba, Mexico.

“I got here on Wednesday, and it was the first time that I was really, really thrown off with a time change,” Ancer recalled. “The first round I felt like a zombie and managed to post a good number, and then after that I felt really good and played really, really well.”

RIPPERS RALLY: Australian favorites – and defending Adelaide team champions – Ripper GC moved up the team leaderboard Saturday with a cumulative 4 under total that left them in solo seventh, nine shots behind Majesticks GC.

Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman shot 2-under 70s, with Matt Jones contributing a 71 and captain Cameron Smith shooting 73. It was the second-best team score of the day.

RAHM IN CONTENTION AGAIN: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm has never finished outside the top 10 individually in any LIV Golf tournament that he’s completed since joining the league last year. He’s in position to extend that streak after a 3-under 69 left him at 5 under, in solo fifth and four shots off the lead.

DECHAMBEAU’S 400-YARD DRIVE: It won’t go down as the longest drive of the day because it wasn’t one of the two statistical driving average holes, but Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau did drive the green at the 409-yard par-4 15th. Unfortunately, he three-putted for par en route to a 1-over 73 that left him at 3 under, six shots off the lead.

TOUGH NO. 2: The 437-yard par-4 second has yielded just four birdies in the first two rounds and ranks as the toughest hole on the course, playing to a stroke average of 4.435. On Saturday, none of the 54 players in the field were able to make birdie on the hole.

ROUND 2 STATS LEADERS

Driving accuracy: Carlos Ortiz, 85.71% (12 of 14 fairways hit)

Driving distance: Lucas Herbert, 329.1 yards avg.

Longest drive: Lucas Herbert, 358.3 yards, 17th hole

Greens in regulation: Thomas Pieters, 83.33% (15 of 18 greens)

Scrambling: Carlos Ortiz, 7 of 7 (100%)

Putting: Cameron Tringale, 1.39 putts per hole