Team champions (from left) Marc Leishman, team captain Cameron Smith, individual winner Lucas Herbert and Travis Smyth of Ripper GC pose with their trophies following the final round of LIV Golf United Kingdom at the JCB Golf & Country Club in Rochester, England, on Sunday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Rochester, England: Lucas Herbertdidn’t just win LIV Golf UK Presented by JCB 2026. He rewrote the LIV Golf record book doing it.
When his final birdie putt dropped, the Ripper GC star completed the most dominant four-day performance in LIV Golf history.
The Ripper GC star closed with a 10 under par 62 on Sunday to finish at 30 under for the event, a wire-to-wire victory by six shots that stands as the lowest winning score in LIV Golf League history.
Along the way, Herbert also set the league record for most birdies in a single tournament with 30, and the record for most combined birdies and eagles in a tournament with 32.
Herbert produced his second wire-to-wire victory of the season and his total bettering the 26 under scores shot by Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm earlier this season in South Africa, which DeChambeau won in a playoff.
It was a fitting result after a strong stretch of golf that began at Royal Birkdale, where Herbert tied the major championship scoring record with a 62.
It carried through four rounds at the JCB Golf & Country Clubthat included a 61 in the opening round and never let up from there.
Herbert’s four rounds of 61-66-69-62 leave little room for argument about who is currently one of the hottest players in the world.
He credited the belief he built at The Open for carrying straight into this week.
Confident show
“Last week gave me a lot of confidence that I can mix it with the best guys,” he said.
“Just wanted to really carry that into this week the best I could. I think I got out of my own way the first two rounds and I started thinking about it yesterday.
“It was just good to play like that today when I was being pushed by two of the best players in the world.”
The individual title was only half of Ripper GC’s celebration. The Aussie squad also claimed the team title at 52 under, holding off Legion XIIIby four shots, giving Ripper their third win of the season and first in Europe.
Tyrrell Hatton gave the home crowd an Englishman in the running to root for, closing with a bogey-free 9 under 63 to finish runner-up at 24 under. The Legion XIII star was gracious in defeat, quick to credit the player who beat him.
“Obviously Lucas played amazing today. I wanted to get off to a fast start, which is what I did, but unfortunately Lucas did as well,” Hatton said.
“I’m very proud of how I played. It would have been amazing to win in front of home fans, but I tried my best. But actually, Lucas was incredible this week.”
Solid finishes
Hatton’s performance also helped power Legion XIII to a second-place finish on the team leaderboard at 48 under as Caleb Surratt too had a great week with a T7 finish.
DeChambeau’s own hot stretch, dating back to his performance at The Open Championship, continued with a closing 4 under 68, good for solo third at 21-under.
His week also lifted Crushers GC to third on the team leaderboard at 42-under and reduced the gap between him and Jon Rahm for the individual championship.
“It felt like he was just invincible,” DeChambeau said. “Every time we thought we had a chance, he just made a putt or hit a shot in there close. That’s some stellar golf.”
Smith’s impressive tournament, capped by his record-tying streak of eight consecutive birdies on Saturday, was rewarded with a solo fourth finish at 17 under after a closing 3 under 69.
Fitting end
It was a fitting individual result to go with the team trophy he lifted as Ripper GC’s captain.
“Incredible,” Smith said of Herbert’s performance. “To beat the field that we’ve got by six shots, have a 61 and a 62 in the same week with the conditions we were playing in, is pretty crazy.”
Abraham Ancer and Surratt shared fifth at 14 under, while Harold Varner III, Charles Howell III and Laurie Cantertied for seventh at 13-under.
Canter’s week was a quiet highlight for Majesticks GC, closing with a 6 under 66 to give the home fans one more player to cheer down the stretch, alongside Ian Poulter, who finished at 8 under for the week.
It was Herbert’s tournament from the opening tee shot Thursday to the last putt Sunday — a week that will be remembered as one of the greatest performances in LIV Golf history. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Leaderboards
Individual Top 10)
1. Lucas Herbert,Ripper GC (-30, 61-66-69-62)
2. Tyrrell Hatton,Legion XIII (-24, 66-68-67-63)
3. Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers GC (-21, 64-67-68-68)
4. Cam Smith, Ripper GC (-17, 69-67-66-69)
T5. Abraham Ancer,Torque GC (-14, 68-70-65-71); Caleb Surratt, Legion XIII (-14, 68-69-70-67)
T7. Charles Howell III, Crushers GC (-13, 68-70-69-68); Harold Varner III, OKGC (-13, 66-69-68-72); Laurie Canter, Majesticks GC (-13, 73-66-70-66)
10. Carlos Ortiz, Torque GC (-12, 70-68-72-66)
Team Top 5
1. Ripper GC (-52) – Smith (69-67-66-69), Herbert (61-66-69-62), Leishman (68-68-71-72), Smyth (71-69-78-74)
2. Legion XIII (-48) – Rahm (73-70-71-70), Hatton (66-68-67-63), Surratt (68-69-70-67), McKibbin (73-70-70-69)
3. Crushers GC (-42) – DeChambeau (64-67-68-68), Howell III (68-70-69-68), Casey (73-69-72-70), Lahiri (68-69-75-72)
4. Torque GC (-30) – Niemann (73-72-68-72), Ancer (68-70-65-71), Ortiz (70-68-72-66), Muñoz (78-70-71-68)
5. Majesticks GC (-22) – Poulter (68-71-70-71), Westwood (71-70-72-75), Canter (73-66-70-66), Horsfield (73-75-71-68)
Day 4 stats
Driving Distance: Charles Howell III, 308.1-yard avg.
Longest Drive:Charles Howell, 337.2 yards (8th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 8 and 10.
Driving Accuracy:Caleb Surratt, 78.57% (11 of 14)
Greens in Regulation:Tyrrell Hatton, Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Martin Kaymer, 88.89% (16 of 18)
Scrambling:Nine players tied at 100%, led by Lucas Herbert (5 of 5) and Joaquin Niemann (5 of 5)
Fewest Putts: Lucas Herbert, 21
Bogey-free rounds: Lucas Herbert (62), Tyrrell Hatton (63), Laurie Canter (66), Thomas Detry (68), Josele Ballester (69), Cameron Tringale (69)
Also read: Herbert, Rippers carry the advantage into final day at Rochester
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