Circuit rookie Lee wins big as Fireballs top LIV Golf Tucson

From a Correspondent

Marana, Arizona: Seeking his first professional win in nearly eight years, Danny Lee had a makeable birdie attempt on the second hole of Sunday’s playoff at LIV Golf Tucson.

When he missed the putt, he muttered to himself, “What have you done, you idiot.”

Lee didn’t dwell on the missed opportunity, though. With a chance to win the individual title on the third playoff hole, the Iron Heads GC member rolled in the birdie putt at The Gallery Golf Club to claim the individual title in just his second start since joining the LIV Golf League.

The South Korean-born Lee, who represents New Zealand, defeated Carlos Ortiz (Fireballs GC), Brendan Steele (HyFlyers GC) and Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger GC) in the second playoff in LIV Golf history.

The last time Lee won, in 2015, he also won in a four-man playoff.

“Maybe it was a coincidence, I don’t know,” the 32-year-old Lee said. “But it feels pretty amazing right now.”

First podium

In the team competition, Fireballs GC, captained by Sergio Garcia, won by four strokes over 4Aces GC, with Lee’s Iron Heads GC claiming third for the team’s first-ever podium finish.

The Fireballs become just the second team to claim multiple titles, having won last year at the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok.

The Fireballs were fuelled by Ortiz’s six-under 65, the best round of the day and an impressive one, given the challenging conditions for much of the final round due to gusty winds.

At one point, the Fireballs led by 12 strokes before the 4Aces rallied late to close the gap.

Ortiz’s low round put him in the playoff, but he was eliminated with a bogey on the first extra hole.

“Obviously, super-excited about getting another team win after last year in Bangkok, and super-proud of all of them,” Garcia said.

“Especially Carlos, the way he played today. Shame he couldn’t get the individual win. But what a great effort.”

Besides Ortiz’s round, the other two Fireballs counting scores belonged to Abraham Ancer (1-over 72) and Sergio Garcia (2-over 73).

“We felt like we didn’t play very good at all,” Ancer said, “but Carlos definitely bailed us out today. We did a really good job to play good at the right times as a team, and that’s what got us the trophy.”

Taking advantage

Said Ortiz, who finished second last year in his LIV Golf debut in Portland: “I think I did a good job of taking advantage of the easy holes, and I just tried to hold on on the hard holes.

“I think days like this are easy to move up the leaderboard if you shoot low, and I just did a good job today.”

While the Spanish-speaking Fireballs controlled the team leaderboard down the stretch, multiple players had a chance to seize control of the individual leaderboard.

Second-round leader Marc Leishman opened the door with bogeys in two of his first three holes. Charles Howell III, the individual winner in the season-opening LIV Golf Mayakoba, opened with an eagle and was 4 under through his first six holes.

At one point, he held a two-shot lead but a triple bogey at the par-3 eighth brought him back to the pack.

Ortiz was making his run with five birdies in his first nine holes before suffering a double bogey at the 10th.

Eventually, Oosthuizen – captain of the all-South African Stinger GC – became the front-runner.

Late slump

But he suffered three bogeys in a four-hole stretch late in the round. When he bogeyed the par-3 16th, there was a four-way tie for the lead.

Lee, Steele and Ortiz each finished at 9 under, while Oosthuizen, playing in the lead group, was 8 under after a bogey at the par-5 17th. But he knocked his approach shot close into 18 and made the birdie putt to join the playoff.

From there, it took three more trips through the 18th hole for Lee to post the only birdie of the playoff – and make his long-awaited return to the winner’s circle.

“I haven’t won since 2015. I just felt like winning is just not my thing, but today just changed that,” Lee said. “It’s just good to see I’m capable of playing some good golf again.”

Kevin Na shook up the Iron Heads lineup prior to this season, bringing back Scott Vincent and adding Lee to the mix to join holdover Sihwan Kim.

“I’m extremely proud of him,” Na said. “I think I made the right pick.”

“I wasn’t even looking at the individual score all day,” Lee said. “I was only asking how is our team doing.

“That’s the reason why Kevin called. That’s why I wanted to win as a team. We were a little bit short on the team, but this individual victory, it means a lot.” (courtesy livgolf.com)

Standings and final counting scores

1. Fireballs GC (-25): Carlos Ortiz 65, Abraham Ancer 72, Sergio Garcia 73 (Rd. 3 total: -3)

2. 4 Aces GC (-21): Patrick Reed 66, Dustin Johnson 68, Peter Uihlein 68 (Rd. 3 total: -11)

3. Iron Heads GC (-19):  Scott Vincent 69, Danny Lee 69, Kevin Na 71 (Rd. 3 total: -4)

4. Stinger GC (-16): Louis Oosthuizen 70, Branden Grace 70, Charl Schwartzel 72. (Rd. 3 total: -1)

5. Ripper GC (-15): Matt Jones 69, Cameron Smith 70, Jediah Morgan 75 (Rd. 3 total: +1)

6. HyFlyers GC (-15): Brendan Steele 70, Cameron Tringale 74, Phil Mickelson 75 (Rd. 3 total: +6)

7. Torque GC (-14): Mito Pereira 67, David Puig 71, Joaquin Niemann 73 (Rd. 3 total: -2)

8. Rangegoats GC (-12): Talor Gooch 69, Harold Varner III 71, Bubba Watson 73 (Rd. 3 total: E)

9. Crushers GC (-12): Paul Casey 70, Charles Howell III 71, Bryson DeChambeau 73 (Rd. 3 total: +1)

10. Smash GC (-8): Matthew Wolff 72, Brooks Koepka 73, Jason Kokrak 73 (Rd. 3 total: +5)

11. Cleeks GC (-5): Richard Bland 68, Graeme McDowell 72, Bernd Wiesberger 72 (Rd. 3 total: -1)

12. Majesticks GC (-4): Sam Horsfield 70, Lee Westwood 73, Ian Poulter 74 (Rd. 3 total: +4)

Also read: LIV Golf League: Crushers sweep Mayakoba opener in style