HONG KONG — Abraham Ancer regained just enough of the composure that helped him pull out to a five-stroke lead after two rounds to beat Cameron Smith and Paul Casey in a playoff and win the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in Hong Kong.
Ancer’s comfortable lead at the start of the final round gradually disappeared with the Mexican struggling to keep pace with the chasing pack after a 2-over round of 72 at the Hong Kong Golf Club course.
Casey’s 6-under 64 final round, which led his Crushers GC to the team title, pulled him even with Ancer while Smith shot 4 under to secure a place in the playoff with the trio finishing at 13 under for the tournament.
With heavy rain falling, Ancer rediscovered his touch to find the fairway with his opening drive of the first playoff hole on the 18th while Casey and Smith pushed theirs right and left, respectively.
His spectacular approach shot set up a short birdie putt that he converted while Casey and Smith both finished with bogeys.
“I made that so hard on myself,” said Ancer according to AP. “The ball striking wasn’t there but mentally I was really strong so I felt really good, I felt like I was not going to give up.
“That round could have gone south really quickly and hit some good bunker shots, some good putts that I needed to and just get myself in it and hit the right shot at the right time there in the playoff.”
Joaquin Niemann, who won the Jeddah tournament in Saudi Arabia last week for his second LIV victory in three starts, finished a stroke back of the playoff group after a sparkling 7 under in his final round.
The Hong Kong tournament is the second of three LIV Golf events that are part of the Asian swing, with the third in early May in Singapore.
The week before Singapore, the LIV series will be in the Pacific region with a second consecutive tournament at The Grange in Adelaide, Australia from April 26-28.
Next up on the LIV tour will be Miami from April 5-7.
Ancer earned a $4 million payday after the birdie on the first playoff hole at No. 18 on Sunday. He reached the green in two and was left with a 5-foot putt for the win. Both Smith and Casey made bogeys on the hole after errant tee shots.
“It’s such a difficult tee shot. It’s maybe the most difficult tee shot on this golf course and the most penal because either side you miss it left, you miss it right, you’re blocked out by trees and a treacherous green with a lot of pitch to it,” Casey said.
“As Abe showed, if you stick it in the middle of the fairway, you can be very aggressive. Birdie is still an unbelievable score on that hole.”
But Casey said he wouldn’t let that tee shot weigh on him.
“I’m not measuring my week on one hole. It was a great week,” he said. “Loved it. Very happy for Abe.”
Anthony Kim, who is returning to pro golf after a 12-year absence, also had to be thrilled with his round on Sunday. He opened with rounds of 76 and 72 but recorded a 65 — his first below-par round in two events.
“It’s just one round of golf. But I played the right way,” Kim said. “I played the right way, and I didn’t do anything extraordinary. I just played like I know how to play.”
Kim will play in the International Series Macau on the Asian Tour and then in the LIV Golf event in Miami on April 5-7.
“I knew something good was coming,” Kim said according to Reuters. “It’s hard to stay patient when you feel like it’s right there, and I’m really happy that it hasn’t taken me one more round to get here. I’m just happy about the progress I’m making and the confidence I’m building going into the next few weeks.”
In the team event, Casey and Crushers GC won their second straight title, coming from seven shots back after 36 holes. Last week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the team was 11 shots back entering the final round.
In addition to DeChambeau’s 66, Charles Howell III had a 67 and Anirban Lahiri added a 68.
“What a great group of guys,” Casey said. “We’ve got something — we spoke briefly about it after Jeddah, that we’ve got something that you can’t measure, and I firmly believe that.”
