Cameron Smith drained a clutch putt at Trump National’s 18th hole on Friday to beat Phil Mickelson, and take Punch GC to the semi-finals of LIV Golf’s Team Championship.
The quarter-final match-up between the all-Australian Punch GC and Mickelson’s Hyflyers came down to the very last hole, where Smith’s putter once again stole the show.
Marc Leishman beat Matthew Wolff 4 & 2 in their singles match, but Matt Jones and Wade Ormsby’s 3 & 2 loss to Bernd Wiesberger and Cameron Tringale leveled the scores.
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Meanwhile, Mickelson rallied on the back nine from two down to go all-square with Smith until the final hole.
But after Mickelson missed the fairway on 18, Smith rolled in about a 10-foot putt to clinch the match with a par, putting Punch GC into the semi-finals.
Analyst David Feherty said it was “just a perfect putt at the perfect time”, while commentator Arlo White said it would be “a match that will be etched into LIV Golf lore”.
The winning team at the LIV Golf finale splits $16 million (AUD$25m) between its four members.
Meanwhile, Smith took a jab at Mickelson after the round, calling him out for slow play which he put down to his legendary “gamesmanship”.
“Yeah, it was a good match,” Smith said. “I think Phil maybe had some gamesmanship in there a little bit.
“He seemed to take forever today. I think we were three or four holes behind, so that was a bit painful.
“But other than that, it was good.”
Punch GC — which was seeded as the second-worst team in the Team Championship — now faces the Fireballs in the semi-finals.
Smith plays Sergio Garcia and Leishman faces Carlos Ortiz in singles matches, while Jones and Ormsby take on Abraham Ancer and Eugenio Chacarra.
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