Cameron Smith Secures Dominant LIV Golf Bedminster Victory

You could have been forgiven for thinking that Cameron Smith had already secured the LIV Golf Bedminster title before the final round got underway on Sunday. Not only did he start four shots clear, but Smith has been one of the in-form players on the circuit this summer.

However, out of the blocks, Smith looked shaky and, with two bogeys in his opening three holes, it allowed nearest challenger, Phil Mickelson, into the fray, as Lefty stayed at level-par to close the gap to two. 

Just last month, Smith picked up the LIV Golf London title and, at Bedminster, he holed a typical Smith-like putt at the sixth to see his lead stretch back to three which, at the time, was still not a comfortable margin.

Mickelson has been finding some form of late and, despite recent allegations claiming that he gambled over $1bn and attempted to place a bet on the 2012 US Ryder Cup team, something which the 53-year-old has denied, he still remained in contention to claim a first LIV Golf title.

The American, though, would have an absolute nightmare on the par 3 seventh, with two of his balls finding the water as he carded a quintuple bogey eight and plummeted down the leaderboard.

Smith's lead was now seven, with a range of players looking to close down the former Champion Golfer of the Year. The Australian was never challenged though, with Abraham Ancer the closest player as he got within six shots momentarily, before Smith made a fifth birdie in 10 holes.

As Ancer bogeyed the first, his 17th, Anirban Lahiri moved into outright second at five-under, still seven shots back of Smith. For Smith, all he needed to do was safely par the 16th, 17th and 18th which, unsurprisingly, he did in commanding fashion to secure an equally commanding win at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.

In the team event, it was also Smith's Ripper GC who took the title in some style, with their 20-under total a full 11 shots clear of Crushers GC in second, and Stinger GC in third.