Marc Leishman produced a gritty performance to win LIV Golf Miami by one stroke on Sunday after being pushed all the way by a couple of past Masters champions at Trump National Doral.
The Ripper GC man carded a bogey-free four-under 68 in the final round to reach six-under for the week, a score which featured eight consecutive pars down the stretch and helped him hold off both Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia who put together late charges.
While several other Major winners floundered in Florida, Schwartzel recorded five birdies in six holes along the back nine to heap pressure on Leishman. Meanwhile, Garcia maintained a two-stroke distance to the Australian before making his move via a birdie at the 17th.
However, knowing it was birdie or bust on 18, Garcia's title quest ended immediately when his ball bounced back into the water after going for the green from in the trees. The Spaniard's mistake all but iced the tournament after Leishman had already reached the clubhouse and Schwartzel could not find the necessary eagle required to force a playoff.
Although LIV Golf Miami ended in relatively underwhelming circumstances, it appeared as though fans were in for a treat just a few hours earlier. Leishman began three strokes behind overnight leader, Bryson DeChambeau and began picking away at the notoriously difficult Blue Monster course via birdies at the first and fourth holes.
At the same time, DeChambeau stumbled courtesy of two early bogeys, with the tone of the American's three-over 75 set in the embryonic stages. He was not alone in enduring a difficult third round, though, with Phil Mickelson fading away slightly before returning to the top-10 later in the day.
While two-time US Open champion, DeChambeau suffered two separate double-bogey incidents before the 11th hole, Leishman added a couple more birdies at the eighth and 10th holes, respectively.
Meanwhile, defending champion, Dean Burmester was going stride for stride with Leishman until a bogey at the 13th and a catastrophic implosion over the final two holes.
Still in with chance of success, the South African produced a quintuple-bogey nine at the 18th after finding the water three times before closing with a double-bogey seven at the first. Burmester ended T14th in what was a sorry end to his title defence.
Ultimately, Leishman's maiden LIV triumph was characterized by some superb clutch putts and par saves as a number of critical errors were avoided in the closing stages. Particular highlights included successful rolls at 14, 15 and 18 from mid-range.
In the end, there was double delight for Leishman after Ripper GC's dominant team success in the cumulative competition. The only team to finish under par on Sunday, Ripper ended the week on four-under - eight strokes clear of second place Crushers GC.
Reflecting on his win immediately after, Leishman said his performance featured some of his best-ever golf.
He said: "Yeah, it was an unbelievable leaderboard. I saw all the guys right behind me and I knew the holes I had to finish off on.
"Played probably some of my best golf I've ever played today, especially coming off Singapore a couple weeks ago where I think I beat three people. Confidence wasn't overly high.
"But I knew things were looking pretty good. I was playing good golf and showed that today. To win out here, you're playing against top fields every week, so yeah, still just letting it sink in."
Schwartzel was second on five-under while Garcia escaped with a bogey at the 18th to take solo third on four-under. The incremental one-stroke difference continued all the way down to sixth in Miami, with a fantastic six-under performance from Carlos Ortiz helping the Torque man take fourth on three-under.
DeChambeau finished fifth, one shot ahead of Phil Mickelson - both of whom will now head over to Augusta National for The Masters.
Harold Varner III and Patrick Reed shared seventh as Cameron Smith, Danny Lee and Jon Rahm completed the top-10. The Spaniard only just maintaining his sequence of top-10s in the LIV Golf League following a quad-bogey eight at the 17th hole.
Hello and welcome to Golf Monthly's coverage of the final round of LIV Golf Miami, where a fascinating situation is developing at Trump National Doral. Bryson DeChambeau did have the overnight lead, but the Crushers man has endured a rough start and has lost the lead to Jon Rahm and Marc Leishman.
Rahm was seemingly managing his way to yet another LIV Golf top-10 this week before putting his foot down early on today and finding a share of the lead. The Spaniard is three-under through seven holes. Meanwhile, Leishman is two-under after the same number of holes.
In the team competition, Ripper GC and the 4Aces are tied at the top on eight-over. Scoring has been really difficult this week, and that leading total is proof.
Thank you for joining me. I'll take you through until the champions are crowned.
PUTTS NOT DROPPING
Rahm and Leishman tidy up for par at the seventh, but a hole behind, Phil Mickelson has a chance to join them after hitting every single green so far. He pushes a confident putt towards the hole, but it just misses left, so he's still one behind.
In the all-star group which started on one, DeChambeau also fails with a good look at birdie. He curses his luck as the ball drifts by. It looks like he's really feeling the pressure today.
The third and final member of the leading group, Garcia, almost escapes with a fantastic par save after finding a fried-egg lie in the bunker but misses his short downhill try. The putts just aren't dropping for the leaders in the past couple of holes.
RIPPER ROARING AWAY
In the team competition, Ripper's Lucas Herbert finds a birdie at the 10th while 4Aces' Thomas Pieters cards a bogey for the second-place club. The Australian side's three-stroke advantage has morphed into five in the blink of an eye.
BURMESTER JOINS THE LEAD
Shortly after Dean Burmester finds his latest birdie to join the lead at four-under, DeChambeau begins what he hopes will be his comeback story by dropping a mid-iron right on the hole's edge of the 7th green.
TAKING THE MICK-ELSON
There's bad luck and then there's this for Phil Mickelson. Lefty came up a little short out of the right rough on seven and tried to flop his ball right next to DeChambeau's from maybe 40 yards. However, the approach was almost too accurate. Mickelson's ball cracked off the flag stick and cannoned back towards the water before dropping in. That is just ridiculous.
Flag to water is brutal… 🙃Tune in on FOX 📺#LIVGolf @hyflyers_gc pic.twitter.com/uoghTnV1vfApril 6, 2025
LEISHMAN MOVES AHEAD
At the par-5 eighth, Marc Leishman produces some textbook golf to give himself a short putt for birdie. It wasn't easy as the ball swooped from left to right closer to the hole, but the Australian made it to not only reach five-under but also take the outright lead. As a bonus, Ripper's lead in the team competition has grown further.
TIE AT THE TOP
Defending champion, Dean Burmester absolutely chewed up the 600-yard par-5 10th at Trump National Doral, leaving his ball some 40 feet past the hole. His eagle try was a bit tame, in all honesty, but the South African sunk his birdie look to move alongside his Australian rival.
GARCIA MAGIC
Rahm cards his first bogey of the day on the ninth, but a couple of holes behind, Sergio Garcia produces some of that short-game magic his fellow Spaniards are famed for. With an awkward wedge shot in front of him over a bunker, Garcia clips his ball onto the green and watches it salsa dance behind the hole. Somehow, it doesn't drop, but it's a kick-in birdie all the same. Garcia is back to two behind.
NINE HOLES TO GO
Rahm hadn't missed a green until the par-3 ninth, where he made bogey. At the 10th, he missed another one, but this time it only results in a par. Elsewhere, DeChambeau finds the greenside bunker at the ninth. Short-sided, the Crushers captain flies his ball some 20 feet past the flag and can't make his par coming back. It looks as though the overnight leader is fading.
Meanwhile, Ripper GC have got Miami in a vice, it seems. Leishman birdies the par-5 10th with ease to move onto six-under for the tournament. He was two-under at the start of the day. Greatly helped by Leishman's success, Ripper lead the team event by nine strokes as it stands.
LIV PLAYERS ENJOYING THE MIAMI BEACHES
The last four or five shots that have been shown on the LIV broadcast have been exclusively from the bunker. And several more coming up are going to be from the same surface. Reed, Rahm, Burmester and DeChambeau have all produced fairly uninspiring fairway bunker shots in recent moments. In their defence, there is an awful lot of sand along the 11th hole in particular.
Rahm chunks his effort from 48 yards up to about 15 feet. That won't be a nice look for par. And it wasn't one that he could sink. Rahm misses and is now four back.
Seconds later, DeChambeau's ball was buried in a trap short of the green. Even he couldn't muscle it onto the putting surface. It's going from bad to worse for The Scientist, who's doing his best to morph into the mad scientist. A poor chip bounces right on it's approach to the flag, and DeChambeau lets out a weird kind of laugh - one that, as David Feherty pointed out, sounded like the kind of reaction someone approaching insanity would blurt out.
DOUBLE FOR DECHAMBEAU
The end of Bryson's nightmare is concluded after he taps in for a double bogey. He escaped the sand but had a 15-foot bogey chance. That never put the hole in any danger.
The final group are falling away one by one. Mickelson went first, now DeChambeau is fading. Garcia had a good chance to move one stroke closer, but the Spaniard's putter has gone a touch cold. Not to be.
BURMESTER IN TROUBLE
Burmester is the nearest challenger to leader, Leishman, but at the par 3 14th the South African leaves his second shot in the rough and is needing to get up-and-down for a bogey.
Ahead, Leishman finds the fairway bunker and is forced to lay-up at the par 5 13th. He finds the fairway and is in good shape to go at the flag with his approach.
BURMESTER BOGEYS
Burmester's chip slides by and he taps in for bogey to fall back to four-under, two back of Leishman. Behind the former LIV winner, his Stinger GC teammate, Charl Schwartzel, has birdied the 11th, 12th and 13th to get to three-under and into a share of third.
Elsewhere, DeChambeau misses a birdie putt at the 11th and taps in for par. He is four-over today and five back of the lead.
SCHWARTZEL ON A CHARGE
This is excellent from Charl Schwartzel, who makes a fourth straight birdie to jump up to four-under and into a share of second with fellow Stinger GC teammate Burmester.
SCHWARTZEL STUMBLES
At the par-3 15th, Schwartzel only had a few feet for par but lipped out to undo a little of his recent good work. It was far from a straight putt, but all the same, you'd think the 2011 Masters champion would make that.
CLUTCH FROM LEISHMAN
Facing a relatively straight nine-foot putt for par on the 14th hole, Leishman pushes his chest out and confidently shoves his golf ball into the hole. The Australian has retained his two-stroke advantage after Garcia failed to make birdie at the 13th. Garcia then goes on to shove his tee shot on the 14th out to the right, leaving him in a tough spot to go for the green.
LEADER ON BOARD AT 15
Leishman finds the centre of the green at the par-3 15th and watches his ball trickle down the slope towards the flag. He'll have a nice look at birdie.
And it's a good job as Schwartzel has just added his fifth birdie in the past six holes via a long-range strike at the 16th. The South African moves back to within one, at least for the time being.
KIM IN FOR EAGLE
Anthony Kim could well be on for his best LIV Golf finish, and he's doing it in some style. The American pitches in for an eagle three on the 10th - he's five-under for the day and up to T31st on eight-over.
Oh yes, AK!@AnthonyKim_Golf makes eagle on 10 🔥Tune in on FOX 📺#LIVGolfMiami pic.twitter.com/A6KOs1i5XCApril 6, 2025
MORE CLUTCH PUTTING
Leishman pushed his birdie attempt down the hill but it failed to scare the hole and left him with a tricky par putt coming back. Just like on the previous hole, Leishman confidently rolls it home for par. Just three holes left...
SENSIBLE PLAY
Leishman takes an iron off the tee at 16 and then floats his approach over the flag for a potential chance at birdie. The Australian seems like he's shutting up shop now and just trying to avoid taking any undue risks. It's probably the smart play on a course which is taking victims left, right and centre.
FLOPADOPOLOUS
Rahm blasted his drive down the 16th, knowing he has to go for it all at four shots back, but he'd left himself a really awkward shot to the tight pin in the right corner of the green. Left with only one option that most amateurs would have bladed out of Florida, Rahm whipped his golf ball up into the sky and watched it come down like a feather right next to the hole. A beautiful birdie for the Spaniard.
TWO HOLES TO GO
Leishman's birdie attempt at the 16th was pretty horrible, to be honest. It didn't leave him any work to make par, but it was just a total misread that never had a chance. Either way, no harm done as the leader stays two ahead due to no gains elsewhere. Garcia stays in with a shout after making par at the par-3 15th.
BURMESTER OUT OF THE RUNNING
The South African was stood on 18 tee knowing he had to make a move over the final two holes. Unfortunately, the move Burmester made was the wrong one, pulling his drive straight into the drink which runs all the way down the 18th fairway. Schwartzel and Garcia are about to be the last two players left on four-under. Maybe Rahm can move up shortly, but the number of legitimate challengers to Leishman is running out.
RAHM GOES FOR A SWIM
After Schwartzel comes up quite a long way short with his approach on the difficult 18th (he still has the first to play as well), Rahm fires a short iron into the 17th green, but it bounces on the green and trundles all the way through, failing to stop before trickling down the hill and into the water. That's tough, the shot didn't really deserve that result. His quest for victory might have ended there.
BLUE MONSTER CHEWING UP GOLFERS
Garcia goes fairway-fringe down the 16th, but despite a strong putt from 10 feet or so, the Spaniard somehow fails to come away with a birdie. It's a par, but that's no good at this stage. Still, it could be worse...
After Rahm visited the water the first time, the two-time Major winner duffed his chip into the bank in front of him and watches his ball dribble back past him into the water once more. The Spaniard ended up with an eight (quad bogey) and his run of top-10s in the LIV Golf League is in real trouble. It was a similar story for Dean Burmester, who has just made a five-over nine down 18. This Blue Monster course is living up to its name in a big way.
GARCIA PILES ON THE PRESSURE
Leishman has fired his drive down 18 out to the right and faces an almost certain punch out as he scrambles to make par. One hole behind, Garcia has ripped a low cut into the 17th green, and it's raced down the putting surface to inside six feet. That's a great chance for birdie, and maybe a playoff is on the cards...
LEISHMAN DRAWS UP WINNING CHANCE
Faced with over 100 yards to get up and down for - possibly - the title, Leishman draws his shot in over the flag. That was a seriously brave line. It's 10 to 12 feet away, but he'd have snapped your hand off for that chance when he walked towards his drive in the trees just now.
Schwartzel and Garcia can still reach six-under, but they will have to both be perfect from here on out.
NOT OVER JUST YET
Garcia takes advantage of that stunning approach into 17 by rolling home the birdie chance. That's half the job done. One of only two birdies on that hole today. Desperately needed. Back over to Leishman.
STUNNING FROM LEISHMAN
From 13 feet, Marc Leishman does it again! The Australian has been nearly faultless on Sunday, especially with the putter. Eight consecutive pars doesn't even tell half of the story. He finishes four-under for the day and sets the clubhouse lead on six-under.
The equation is simple for Garcia, but the Spaniard might have blown it already. He push-slices his drive on 18 well into the trees on the right, and that's not where you need to be for birdie. Leishman can almost taste his first LIV Golf victory.
.@marcleish takes the clubhouse lead on 6-under 🙌@TheSergioGarcia needs a birdie on 18 to force playoff 👀#LIVGolfMiami @rippergc_ pic.twitter.com/MmbOKH5KWHApril 6, 2025
MARC LEISHMAN WINS LIV GOLF MIAMI
Sergio had a great lie in the rough where all the fans had been walking, and he was inches from drilling it onto the putting surface through the trees, but it was a yard shy and ended up visiting the water. That will be enough for Marc Leishman, who began the day three strokes back of DeChambeau.
Speaking of the great showman, DeChambeau gives the fans one last moment of magic by floating a wedge shot into the 18th green that bounces within inches of the hole, spins around the edge but just stays above ground. That kinda sums up the two-time Major winner's day. Just nothing going for him.
On the flip side, Leishman can now celebrate his maiden LIV Golf title and a comfortable team triumph for Ripper GC!
Garcia and Mickelson tidy up for bogey and par, respectively to finish in solo third and sixth, and that wraps up LIV Golf Miami.
Reflecting on his win, Leishman noted that he felt he'd played some of the best golf ever today. It's hard to argue with that sentiment, especially given the difficulty of that course and what happened to the multiple Major champions he was up against to start off with.
RIPPER GC WIN LIV GOLF MIAMI TEAM TITLE
That was an impressive victory for Ripper GC, too. The all-Australian line-up won by eight strokes in the end on four-over for the week, with an advantage of 11 strokes or more at one point. Collectively, Ripper was five-under for the day - the only team to go under par on Sunday.
Their nearest rivals this week, Crushers finished on 12-over after ending Sunday at even par as a foursome.
