Latest news with #MarcLeishman
The Australian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Australian
LIV Golf confirms Adelaide return as Smith's ranking crisis deepens
Cameron Smith could be playing for much-needed ranking points when LIV returns to Adelaide in 2026, with a February date locked in for the second year after a timeslot shift in 2025 proved a monster success. More than 100,000 people attended The Grange this year after the tournament was moved from April and is so far the only confirmed schedule stop for the Saudi-backed tour. It could be too long to wait for Smith to feel some good Aussie vibes, however, with his 2025 in freefall after missing the cut at The Open at Royal Portrush. The 2022 Open champion became the only player to miss the cut in all four majors in 2025 after failing to reach the weekend and has now missed five major cuts in a row. Once No.2 in the world, Smith's ranking has dropped to 206, with questions being asked about the impact of his move to LIV, for which he was paid a reported $140m. Cameron Smith battled at The Open. Picture: AP Photo/Peter Morrison His LIV teammate and great friend, Marc Leishman, jumped more than 50 places after being the only Australian to make the cut in Northern Ireland. The appearances of the LIV stars at The Open came amid revelations officials had put in a second application for world ranking points in the hope their players could get more access to the majors. It could also help players like Smith put himself in the frame for a Presidents Cup return as well as help American and European players get back on to Ryder Cup teams. Smith conceded 2025 had been 'frustrating' without a LIV win, or a podium finish, but was adamant he had been putting in the work and his best was 'coming'. 'It's such a weird game sometimes,' he said. 'I feel like I've been playing really good and not really getting much out of my golf, which is quite the opposite to how I normally play golf, so it's been a really frustrating year. 'Everything feels good, particularly on the range, on the putting green and stuff like that. I just have struggled to take it to the course and I feel like it's coming out. 'I feel like I'm getting more confidence and committing to more shots and maybe hitting the shot that I don't necessarily feel comfortable with, but the right shot. 'So that's when I play my best and, yeah, it's coming.' Cam Smith draws a crowd in Adelaide (Photo by) Smith tasted success in Adelaide in 2024, taking the team title, which helped elevate the event. 'Adelaide has been our pinnacle event with LIV Golf for the past few years, and it's always special going home and having our Aussie crowd behind us – they've been great to us, he said. 'The event keeps getting better every year and we are so excited to know we'll be coming back for many years to come. We can't wait for this year's event in Adelaide, which I'm sure next year will be even bigger.' Read related topics: Adelaide
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Cameron Smith, only player to miss all four major cuts in 2025, will return to Adelaide with LIV in February
Cameron Smith could be playing for much-needed ranking points when LIV returns to Adelaide in 2026, with a February date locked in for the second year after a timeslot shift in 2025 proved a monster success. More than 100,000 people attended The Grange this year after the tournament was moved from April and is so far the only confirmed schedule stop for the Saudi-backed tour. It could be too long to wait for Smith to feel some good Aussie vibes, however, with his 2025 in freefall after missing the cut at The Open at Royal Portrush. The 2022 Open champion became the only player to miss the cut in all four majors in 2025 after failing to reach the weekend and has now missed five major cuts in a row. Once No.2 in the world, Smith's ranking has dropped to 206, with questions being asked about the impact of his move to LIV, for which he was paid a reported $140m. His LIV teammate and great friend, Marc Leishman, jumped more than 50 places after being the only Australian to make the cut in Northern Ireland. The appearances of the LIV stars at The Open came amid revelations officials had put in a second application for world ranking points in the hope their players could get more access to the majors. It could also help players like Smith put himself in the frame for a Presidents Cup return as well as help American and European players get back on to Ryder Cup teams. Smith conceded 2025 had been 'frustrating' without a LIV win, or a podium finish, but was adamant he had been putting in the work and his best was 'coming'. 'It's such a weird game sometimes,' he said. 'I feel like I've been playing really good and not really getting much out of my golf, which is quite the opposite to how I normally play golf, so it's been a really frustrating year. 'Everything feels good, particularly on the range, on the putting green and stuff like that. I just have struggled to take it to the course and I feel like it's coming out. 'I feel like I'm getting more confidence and committing to more shots and maybe hitting the shot that I don't necessarily feel comfortable with, but the right shot. 'So that's when I play my best and, yeah, it's coming.' Smith tasted success in Adelaide in 2024, taking the team title, which helped elevate the event. 'Adelaide has been our pinnacle event with LIV Golf for the past few years, and it's always special going home and having our Aussie crowd behind us – they've been great to us, he said. 'The event keeps getting better every year and we are so excited to know we'll be coming back for many years to come. We can't wait for this year's event in Adelaide, which I'm sure next year will be even bigger.'
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Magic on 13: This golfer has hit 10 career aces. This one was his best
On the first green at Royal Portrush, as Marc Leishman stared at his 25-foot putt looking to start his third round with a birdie, the crowd erupted over his right shoulder. It wasn't for Irish hero Rory McIlroy. He was still two hours away from teeing off. The noise came from the 13th green – a 176-metre downhill par three. It shares a corner of the course with the 17th, and the grandstands between them form a natural amphitheatre, primed for moments like this. The eruption came from both sides of the green because Englishman John Parry had just made a hole-in-one. The ball pitched near the front of the green, held its line, and disappeared. Parry, 38, from the spa town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, turned instinctively and high-fived the first person he saw — his American playing partner Justin Leonard. Then Leonard's caddie. Then his own. It was likely the first — and perhaps the only — ace of the 153rd Open Championship. Asked how many he'd now had in his career, Parry grinned.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Marc Leishman commits to Australian summer after fading finish at first Open Championship since 2022
Getting a taste of the majors again was a reminder of what Marc Leishman is missing, but he's also 'not going to stress' over the fact returning to The Open remains a challenge. But the LIV star, who was the only one of nine Australians at Royal Portrush to make the cut, locked in a trip home this summer for two chances to earn direct qualification again. Leishman didn't bring his Sunday best in Northern Ireland, with his finishing four-over 75 his worst round of the week, leaving him a mammoth 17 shots behind the runaway winner Scottie Scheffler. It was only Leishman's second major appearance since 2022, having also qualified for this year's US Open, with his ranking slipping to 446 after his big-money move to LIV. A renewed application from LIV to get world ranking points could help his cause going forward, but Leishman knows what he signed up for and while he loved being back at The Open, majors no longer define his career. 'Yeah, happy to be back. Obviously, if everything works out and we can get in them, I'd love to play them,' he said after closing out his tournament. 'If not, I'm not going to stress over it or anything. Yes, I really want to be here, but happy with my decisions.' Those decisions included returning to Australia for the Australian Open and PGA in late November and early December. Both tournaments offer an Open Championship lifeline for a top-three finish, which is how Leishman got to Portrush, courtesy of a podium finish in the PGA. With Rory McIlroy also heading to the Australian Open, the competition will intensity and other big names could follow. Officials are also hopeful the offer of a spot at The Open could lure some more big names, but Leishman's commitment is unwavering, sensing opportunity. 'It's going to be Royal Melbourne and Royal Queensland, two courses that I've played well at before,' he said. 'I've spent a lot of time on Royal Melbourne and had some good results the last few years at Royal Queensland. Hopefully, this is the year. 'That's the funny thing about golf, you can have a great week and play some really, really good golf, and if somebody plays better than you, you don't win. 'So hopefully it can be my year, and I'll do everything I can to see if I can make that happen.'
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Leishman woes seal historically bad Open for Australia
Australian golf has endured its worst British Open golf championship in the modern era after Marc Leishman failed to spare the green 'n gold blushes on the final day at Royal Portrush. The 41-year-old LIV golfer, the only one of nine Australians to make the cut in a dismal display at the 153rd Championships, had a final-day struggle in almost ideal weather conditions at the Dunluce links, shooting a four-over 75. It left the Victorian veteran set to finish outside the top-50 at level par for the week. Since Peter Thomson became the first Aussie champion in 1954 at Royal Birkdale, that's the worst position for the leading Australian at the Championships in any of the subsequent 71 editions. The same Portrush course in 2019 was the only other occasion during those years when only one Australian made the cut (out of six starters), but at least the survivor, Cameron Smith, earned a top-20 spot on that occasion. Over the years, it's become fairly commonplace for an Australian to be featuring in the last-day shake-up for the Claret Jug, but in this century, the worst Open for the Aussie challenge was 2001 at Royal Lytham when Richard Green was the best-placed in tied-42nd position. On that occasion, though, there were five Australians featuring on the last day, while Leishman was the only survivor this time. He had set off just outside the top 25, hoping to shoot "something silly" in a bid for a top-four finish that would seal him a place at both next year's Masters and the 2025 Royal Birkdale Open. Light winds and lovely weather promised much on Sunday but Leishman started going the wrong way once he drove into a fairway bunker at the fourth, found the thick stuff at the next and another fairway sand trap at the ninth to record bogey fives. "I just drove in a few too many fairway bunkers during the week," he admitted. "There was a few holes where I took them on purposely, knowing that if I hit an iron, there's still going to be one in play. If I was going to take it on, I thought I might as well take it on with the driver. A few of them didn't come off." A couple of birdies straight after the turn were sandwiched by another five at the par-four 11th, before his biggest calamity occurred at the short 13th when he blasted out of one greenside trap straight into another across the other side of the dance floor. A double-bogey five was the result. "Some days you have it, and some days you don't," sighed Leishman. "Today I didn't. Disappointing day. "You have days like that sometimes, and obviously you don't want them to be on Sunday of a British Open." "So, disappointing, but take the good with the bad. Onwards and upwards from here." Leishman said he was now looking forward to a break with his family. "Probably do a little tour of Dublin with the kids -- and do another tour of Dublin later in the night-time, us boys," he smiled, dreaming of another Guinness. Then he'll feature in next week's LIV Golf event at the JCB Golf & Country Club in Staffordshire, after which he has his eyes set on an end-of-year assault on the two big Australian titles he's never won: the PGA at Royal Queensland in November and the following month's Open at Royal Melbourne. "Hopefully, this is the year," he said.
