LIV Golf Hong Kong: Abraham Ancer holds nerve to claim first LIV title, beats Smith, Casey in dramatic play-off
- Abraham Ancer overcomes Paul Casey and Cameron Smith after trio finish tied on 13 under par
- Casey’s six-under 64 helps Crushers GC claim team title for second week running
For two days Abraham Ancer looked as though he could no wrong, hitting fairways and greens at will and easing to a five-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf Hong Kong.
Then the precision that propelled the Mexican to the top of the leaderboard deserted him, the lead disappeared in a flurry of bad chips and poor iron shots, and a two-over-par 72 dropped him into a play-off alongside Paul Casey and Cameron Smith after they finished the third round tied on 13 under.
But the Mexican held his nerve when it mattered most, and while Casey and Smith pushed their tee shots right and left, Ancer found the middle of the famed 18th fairway.
His approach then arrowed towards the pin, leaving the relatively simple task of holing a four-foot putt to win his first LIV title, with Casey and Smith only reaching the green in three.
“Man I made that so hard on myself,” said Ancer, after winning the US$4 million first prize. “It was definitely a grind. My mind was there and my swing wasn’t, which was weird because it felt so solid all week.
“But I was really happy. That round could have definitely been going south very, very quickly.”
