Former PGA Tour stalwart Brendan Steele captured his maiden LIV Golf title on Sunday in Adelaide, keeping his cool to hold off a chasing pack led by South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Spain’s Jon Rahm to win by a shot.
The 41-year-old American led overnight by one and after an early bogey refocused to reel off five straight birdies on the front nine in a four-under-par 68 to finish 54 holes at the Grange Golf Club at 18-under.
In front of bumper crowds and a carnival atmosphere, South Africa’s 11-time European Tour winner and 2010 British Open champion Oosthuizen came second after seven birdies in his 65.
SA quartet in the money
Spanish two-time major winner Rahm was among a group of five to finish a further shot back after firing 64 to bank his sixth consecutive top-10 finish since defecting to the Saudi-backed league this year.
Alongside him tied for third were Charl Schwartzel, Andy Ogletree, Joaquin Niemann and Dean Burmester, who won the previous event in Miami.
It was Steele’s first LIV win since joining Phil Mickelson’s “Hyflyers” team last year following 12 years on the PGA Tour that garnered three titles.
Steele earned $4 million for his win.
The all-Australian Ripper GC quartet led by Cameron Smith won the team title on 53-under – the lowest score since LIV was launched in 2022.
But they needed the league’s first ever team playoff to do so, winning on the second extra hole from Oosthuizen’s all-South African Stinger GC team.
It was a lucrative 54 holes for the South Africans in the field.
Oosthuizen pocketed $2.25 million (R42.3 million) for finishing in second place, while Schwartzel and Burmester banked $920 000 (R17.3 million) each for their joint third-place finishes.
Branden Grace, meanwhile, took home $130 800 (R2.5 million) for his tie for 40th place.
But that’s not all!
The foursome shared $1.5 million (R28.2 million) – which works out at $375 000 (R7.05 million) – for their second-place finish in the LIV Golf team competition.
Meanwhile, as sadly reported by The South African website, Charl Schwartzel’s wife, Rosalind, revealed mid-week that she is fighting breast cancer.
LIV Golf Adelaide final individual leaderboard and earnings
| Position | Player | Score | Earnings |
| 1 | Brendan Steele | -18 | $4,000,000 |
| 2 | Louis Oosthuizen | -17 | $2,250,000 |
| T3 | Charl Schwartzel | -16 | $920,000 |
| T3 | Jon Rahm | -16 | $920,000 |
| T3 | Andy Ogletree | -16 | $920,000 |
| T3 | Joaquin Niemann | -16 | $920,000 |
| T3 | Dean Burmester | -16 | $920,000 |
| 8 | Mito Perreira | -15 | $525,000 |
| T9 | Abraham Ancer | -14 | $385,500 |
| T9 | Brooks Kopeka | -14 | $385,500 |
| T9 | Matt Jones | -14 | $385,500 |
| T9 | Jinichiro Kozuma | -14 | $385,500 |
| T9 | Danny Lee | -14 | $385,500 |
| T14 | Martin Kaymer | -13 | $276,428 |
| T14 | Marc Leishman | -13 | $276,428 |
| T14 | Lucas Herbert | -13 | $276,428 |
| T14 | Thomas Pieters | -13 | $276,428 |
| T14 | Anirban Lahiri | -13 | $276,428 |
| T14 | Tyrrell Hatton | -13 | $276,428 |
| T14 | Cameron Smith | -13 | $276,428 |
| 21 | Cameron Tringale | -12 | $230,000 |
| T22 | Caleb Surratt | -11 | $206,250 |
| T22 | Richard Bland | -11 | $206,250 |
| T22 | Patrick Reed | -11 | $206,250 |
| T22 | Carlos Ortiz | -11 | $206,250 |
| T26 | Adrian Meronk | -10 | $180,000 |
| T26 | Matt Wolff | -10 | $180,000 |
| T26 | Bryson DeChambeau | -10 | $180,000 |
| T26 | Talor Gooch | -10 | $180,000 |
| T26 | Charles Howell III | -10 | $180,000 |
| T31 | Paul Casey | -9 | $160,000 |
| T31 | Pat Perez | -9 | $160,000 |
| T31 | Dustin Johnson | -9 | $160,000 |
| T34 | Kevin Na | -8 | $146,500 |
| T34 | Lee Westwood | -8 | $146,500 |
| T34 | Peter Uihlein | -8 | $146,500 |
| T34 | Bubba Watson | -8 | $146,500 |
| T38 | Sebastian Munoz | -7 | $139,000 |
| T38 | Phil Mickelson | -7 | $139,000 |
| T40 | Sergio Garcia | -6 | $130,800 |
| T40 | Branden Grace | -6 | $130,800 |
| T40 | David Puig | -6 | $130,800 |
| T40 | Kalle Samooja | -6 | $130,800 |
| T40 | Sam Horsfield | -6 | $130,800 |
| 45 | Eugenio Chacarra | -5 | $125,000 |
| T46 | Graeme McDowell | -4 | $124,000 |
| T46 | Scott Vincent | -4 | $124,000 |
| 48 | Harold Varner III | -3 | $120,000 |
| 49 | Jason Kokrak | -2 | $60,000 |
| 50 | Kieran Vincent | -1 | $60,000 |
| 51 | Henrik Stenson | +3 | $60,000 |
| T52 | Hudson Swafford | +4 | $50,000 |
| T52 | Ian Poulter | +4 | $50,000 |
| 54 | Antony Kim | +6 | $50,000 |
Final team leaderboard and earnings
| Position | Team | Score | Earnings |
| 1 | Ripper GC | -53* | $3,000,000 |
| 2 | Stinger GC | -53 | $1,500,000 |
| 3 | HyFlyers GC | -48 | $500,000 |