Low scores were rare as strong winds hit LIV Adelaide leaving Cam Smith and company struggling

Hard and fast was how Cam Smith wanted the Adelaide course for his LIV homecoming but when the wind started howling his hopes bit hard.

On Friday plastic cups were hurled in the air amid hysteria as Patrick Reed aced the party hole at Grange Golf Club.

On Saturday they were needed for protection when Cameron Smith sent his wedge so far right at the par three 12th it landed among the revellers in the packed grandstand as the windy conditions blew the Australian and his team away from any real chance of defending their LIV title.

He was hardly on his own making a mess of the “party hole” as the blustery conditions sent scoring sideways and the playing field, including major champions, even off the course in search of balls as playing rounds pushed past five and a half hours, in stark contrast to the birdie blitz of 2024.

Abraham Ancer, the 2018 Australian Open champion and attuned to the conditions, is in a three-way share of the lead at nine-under with Carlos Ortiz and overnight leader Sam Horsfield.

The trio were among only five players to shoot second rounds of three-under or better, with more than half of the 54-player field, including Smith, going in to the final round at even par or worse.

“It was a battle, but I enjoyed it,” Ancer said.

“I was watching the leaderboard and it was all over the place. When conditions are like this, it’s tough.”

Cameron Smith looks for his ball on the ninth hole. . (Photo by Brenton Edwards / AFP)

“With the wind, if you’re not hitting it crisp, the wind is just going to affect the ball a ton more, and when you miss the greens out here, it’s not going to be easy.

“Yeah, you might see the scores being really high and you’d think somebody played extremely poorly, but maybe they were just missing it by a little bit.”

For comparison, Brendan Steele’s winning score in 2024 was 18-under, and Ripper GC’s winning team score was 53-under after three perfect days when there wasn’t enough wind to even ruffle a collar.

This year the all-Australian quartet will go in to the final round more than 50-shots worse at even par, albeit only 10 shots off the team lead, but with all their pre-event enthusiasm for the hard-cut layout, which was very much to their liking on Thursday, blown away.

As local hopes goes, Lucas Herbert remains the closest to the top at three-under after a final hole birdie with Marc Leishman two-shots back after his two-under 70, they are the only Australians under par.

Smith shot a one-over 73 to be one-over for the tournament, a shot better than teammate Matt Jones.

Lucas Herbert holes a bunker shot for the 2nd day in a row! Much to the delight of @Pughdog1pic.twitter.com/YmMGH04DzE

— LIV'r & Onions! (@LIVRandONIONS) February 15, 2025

Wind is the traditional defence for courses made shorter by big bombing players and that proved the case on Saturday, players stopping and starting over the shortest of putts as their short-stick was blown around.

After hitting just four of 14 fairways on Friday, Smith’s struggles with longer shots were evident again, this time missing half of the 18 greens in regulation aiming at flags being whipped by constant gusts.

On the par five ninth hole his second shot was buried so deep in a bush short and right of the green he walked straight past it, without even trying to collect it having gone 50m back, on to the third hole, to play his fourth shot, which rolled back off the front of the green, leading to a bogey.

Rangefinder from the balcony is crazy business…. 🤣 @brysondech

Watch on @FOXSports@FS1 now 📺#LIVGolfAdelaide@Crushers_GCpic.twitter.com/vYfkWvdEGh

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) February 15, 2025

Bryson DeChambeau went so sideways off the tee on the 13th hole he needed to go off course, and onto the balcony of a neighbouring house to get a yardage for his second shot.

He was leading after nine holes, but had five bogeys in his final eight holes in his round of over 73.

“This golf course had a lot of bite to it. It’ll get you out there,” he said.

“Just a couple swings will get you. That’s what makes this golf course so difficult right now.”

LIV LEADERBOARD

9-under - Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Sam Horsfield

6-under - Joaquin Niemann

THE AUSSIES

3-under - Lucas Herbert

1-under - Marc Leishman

2-over - Cameron Smith

3-over - Matt Jones

Originally published as Low scores were rare as strong winds hit LIV Adelaide leaving Cam Smith and company struggling