(Reuters) – American Talor Gooch beat Sergio Garcia in a playoff to claim victory in a weather-affected LIV Golf Invitational in Singapore on Sunday and secure a second $4 million winner’s pay cheque in as many LIV tour appearances.
The American, who also won the LIV Golf event in Adelaide last week, went into the final round tied with Garcia, with Brooks Koepka one stroke behind them in solo third.
Undaunted by the quality of his two pursuers, who have five majors between them, Gooch began with two birdies to take an early lead, but was pegged back over the course of the final round.
Koepka lost some ground on the back nine and eventually settled for third, but Gooch and Garcia remained neck-and-neck until the end and both birdied on the final hole to send it into the tiebreak.
After a day of pulsating drama at the Sentosa Golf Club, the playoff was perhaps slightly anti-climactic, lasting only one extra hole as Gooch calmly rolled in a short birdie putt to become the first golfer to win back-to-back LIV titles.
Gooch was also part of a team victory for RangeGoats, captained by Bubba Watson and also featuring Harold Varner III and Thomas Pieters, who finished three shots ahead of the Garcia-led Fireballs to take home the $3 million first prize.
“This is as good as it gets, plain and simple,” Gooch said.
“We played so well this week, I can’t wait to spray my teammates with champagne. We helped push each other, we all bring something different to the table. Hopefully this kicks off our season.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Edited by Jamie Freed)
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