Morgan is tied with Fireballs captain Sergio Garcia, Stinger captain Louis Oosthuizen, Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri and Torque’s Sebastián Muñoz on a packed leaderboard in which 19 other players are within two shots of the lead. Among those pursuers are team captains Brooks Koepka (Smash), Dustin Johnson (4 Aces) and Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers), who each shot 68, and Joaquin Niemann (Torque), who shot 67.

While the four other co-leaders are assured of returning in 2024, the 23-year-old Morgan is one of four players currently in the Drop Zone who face relegation at the end of the season. He ranks 46th with just three points but a big result this week at Rich Harvest Farms could move him above the Drop Zone.

Non-captains ranked 45th or worse will be relegated but have a chance to play their way back in later this year at the promotion tournament.

“I know where I am and everyone keeps reminding me where I am, so it’s pretty hard to get away from it,” said Morgan, who posted the low round in the field on Sunday at the previous LIV Golf event in Bedminster last month. “So, there’s no point in me trying to act like it’s not there in my head. It’s obviously there.

“But I know if I play well enough, put myself in the position I think to make putts for birdie, then that’s really all you can do.”

The South African Stinger team, who have finished third in each of the last three tournaments, top the team leaderboard at 13-under, with Charl Schwartzel and Dean Burmester contributing 67s to support Oosthuizen’s score. A strong finish this week could wrap up one of the top four seeds that will receive a bye at the Team Championship in Miami.

“We’re playing well,” Oosthuizen said. “We help each other out to try and get into form, and especially now with Miami around the corner, we really want to give a good push to the end.”

The Crushers and Fireballs are one stroke back at 12-under, with the Rippers at 11-under. The top two teams in the season-long standings, No. 1 4 Aces and No. 2 Torque, share fifth place at 10-under.

The five-way individual tie is among the most after any LIV Golf first round. Soft conditions provided opportunities for low scores, a big difference from last year’s firm test won by Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith, who shot 69 on Friday.

“With the conditions, the course is quite gettable,” Garcia said. “I’m actually surprised there wasn’t a couple lower scores today. I could have shot one of those, obviously.

“It still is the kind of course that you still have to hit the ball well to score. It’s a good mix, but if you strike the ball nicely, it feels like you can make a lot of birdies.”

Morgan made seven birdies on Friday, tied for the most in the field. Similar success this weekend could lead to a significant moment in his young career.

“Playing good is motivating me more than getting out of that position,” Morgan said. “Winning the tournament is more motivating than getting out of the bottom four. That’s what I want to do.”

Said his captain Smith: “I’m very proud of him; he’s a great player. This is what he should be doing every day.”

The post Sting in the tale as Oosthuizen, Sergio, Morgan, Lahiri and Munoz all go low appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

After producing the best round of his LIV Golf career and celebrating Ripper’s first team victory with his fellow Aussies at LIV Golf Bedminster, Jediah Morgan processed a variety of emotions he hadn’t felt in a while.

Happiness. Satisfaction. Relief. A sense of accomplishment. Hope. Optimism.

Amazing the kind of power a five-under 66 can have on a professional golfer.

But it wasn’t just a simple 66. It was the lowest score in the field that final day at Bedminster, on a tough, challenging major-type golf course. And it allowed the Rippers to cruise to an 11-stroke victory on Sunday while his captain Cameron Smith completed the trophy sweep with the individual title.

No wonder the 23-year-old from Brisbane couldn’t stop smiling, even as he walked around in socks, a by-product of the ‘shoey’ toast he had shared with Smith, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones on the top of the podium.

“I’ve been looking for whatever we had today with my caddie for four to five months,” Morgan said. “It’s nice to see that we can do it because it’s been a lot of rounds put together over the last four months that have told me I can’t really do it. Today’s been nice.”

Less than 24 earlier, the emotions were much different, more low-spirited for Morgan as he spoke to his father on the phone. He had just shot a second-round seven-over 78, matching his worst round of the year. He wasn’t mad — he was just disappointed in himself. Disheartened. “You just feel a bit down,” Morgan said, “when you’re not quite doing what you want to do for everyone and for yourself.”

Jediah Morgan with his Ripper teammates. LIV Golf

The 20-minute conversation included some tears on his end, and his teammates knew afterward that Morgan had left no feelings unturned.

Amazing the kind of power a negative round can have on a professional golfer, too.

“We all stayed in the same house,” Leishman said. “We saw what he was going through. We saw he was a little bit down. But everyone has their own way of going through things, and I think you have to know that about yourself, who to call, and he knew who to call — and it worked out for him and for us.”

Worked out to the tune of one eagle and four birdies on Sunday. It was a terrific offensive showing for Morgan, who has struggled to produce birdies this season (he has the fewest among all players who have started all 11 tournaments).

He has the power game that can lead to low scores — he’s 10th in the league in driving distance, the top Ripper in that category. But the rewards have been few this season, and as such, it’s left him wondering whether to be more cautious. That’s not really his nature.

Asked what he took from the 66, Morgan said: “Just continuing to be aggressive with my shots. As Cam said, it’s easy to be offensive out here. It’s nice to know I played aggressive today and I got rewarded for it.”

His Ripper teammates know that Morgan has plenty of talent. After all, he won the Australian PGA Championship in January 2022. Less than a year later, Smith won the next edition. Although his Ripper teammates have more experience and credentials, they don’t view Morgan as just being along for the ride.

“We all know what he can do, and we all believe in what he can do, and for him to do it today on this golf course in these conditions, which were not easy for anyone … that’s what we expect of him every week. We expect him to be able to do that,” Jones said. “I’m not putting pressure on him, but that’s what we believe he can do.”

The key now, of course, is for Morgan to build on that 66 and sustain the positive, productive play.

Good luck to Matt Jones & Jed Morgan, who are both playing in the @intseriesgolf event at Close House this week ?

Take those Bedminster Sunday performances & vibes into the week boys!#RipperGC pic.twitter.com/koviWA4RTw

— Ripper GC (@rippergc_) August 16, 2023

He’s in the United Kingdom for the two International Series tournaments on the Asian Tour. He’ll be one of nearly two dozen players competing at Close House this week at International Series England, then also play St Andrews Bay Championship in Scotland next week.

When the LIV Golf schedule resumes next month at Rich Harvest Farms on Chicago, September 22-24, Morgan will begin the big final push to secure status for next year’s league.

He’s currently 46th in the season-long Individual Champion points standings, meaning he’s in the projected Drop Zone of non-captain players who will be relegated for a finish of 45th or lower.

If he can climb into the 25-44 range, he’ll be in the Open Zone and available as a free agent. If he can climb into the top 24, he’ll be guaranteed a spot next year. Pat Perez of 4 Aces is currently the bubble player at No. 24 with 47 points. Morgan has three points, all from his 17th place in Singapore. Despite his heroics on Sunday at Bedminster, he still finished outside the points in 27th, his best result since Singapore.

With two regular-season tournaments left in Chicago and Jeddah, Morgan would need a couple of top-3 results to move into the top 24. But he’s just five points out of 44th, making it much more achievable to at least get in the Open Zone.

“I know where I stand, obviously in the bottom four right now,” Morgan said. “I know that I don’t want to be where I am. I haven’t played good enough and I’m in a world-class field. It’s pretty simple — I just need to beat them.

“Those last two events are pretty big for me and pretty big for my position next year. I’m not going to shy away from the challenge.”

The post It’s been emotional: Fresh off his best LIV Golf round, Rippers’ Morgan faces critical stretch appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Cameron Smith’s rebranded Rippers refreshen their all-Australia line-up, Cleeks bring in another veteran player in Bernd Wiesberger, and it is as you were for Crushers and Fireballs with their talented rosters.

The first four team line-ups were revealed on Wednesday, and the announcement of the final four rosters is forthcoming.

Here’s a closer look at the four-men teams announced on Thursday.

RIPPER

The big news Down Under is that Cameron Smith’s team have been rebranded with a name and logo more befitting their all-Australian heritage. Ripper is the new name, replacing the previous Punch. But there’s also a new member in the line-up, with 23-year-old Queenslander Jediah Morgan re-joining the roster.

Morgan played for three different teams in 2022, including a two-tournament stint with Punch. He transitioned to Torque when Smith and Marc Leishman became LIV Golf members prior to the tournament in Boston. But now Morgan has returned to join Smith, Leishman and Matt Jones in a line-up that will receive plenty of support when LIV Golf makes its first visit to Australia on April 20-22 in Adelaide.

Smith, the reigning Open Champion, won LIV Golf Chicago in just his second start after becoming a member. His team then won their quarter-final and semi-final matches at the Miami Team Championship before finishing second by one stroke to 4Aces on the final day.

Morgan ranked 12th in driving distance in 2022 with an average of 305.8 yards. He and Jones (who ranked 13th at 305.4 yards) should provide the Rippers with plenty of, well, punch off the tee in 2023.

CLEEKS

With the acquisition of Bernd Wiesberger, Cleeks now have three players with Ryder Cup experience on their roster. The 37-year-old Austrian played in the 2021 Ryder Cup, marking the sixth time he has played in an international team event as a pro. Cleeks Captain Martin Kaymer and teammate Graeme McDowell have each made four Ryder Cup appearances. The only other team with three Ryder Cuppers is Majesticks.

Wiesberger began last season as a member of Niblicks, then transferred to HyFlyers for LIV Golf Portland and stayed on Phil Mickelson’s team the rest of the season. His best individual result came in the final regular-season event at LIV Golf Jeddah when he tied for eighth.

With 50-year-old Richard Bland playing some of the best golf in his career — he was the team leader in points last season — the all-European Cleeks will look to improve on a season in which they made one podium and finished 10th in the regular season. Despite not having an injured Kaymer for the Team Championship, the Cleeks won their quarter-finals match and hope those good vibes extend to the new season.

CRUSHERS

Crushers Captain Bryson DeChambeau saw no need to tinker with a line-up that was among the most consistent in the second half of the season.

Once the roster was stabilised with the additions of Paul Casey, Anirban Lahiri and Charles Howell III, the Crushers claimed three podium finishes in the final four regular-season tournaments. However, they remain in search of their first win of any kind.

DeChambeau battled some health problems last season, but he’s back to full strength now to lend firepower to his talented trio of ball-strikers.

“If I start playing better,” DeChambeau said, “we’re going to win a lot.”

FIREBALLS

Winners of LIV Golf Bangkok last season, the Spanish-speaking Fireballs have a deadly line-up that remains intact but still has plenty of room to improve.

Captain Sergio Garcia has returned from off-season knee surgery and comes off a tie for fifth in his last start at the International Series Oman. Abraham Ancer already has posted a win, claiming the prestigious PIF Saudi International in his second start of 2023.

Carlos Ortiz finished second in his LIV Golf debut event in Portland last year, while 22-year-old Eugenio Chacarra led the Fireballs to the team victory in Bangkok by winning the individual crown in just his fifth start after turning pro.

The Fireballs have an effective blend of legendary experience in Garcia, youthful exuberance in Chacarra, and team chemistry built on two players from Mexico and two from Spain. Plus, they start the season with a home game at LIV Golf Mayakoba, and will be home favorites again at LIV Golf Valderrama, a course in which Garcia has extensive success.

“The Fireballs team, we’re really, really excited to go to Mayakoba and Valderrama,” Ancer said.

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