Sports
Cam Smith, Ripper GC win LIV Golf Team Championship
Sep 22, 2024; Carrolton, Texas, USA; Cameron Smith of the Ripper GC plays his shot from the tenth tee during the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship Finals at Maridoe Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images Cameron Smith and Ripper GC won a LIV Golf team title for their native Australia, not to mention boatloads of cash for themselves.
The all-Australian team of Smith, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones and Marc Leishman edged 4Aces GC and won the LIV Golf Team Championship on Sunday outside Dallas, bringing a close to the third season of the Saudi-backed breakaway tour.
The final round of the team championship featured 18 holes of stroke play at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, with every player’s score combining to create their respective teams’ scores. The four winners in Saturday’s match-play semifinals qualified for the final.
Herbert and Smith made hugely important birdie putts down the stretch to lift Ripper to 11-under 277 and a three-stroke victory.
Tied for second at 8 under were Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces, which won the team title in the inaugural 2022 season, and the underdog Iron Heads GC. Legion XIII — playing without captain Jon Rahm of Spain, the 2024 individual champion — placed fourth at 6 under.
Ripper is the third different team to win the LIV team championship in three seasons. They captured $14 million of the $50 million prize pool.
There was a three-way tie at 8 under featuring Ripper, 4Aces and Iron Heads with just a few holes for each team to finish. Herbert, atoning for a triple bogey early in his round, was powering Ripper’s late move with three straight birdies at Nos. 15-17, as the team eked ahead at 9 under.
Harold Varner III made a long birdie at his last hole, No. 1, to bring 4Aces into a tie with Ripper at 9 under. But Herbert then rolled a slippery birdie putt into the cup, following it in with an emphatic fist pump, as Ripper moved back in front at 10 under.
Patrick Reed of 4Aces had a 5-foot birdie try at the final hole, but it curled dramatically right to left and stayed out. Smith then rolled in his fifth birdie of the day at No. 17 to give Ripper a two-shot lead.
Johnson, playing in the final group with Smith, Iron Heads captain Kevin Na and Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton, had a chance to bring 4Aces to 10 under as well, but his birdie try at No. 17 rolled past the cup.
Then, after Smith teed off at No. 18, Johnson’s tee shot sailed left and into a water hazard, essentially clinching Ripper’s victory.
Smith led Ripper with a 4-under 68. Herbert shot a 3-under 69, and Jones and Leishman each posted 70. Johnson and Reed scored the best rounds for 4Aces at 69.
Na and Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma led Iron Heads with rounds of 69. Hatton, of England, paced Legion with a 68 as LIV alternate John Catlin stood in for Rahm over the weekend while Rahm dealt with “severe flu symptoms.”
The Iron Heads finished last in the regular-season standings but upset Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC and Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC (the defending champions) in match play Friday and Saturday to advance to the final.
–Field Level Media
Sports
ATP Roundup: Defending champ Alexander Bublik cruises in Austria
Jun 4, 2025; Paris, FR; Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at a change of ends during his match against Jannik Sinner of Italy on day 11 at Roland Garros Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images Top-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan needed only 79 minutes to launch his Generali Open title defense with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta on Wednesday in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Bublik, ranked No. 11 in the ATP, served up eight aces and faced only one break point to advance to the quarterfinals. He will face Slovakia’s Alex Molcan, a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 winner over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier.
Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, who won the 2023 Generali Open on the clay, upset third-seeded Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 as he earned the key break of serve in the seventh game of the deciding set. Second-seeded Valentin Vacherot of Monaco also fell victim to the upset bug, dropping a 6-3, 6-4 decision to France’s Quentin Halys.
Fourth-seeded Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry got through, ousting Austria’s Jurji Radionov, 6-2, 7-6 (4), while No. 5 Ignacio Buse of Peru outlasted Switzerland’s Kilian Feldbausch 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Sixth-seeded German Jan-Lennard Struff was not as fortunate as he dropped a 6-0, 6-3 decision to Argentine Mariano Navone. German veteran Yannick Hanfmann eliminated Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Estoril Open
Wild card Tiago Torres, a 24-year-old Portugal resident playing in his first ATP event, pulled off his second upset in three days by knocking off third-seeded Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals in his home country.
Torres, ranked No. 427 in the world, staved off all but one of Tabilo’s eight break-point chances. He also earned breaks early in each sets to prevail. Torres will face Frenchman Hugo Gaston, who defeated countryman Tirouan Droguet, 6-0, 6-3.
Fourth-seeded Belgian Alexander Blockx moved on with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) triumph over France’s Kyrian Jacquet, but fifth-seeded Nuno Borges of Portugal fell 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: LIV Golf settles $1M trademark lawsuit
Apr 6, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; The LIV Golf logo is on display along the 10th hole during the second round of LIV Golf Miami golf tournament at Trump National Doral. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images The LIV has agreed to pay $1 million to Stinger Golf to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit with the Ohio-based golf tee manufacturer.
The Stinger Golf Club, one of LIV’s original four-man teams when the league debuted in 2022, rebranded to Southern Guards GC in January ahead of the tumultuous 2026 LIV campaign.
That change did not precede Stinger Golf’s move to sue LIV for $100 million in June 2025.
The company ended up accepting $1 million from LIV, per a July 6 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“Obviously $1 million doesn’t represent all the damages that our client suffered,” Brian Barakat, a partner at Barakat + Bossa, the firm that represented Stinger Golf, told Front Office Sports.
“It’s a settlement. Settlements are necessarily a compromise. What LIV did in this circumstance was pretty gross. We know that they knew long before they set up the Stinger Golf Club team that they were aware of our trademark, and they just decided that they didn’t care.”
The rebranded Southern Guards GC consists of South African players Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Dean Burmeister.
Stinger Golf, which sells its tees in golf retail locations throughout the U.S. as well as online, was motivated to accept the compromise due to concern over LIV entering bankruptcy proceedings.
“They bowed to the realities of this situation and made a compromise that made business sense for them,” Barakat said. “We were very confident to go to trial. It wasn’t a compromise based on any fear of loss in the case. It was a compromise based on what we viewed as an imminent bankruptcy.”
LIV, World Wide Golf Brands, a former apparel partner of LIV, and the Stinger GC golf team were listed as defendants in the case. Only LIV will be making payments to the company.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Roughriders mourning Jayden Dalke entering game vs. Elks
Jun 11, 2023; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Elks running back Kevin Brown (4) avoids a tackle by Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Jayden Dalke (38) during the second half at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images If Thursday night’s home game with the Edmonton Elks has taken a back seat for the Saskatchewan Roughriders since late Saturday night, it’s understandable.
Jayden Dalke, a linebacker in his fifth year with the team, died after an auto accident at age 30. His car was driving the wrong way on a highway between Lumsden, Sask., and Regina when it hit another vehicle, whose driver also perished.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported that cannabis and alcohol were found inside Dalke’s vehicle. It’s also been revealed that Dalke stopped for gas in Lumsden and left without paying.
Saskatchewan canceled practice Sunday and briefly considered postponing the game but opted to play. The Roughriders were off last week after routing Hamilton 38-7 on July 12 to improve to 4-1.
How are players trying to focus on a game days after losing a team captain?
“Just be where your feet are,” said quarterback Trevor Harris. “You know, two things can be true at once. You can be focused on a goal that Dalke would want us to be focused on. And we can also mourn his loss.”
While Saskatchewan ping-pongs between readying for a game and mourning the loss of a teammate, Edmonton (5-1) makes the trip as the West leader. The Elks are coming off a 19-17 home win on Friday night over the BC Lions.
Defense was the primary reason for the result as Edmonton intercepted four passes from backup quarterback Chase Brice and converted those into 16 points. The Elks have pilfered 10 passes in the last three games and lead the league with 59 points off turnovers.
“It definitely feels good to get our offense back the ball and see those guys work because that’s a high powered offense,” said defensive back Kenneth Logan Jr. “Any chance we can get our hands on the ball and create a turnover, and create a spark for our team, that’s what we’re willing to do.”
If recent form holds, expect a close game. Last year’s season series saw the teams split two games with Saskatchewan winning 21-18 at home and Edmonton prevailing 27-25 in the Alberta rematch.
–Field Level Media
ATP Roundup: Defending champ Alexander Bublik cruises in Austria
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