Steele has an edge at LIV Golf Adelaide as Torque head team race

After a flying start on Friday that saw him return a clean card and sit just two strokes off the pace, Anirban Lahiri hit a rough patch on Saturday at LIV Golf Adelaide, slipping down the order into a share of 15th place six shots behind day two leader Brendan Steele of the HyFlyers.

Unlike in the first round, the India star mixed four birdies with three dropped shots to return a 1 under par 71 and aggregate 8 under 136 after the second day, with his team the Crushers sharing sixth place on a 28 under par total, seven strokes shy of Torque GC, who led a tight leaderboard on 33 under par.

Besides Lahiri’s 71, the Crushers had contributions of 7 under 65 from Charles Howell III and a 67 from their captain, Bryson DeChambeau. The team champions in 2023 have showed a flair for putting in a late run on Sunday, taking two victories from the first five events of the season. And with the scores of all four team members counting on the final day, there is still plenty to play for.

Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson and the HyFlyers who are yet to win either an individual or team LIV Golf event are 18 holes away from a possible double in Adelaide with Steele leading the individual leaderboard on 14 under par (66-64) and the team in shared second place behind Torque GC by a single stroke, 34 under to 33 under.

Steele’s 8 under 64 in Saturday’s second round at The Grange Golf Club gave him a one-shot lead at 14 under over Iron Heads GC’s Danny Lee on the individual leaderboard “We're definitely aware of it,” Steele said of the team’s lack of trophies.

“We know everything that's going on. We've talked about it. We were talking about it flying over here. Phil was like, this is the time, guys. This is our trip.”

Steele will need to get the better of a crowded individual leaderboard with 14 players who are five shots or less behind him including season leader Joaquin Niemann, the most recent individual winner in Dean Burmester and hometown hero Cameron Smith. Also in the reckoning are major winners Patrick Reed and Louis Oosthuizen.

For his part, Smith had an interesting encounter on Saturday when his wayward tee shot bounced off a gallery member and back onto the fairway. Smith used the break to his advantage, making a birdie on the hole. “I felt really bad for the old lady down there,” Smith said later. “I hit her in the back.

“It probably wasn't going to be in the trees, but it was going to be in the rough and a different lie, so it could have been a different outcome. But made her proud with a birdie there, and she helped me out. Hopefully that eased the pain a little bit for her.”

“She was nice,” Smith added. “I went over there, and I signed a ball, and she said, just give me a hug, so I gave her a hug, as well. Yeah, she was sweet.”

Steele’s 8 under on Moving Day was studded with nine birdies and is his best LIV Golf round relative to par. It may take a similar round on Sunday to win his first event of any kind in seven years. “It's going to be tough because there's a lot of birdies out there, obviously,” he said. “It's kind of a race to 20-under par I think at this point.”

To win on Sunday, the HyFlyers will have to overcome Torque who won four times last season and have finished in the top five at each of the five tournaments this season. On Saturday, Torque were

boosted by three 5 under 67s, from their captain Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira and Sebastián Muñoz.

A likely threat are the all-Australian Ripper GC led by Smith who shares fifth place on 11 under after a 7-under 65 and Matt Jones tied for ninth on 10 under with a 68. Smith said a team title would be even more satisfying than individual success. “I think so. This is a week we've spoke about literally the last year, and for it to all happen so quickly it seems like and then for us to be in the position that we're in after Saturday is a pretty cool spot,” he pointed out.

With both the individual and team leaderboards so closely balanced, the final round promises plenty of fireworks, especially if the Rippers put in a good run in front of their vociferous fans. “They've been unbelievable,” Jones said of the Adelaide crowds.

“The amount of times people just yell out your name going down every hole, it's unbelievable, and it's fantastic to satisfy. They've showed up to support the team this week, and hopefully tomorrow can be a really good day for us.” Added his captain, “I think not only us but probably every other Australian wants us to do well and wants us to win tomorrow. That's a lot of weight on the shoulders as it is, but we're ready for tomorrow.”

Day two scores

1. Torque GC -35 (Pereira 67, Niemann 67, Muñoz 67) T2. HyFlyers GC -34 (Steele 64, Tringale 65, Ogletree 70) T2. Iron Heads GC -34 (Na 65, Lee 67, Vincent 69) 4. Ripper GC -33 (Herbert 65, Smith 65, Jones 68) 5. Stinger GC -29 (Burmester 66, Oosthuizen 66, Schwartzel 67) T6. RangeGoats GC -28 (Wolff 66, Pieters 67, Watson 67) T6. Crushers GC -28 (Howell III 65, DeChambeau 68, Lahiri 71) T8. 4Aces GC -23 (Johnson 66, Reed 66, Varner III 69) T8. Legion XIII -11 (Hatton 66, Rahm 69, Surratt 69) 10. Cleeks GC -20 (Bland 68, Kaymer 68, Meronk 68) 11. Smash GC -19 (Koepka 66, McDowell 66, Gooch 68) 12. Fireballs GC -13 (Ancer 69, Chacarra 69, Puig 69)

13, Majesticks GC -8 (Horsefield 68, Westwood 69, Poulter 74)