Talor Gooch the big winner at Jeddah with second-place finish behind Brooks Koepka

Talor Gooch missed out on the LIV Golf Jeddah title losing to fellow-American Brooks Koepka in a playoff but still had the biggest reason to celebrate at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club as his runner-up placing sealed the overall individual title, and a $18 million bonus cheque.

The Range-Goats star, a three-time winner on the LIV Golf circuit this year overtook Cameron Smith in the season-long standings, leaving the Australian in second place and with $8 million in the pocket.

Koepka’s victory on Sunday also gave him third place overall and an extra $4 million as a bonus payout in addition to the $4 million he pocketed as the event winner in King Abdullah Economic City on Sunday, the final day of the 2023 LIV Golf League regular season.

Fireballs GC put in a strong run on the final day to take the team title but missed out on a top-four finish that would have guaranteed them a first-round bye at this week’s team championship in Miami.

It was a second win of the season for the Spanish-speaking team and would have come as a morale-booster going into the season-ender in Miami.

Individually, all four team members finished inside the top 20 on the leaderboard in Jeddah, with team captain Sergio Garcia fifth on 12 under; Abraham Ancer 13th, Eugenio Chacarra 15th, and Carlos Ortiz 18th..

“We’re obviously very excited,” said Garcia, whose team finished second the last time out in Chicago. “With all four of us playing solid in Chicago and here, it’s exciting…. All of us finishing in the top 15, top 20 both weeks, it’s really something to look forward to.

“We know how much Miami means, so hopefully we’ll be able to keep that going and make it fun.”

Gooch shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday to secure his first full-season title ever.

“It’s awesome,” said the 31-year-old from Oklahoma. “From January 1st until now, that’s what we’ve been working for. So to get here and be the champion, man, I’m proud. I’m honoured. And I’m excited.

“It was a day that you dream of – for the score and the moment. It was a special, special day.”

For five-time major winner Koepka, also captain of Smash GC, it was a successful defence of his Jeddah title that he won last year over Peter Uihlein in almost identical fashion, prevailing in an extended playoff.

Koepka set up Sunday’s playoff with a birdie at the par-5 18th to card a 2-under 68 in the final round, leaving him tied with Gooch at 14 under for the tournament. He then birdied the 18th twice in the playoff. The result meant he would displace Crusher GC captain Bryson DeChambeau in the season’s standings.

“It’s been great. It’s been fantastic,” said Koepka about his successful title defence. “It’s always a good feeling. Super proud of the way I played today.

“I really didn’t think I had a chance. I don’t know how many points Bryson had to have or to get, but I felt like I had to win, and I did my part. … Super fortunate to kind of squeak in there.”

Smith, who entered the week atop the individual points standings, finished at 6 under after his final-round 66. That left him 25th and with no points for the week, tallying 170 points to Gooch’s 192 and with $8 million in his pocket.

Seedings for Miami were also finalised, with 4Aces GC, Crushers GC, Torque GC and RangeGoats GC securing byes for Friday’s quarter-finals and in a position to pick their opponents for Saturday’s semi-finals.

The RangeGoats started the week in Jeddah ranked fifth in the standings but climbed past Stinger GC into fourth place after finishing second behind the Fireballs.

“It’s awesome,” RangeGoats captain Bubba Watson said. “Just an extra day for us to practice but also not have that mental gruelling test the day before, right? That means whatever team we’re playing the next day has already had to go through stress and mental grind. So it’s good for us.”

Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent also had a special week, as he moved into the top-24 to secured his spot for next year’s LIV Golf League. Vincent followed his 62 on Saturday with a 66 on Sunday to finish at 12 under.

After the playoff was decided and tiebreakers applied, Vincent took fourth place in the points leaderboard, good for 22nd in the season-long standings. “It’s been incredible,” said the popular golfer. “I can’t tell you how many high fives I just received from so many different people.”

Final team scores

1. Fireballs GC (-34): Abraham Ancer 64, Carlos Ortiz 64, Eugenio Chacarra 67

2. RangeGoats GC (-31): Talor Gooch 62, Harold Varner III 65, Thomas Pieters 67

3. Cleeks GC (-29): Graeme McDowell 63, Bernd Wiesberger 63, Richard Bland 66

4. Torque GC (-28): Mito Pereira 66, David Puig 66, Joaquin Niemann 67

5. Crushers GC (-28): Paul Casey 66, Charles Howell III 68, Bryson DeChambeau 70

6. 4Aces GC (-26): Peter Uihlein 64, Dustin Johnson 65, Patrick Reed 66

7. Smash GC (-26): Matthew Wolff 67, Jason Kokrak 68, Brooks Koepka 68

8. Iron Heads GC (-23): Kevin Na 63, Scott Vincent 66, Danny Lee 69

9. Stinger GC (-22): Charl Schwartzel 66, Dean Burmester 67, Branden Grace 67

10. HyFlyers GC (-22): Cameron Tringale 66, Phil Mickelson 68, Brendan Steele 68

11. Ripper GC (-21): Cameron Smith 66, Marc Leishman 68, Matt Jones 68

12. Majesticks GC (-15): Lee Westwood 63, Henrik Stenson 66, Ian Poulter 68