Cameron Smith slips back at LIV Golf Boston, Dustin Johnson surges as Talor Gooch holds lead after round two

ByAlex Livie

Published 03/09/2022 at 22:16 GMT

The second round of the LIV Golf Invitational saw Talor Gooch claim the outright lead. Gooch and Matthew Wolff began the day at the Oaks Course in Boston at the top of the leaderboard, and were joined in their threeball by Open Championship winner and latest big-name recruit Cameron Smith. The latter struggled a shade and it was Gooch who will head into the final round with a one-shot lead.

All eyes were on LIV Golf’s new recruit Cameron Smith, but he was put in the shade by Dustin Johnson, Talor Gooch and Joaquin Niemann at the Oaks Course in Boston.

LIV chief Greg Norman hooked his big fish when unveiling the Open champion this week, and he made a fine start on Friday.

Despite carding two eagles on Friday, Smith was wayward off the tee and those issues cost him on Saturday.

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His round of 69 saw him slip back, as the spotlight was taken by arguably the star name on LIV’s books before Smith’s arrival, Johnson.

Johnson started well on the first day only to falter on the back nine. The two-time major winner kept pressing ahead on Saturday, as he carded a 63 to get to 10-under.

“I drove it good, hit it nicely,” Johnson said. “This golf course, if you hit it off line it is easy to make bogeys.

“I hit it really well and am rolling the putter good. There were four or five putts with one more roll that were in, so just happy with the way I am rolling the putter.”

Niemann was another big-name recruit announced this week, and the Chilean impressed once again. He shot 65 to get 11-under, one behind Gooch.

Gooch has been one of the most consistent players on the LIV circuit and he will go into the final day with the lead after carding a 65 to get to 12-under for a one-shot advantage.

Second Round leaderboard

• 1. Talor Gooch, 12-under
• 2. Joaquin Niemann, 11-under
• 3. Dustin Johnson, 10-under
• 4. Anirban Lahiri, nine-under
• T5. Matthew Wolff, eight-under
• T5. Bernd Wiesberger, eight-under
• T5. Jason Kokrak, eight-under

Smith is one of the finest putters in the game and he showed why with excellent putts on his opening three holes, the first two for par and the third for a birdie.

Another brilliant putt on five brought a second birdie of the round to suggest he was ready to make a big move.

But he was wayward off the tee on his back nine on Friday and those problems reared their head again on the sixth.

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After going way right, he attempted a Houdini escape. He pulled it off, but his ball landed on a sprinkler head and boomed through the green into the trees. The putter was unable to save him, as a 20-footer missed on the high side and he carded a double bogey.

Smith was wild off tee on 13 and found a gully way below the green and duffed his chip, resulting in another bogey.

He found the fairway on 15, but his round was summed up when he slipped and sent a wedge way to the right. He scrambled a par, and eagled 18 for the second day in a row thanks to a stunning second shot to give himself a squeak at seven-under.

While the focus is on the top end of the leaderboard, Sihwan Kim emerges with credit after going 24 shots better on Saturday compared to Friday. He was 17-over after an 87 on Friday, but carded a 63 in the second round to get to 10-over.

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