Marc Leishman gives up lead in horror final round at LIV event in Arizona

Marc Leishman didn’t flinch when confronted with a rattlesnake slithering near the tee box at the second LIV Golf event of the year in Arizona.

But the prospect of a $6m payday was enough for the genial Aussie to get hot under the collar, and after leading into the final round in Tucson, Leishman was the one who ended up being rattled.

A horror six-over par 77, which included three birdies in his first five holes and two more double-bogeys, dropped him from top spot into a tie for 13th.

Leishman hadn’t slept on a final round lead for more than two years, and he could only watch on as New Zealand’s Danny Lee won a four-man playoff, making a putt from off the green for birdie, to collect the massive $5.97m winner’s cheque.

Cameron Smith was the highest-ranked player in the world in Tucson but finished in the middle of the pack in a tie for 24th in an underwhelming lead in to the Masters, where he’ll be one of five Australian representatives.

He finished fifth at the season opener in Mayakoba and has the third LIV event in Orlando the week before the Masters to finetune his game that gets limited workout on the LIV schedule.

The All-Aussie Ripper GC team, which also features Matt Jones and Jed Morgan, finished fifth in Arizona and is yet to get on the podium.

Leishman’s second-round snake encounter proved easy to handle in comparison to the final round pressure.

“It was a big fella, five, six-footer. He’d been having a feed on something. He was pretty healthy,” he said.

“I made sure I was out of reach when he went through. I’ve seen my fair share of snakes, though, in Australia.”

Despite the disappointment of missing the big payday, Leishman, who has dropped to 95 in the world and won’t get to play the Masters next month, said he was buzzing at the prospect of returning home for the inaugural LIV event in Adelaide, also in April.

“I know when I was home over Christmas, the buzz – I live a six-hour drive from Adelaide – and the buzz about the event was crazy already,” he said.

“I haven‘t been home during the year, apart from Christmas, for 16 years, so it’ll be nice to be able to play in front of home crowds in Adelaide.”