LIV GOLF MIAMI

April 6, 2025

Cam Smith

Marc Leishman

Lucas Herbert

Matt Jones

Trump National Doral

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome our team champions of LIV Golf Miami 2025, Ripper GC, and our individual champion of LIV Golf Miami 2025, Marc Leishman. Guys, what an incredible weekend it has been. Some of the toughest conditions we've ever seen at any golf course in LIV Golf history. Cam, how impressive is Marc's win today?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, it just goes to show the player he is. I think he's been knocking on the door now for a few years, and whether things haven't gone his way or he hasn't had the greatest back nine, it was nice to see him out there in really tough conditions today on probably the toughest golf course we've played and get it done. That goes to show what type of golfer he is and how good he can be. Hopefully this is a bit of a springboard for Marc and the rest of us, really, for the rest of the season.

Q. Marc, what are some initial reactions and feelings after hoisting your very first individual trophy at LIV Golf after four years out here?

MARC LEISHMAN: It's hard to win out here. I've had chances before. I finished second a few times. You're playing against unbelievable fields every single week. If you slip up one little bit, there's is great players right behind you to overtake you. I was extra determined this week to not let that happen, particularly after how I played in Singapore. It was pretty disgusting how I played there. To come back on a golf course like this where there's trouble around every single corner, I think playing so bad in Singapore helped me today just not letting my guard down at all.

I knew there was a lot of tough holes coming in and I'd have to keep hitting good shots. Really happy to do that, to be sitting up here as team champions and also individually getting a win. Yeah, pretty satisfying.

Q. You guys probably have not had a chance to look at the scores yet. The low score for the team was plus 50 this week. You guys finished up winning at plus 4. You guys all obviously had to contribute to get to that today. You guys used Blue Monster as your training camp, right? So if you want to talk about how much that's helped you perform this week.

MATT JONES: Yeah, Blue Monster really paid off for me in the training camp. It was the most expensive trip I think I've had. I lost every day. Had to buy dinner every day for the team. I wasn't too excited coming back here to play, to be honest with you, after the weather we had here in January.

But no, typically with this team and these four guys -- these other three guys, the tougher the golf course, the better our team seems to perform and the tougher the conditions. I'd be happy to play on this type of course for our team the rest of the year. I think we'd do really well. There's plenty of courses that will put up a lot of tests for everyone else, and I think these other three guys will perform every week like they do, or seem to, every week.

Q. Herby, what's your reaction to hearing that the high score was plus 50 and you took home the trophy at plus 4?

LUCAS HERBERT: Plus 50 will probably give you a good indication how hard it was playing this week. Yeah, I texted my boys' group chat last night, and I genuinely thought a scratch golfer would struggle to break 95 around here. It was brutal.

I mean, 17, 18, you're going to struggle to get a tougher finish to a tournament the way they were playing this week, even with -- I think the tee was up like three tee boxes on 18 and it was still brutal.

I mean, look, is it the Majesticks that finished --

Q. We don't have to say who it is.

LUCAS HERBERT: Sorry, no disrespect on them. It's playing that hard. I'm not sitting here going, I can't believe they shot that score. No, I can see exactly how they shot that score. It is so tough out there. I think regardless of the win, we probably would have been enjoying a few of these tonight to numb a bit of the pain from the Blue Monster this week.

Q. You guys have a new performance coach -- he's not new to of you. You've worked with him since you guys were kids but he's new to team Ripper, Tony. Talk a little bit about how much Tony has helped you guys as a team.

CAM SMITH: Immensely. He's so good. No, he's been great. I think just with a team comes organization, and maybe some stuff that you can think is easy to do that isn't quite easy to do, and little things throughout the week kind of piss you off, and you wish they weren't there.

So he has kind of cleaned all of that stuff up. He's really, I think, made us -- we were already a great team, but I think he's made us work as individuals probably a little bit harder at the start of the week, get some stuff done that we needed to get done.

I think there was a sense maybe last year or even at the start of this year where we kind of were focusing too much on what everyone else needs to do rather than ourselves, and he's cleaned all that stuff up.

I know for myself, I feel like I've been better prepped the last three or four weeks. I'm sure the other guys have, as well. Just little stuff like that, the one percenters throughout a tough week, especially in a week like this, really pays off, so he's been a good addition to the team.

Q. Leish, you're one of the most loved players out here by your fellow players, by the staff at LIV. You're probably one of the best guys that anyone knows. Your personality is so consistent, so steady and you're always in a good mood. How much do you think that helped out here in these impossible conditions?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I think being level headed is helpful anywhere, not just on a golf course. I was pretty level headed for how bad I played [in Singapore]. Nearly ran out of balls in Singapore.

Yeah, after 5 on Friday -- I don't know, I just take the good with the bad and know that as good as it is to win or do something really good in your job, it's just golf or work. I don't let a bad day on the golf course ruin my day. I think it's a pretty good way to live. I'd rather be nice to people than a dick. I think it's a lot easier to do that.

Q. Cam, your wife gave birth to your very first baby last week, baby Remy. This is your first team win as a dad. How does it feel?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, it's so cool. I miss him so much, actually. It was hard to come away this week. I mean, I've had a few times where it's been hard to get away from home. But it was a different level this week. I can't wait to see him tonight.

It's cool; he's the winning formula for the team, obviously, I think. One from one, Remy is. It's so cool.

People express - I've got two great dads next to me - how cool it is to be a father, but you really can't put it into words. It's been so awesome.

Q. Will he be your good luck charm going into Augusta next week?

CAM SMITH: I hope so, otherwise he won't be coming to any other events. (Laughter.)

I'm joking, by the way.

Q. You guys said that you trained here, but tell me about the friendship that it takes to really win a competition like this because you guys spend so much time together.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I think it's good to -- we won't put pressure on each other to play well, but we're accountable to each other. I think that's a good thing.

We take it very seriously on the golf course, but we're all -- after golf, we have dinners together and have a laugh and we have fun together. I think that breaks the week up really nicely between the serious stuff on the golf course and the day-to-day.

And just being friends on the same schedule, I think that's a really good thing about LIV. We all have the same tee times every day, so you can eat together at night.

I think just that part of it is the coolest part for me, is the spending time together off the golf course and how good of friends we've become.

Q. Obviously you guys dominated; the scores showed that. Tell me, what was your strategy going into competition Sunday?

LUCAS HERBERT: I know for me, it was honestly all-around attitude. This golf course can just beat you up so badly if you let it. It's going to anyway, so you may as well do it with a smile. That's kind of why it's no surprise that Marc won. Like we said earlier, just an unbelievable attitude towards life. To give you perspective, he told me on the back of the 18th green there that he called the family, and they didn't even know that he was basically playing golf today. He's like, oh, have you seen the scores? They're like, no, how did you go? So that's sort of the perspective he has on life, that golf is his job and he loves it, but it is only golf. There's much bigger things in his life like being a great dad that he is so good at, and I think that's probably helped us this week with -- I think obviously Cam giving birth -- well, Shanel giving birth a week ago and having Remy, it's given him a new perspective on life.

I've done a lot of work in the last couple of weeks trying to change a little bit of my attitude, as well, towards some tournaments. And obviously Jonesy with three kids. We just have a great perspective on life.

There's that accountability held to each other that we want to play well, and on Friday I was the worst score and I absolutely hated being the worst score, but we can all come together, have a great dinner, laugh it off, forget about it, and really regroup easily the next day.

Q. Marc, you were the only guy this week to shoot a bogey-free round. How impressive is that on this course?

MARC LEISHMAN: I was pretty determined out here. I've had chances to win before out here, and the players are so good every week. I felt like out here bogey is not going to hurt you but it's obviously not going to help you win a golf tournament. I felt like I played really smart golf, made a couple of six-, eight-footers for par, which they help, and then that putt on the last to be bogey-free and in the end, I guess, help me win the individual title, yeah, pretty pleasing to do that.

It kicked our butts when we were here in January for the training camp, and it did the same again this week. I guess it kicked like butt less than everyone else. I'm definitely going to sleep good tonight after three tough days on the golf course.

CAM SMITH: It was harder in January, by the way. It was freezing cold and it was misty and it was --

MATT JONES: About the same wind.

MARC LEISHMAN: We couldn't get to the 10th fairway.

Q. So this week was easier then?

MARC LEISHMAN: That 10th tee shot felt a lot easier. We unloaded all the balls in our bag just about off 10 in January.

Q. Cam, you and Marc came into this thing together three years ago. Does it feel like in some way it's almost a win for you in terms of just knowing how close you guys are, knowing that you partnered into this thing?

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I mean, like I said before, I think it's been a long time coming for Leish. He's knocked on so many doors, and at times has felt probably unlucky. Even for me as a mate, I've felt like he's been unlucky.

Yeah, so it's been -- it hasn't been a tough journey for Leish because he's still played some really good golf, but to watch him win out there today, particularly the way that he did, parring the 18th the way that he did, holing that putt the way that he did, just goes to show the world-class golfer that he is, and it's nice to see him finally get it done, and to get it done on a really tough test like this is pretty cool, and I'm pretty sure he's pretty chuffed about it. But for all of us, as well, it's good to see.

Q. Herby, you were the only guy yesterday to shoot in the 60s. How impressive was that, given the scores? It was the hardest day of the three. Did you know how important it was to get a 69 in there yesterday?

LUCAS HERBERT: I'm not going to sit here and say it was impressive. I was very happy with yesterday's round. Obviously, like I said, Friday I was the worst score on the team. If you go back 12 months, that score wouldn't have counted for the team score, and that basically was my goal coming onto this team. I never wanted my scores to not count on a Friday or Saturday. Obviously scores all counting now, it's a different story.

But I was pretty determined to not have that happen again on Saturday, so it was funny, I came into the week really wanting to get my attention away from the leaderboards as much as I could and then I spent today basically watching the leaderboards because my good mate here was just about trying to win.

I guess it was a nice distraction for me, and yeah, yesterday things came together a little nicer than they did on Friday. I felt like I wasn't far off that today. Just had a bit of a poor finish. But it felt like it was a bit of an easy finish when I knew we were 11 or 12 shots up, and stood on the 17th tee with five holes to play and we were about 11 shots in front.

I felt like even that one was going to be hard to win after our first team win in Adelaide last year when the Stingers came back from about 12 shots behind with two holes to play. I was kind of searching the leaderboard like surely we can't lose this from here. It was a nice little finish there to know that we were going to win.

Q. Marc, where does the putt on 18 rank in terms of putts that you've made?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's definitely up there. I've had putts that have mattered before and I've made my fair share of them. Yeah, that one, I wanted this one pretty bad, especially having a two-shot lead teeing off 18. Probably the worst hole in the world to have that -- two shots is nothing on that hole.

But yeah, hit a really good putt. I like it when I know that I have to make a putt. It gives you one option, and you either execute or you don't. I'm just thankful I executed that one.

Q. I don't want to misquote the gentleman that you said you were working with, but you were talking about good sportsmanship and you learned to more focus on yourself when you're out there. I want to know what kind of advice would you give to youth for good sportsmanship and focusing on themselves so they can be their best selves?

MARC LEISHMAN: I think my advice would be -- I think everyone has got a different formula, so the same thing doesn't work for everybody. Early in the week, we all do completely different things. Jonesy likes to hit a lot of balls. Cam spends a lot of time on the chipping and putting green. I do what I have to do, like whatever -- I'm probably the -- I do less than everyone else, but I've also been doing it for 20, 25 years, and then Herby is a hard worker, as well.

But we do what works for us, and I think that's important that if you're playing on a team or probably more so if you're not in a team, you're watching someone over there on the range that's beating you every week and they're grinding their butt off hitting thousands of golf balls, you have to know what works for you to try and beat them, not do what they do. They would be my advice, just know yourself and know what works for you.

Q. I understand that a lot of sports players, you guys deal with mental strain, strain on your body, family life, everything. I'd like you all individually to tell me what works for you on game day. What do you do early in the morning or the night before to prepare yourself?

MATT JONES: What do I do? Geez. I'm pretty relaxed, as all of us are, Australians are pretty relaxed and laid back. I like to go and have a coffee, like to go and have breakfast and just chill. I sit with Cam a lot of the time, just Cam and I having breakfast together. Then we get on the table with the therapists, get our bodies ready to go, and then once we get out on the putting green or the range, whichever you start with, it's game time, and then you put your game face on and you go through your routines and you go through your preparation as you would for every other round.

CAM SMITH: Yeah, I think I would be about the same. Get up, have a little bit of breakfast, a little bit of kind of chill-out time, not take it to serious, and then get on the table, warm up, get the body active, and then just, like he said, get on the range and really dial in every shot. It's easy to get out there and just kind of willy-nilly it out there and not really care what's going on, but I really like to know what's happening every shot and kind of dial in the numbers before I head out.

MARC LEISHMAN: I really try and concentrate on hydrating before I play so I'm ahead of the game. So if I do forget to drink for a couple of holes -- I like to try and be ahead of the game, not behind the 8-ball before you start.

I get to the range a bit later than these guys. I'm the last one on the table to get warmed up. Then yeah, just making sure you hit in the middle of the club face basically, just hitting different shots. Nothing out of the ordinary.

MATT JONES: I will say warming up doesn't dictate how you'll play, either. Some of us, our best rounds will be warming up terribly, as well. How you warm up doesn't dictate how you play.

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, I guess I'll probably try and offer a different perspective of I think like all the golf stuff is fine and we all have our ways to do all that and obviously like Leish said he takes a shorter amount of time, he condenses it pretty well, Cam and I seem to take probably the most time warming up. But we all have great perspective on life.

Obviously now I've got three dads sitting to my left. I always see Jonesy on the phone with his family and the kids. Leish is always on the phone with his family. Now I see Cam a little bit more, obviously, wanting to see Remy, as well. I think that's probably the most important thing. At the end of the day, it is just another day at work. It is a little bit more intense, like obviously Leish today would have felt more intense emotions than normal, but essentially it's just another normal day. To Leish's kids who are -- how old is Harvey now, 13? Harvey loves him as much as he does whether he shoots 85 or 65 today. Just keeping some perspective and making sure it's very much a normal day as much as you can make it in an environment like this.

MARC LEISHMAN: He wouldn't have liked me as much if I shot 85 today.

Q. When you're hydrating, are you hydrating with AG1?

MARC LEISHMAN: AG1, yeah, definitely, water. The hydrating at night is a little bit different, but hydrating in the morning is water and AG1.

Q. Marc, can you take us through 18? You said you knew you had a two-shot lead, kind of pushed a drive. Can you take us into the final putt and if you knew you had a one-stroke lead at that time?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I did. That 18th hole is such a hard tee shot. I hit two really good tee shots Friday and Saturday so I had a good image in my head. Actually hit the fairway two days in a row. Tried to do the same today but just come out of it a little bit, which is pretty easy to do on that tee shot.

Had a tree in my backswing, which was actually probably a blessing in disguise because there was a little gap there that I could have tried to knock it on the green and it could have been a bit of carnage if I didn't pull it off. Yeah, chipped it out, had actually exactly the same yardage as I had on the 16th as I had on 18 with exactly the same wind. Hit the same club and had about 10, 12 feet. Jon Rahm hit a chip shot on a similar line, so I got a little bit of a read, which was nice, and a gauge on speed. It was just a left-edge putt. Yeah, tried to commit to the line and hit a good one. Very, very happy to see that drop.

Yeah, definitely increased my chances of lifting the trophy.

Q. Marc, you woke up today three shots back of the lead, major champions in front of you, major champions behind you. Was there a number in mind that you knew you had to get to take it home?

MARC LEISHMAN: Most Sundays I would have a number in mind. Out here it's hard to do that on this golf course just because if you get off to a bad start -- a bad start on a normal golf course you might be 1-over through four. Here you could be 6-over through four. I just wanted to hit good shots, try and limit mistakes but give myself opportunities. That's all I wanted to do.

Yeah, like I said, most Sundays I would have a score in mind but not today for some reason.

Q. You guys seem to party hardest when you're taking that championship trophy. As a team what's the game plan like? You guys just doused the cow, as we saw here. Did you know that was going to happen?

MARC LEISHMAN: I had a fair idea that was going to happen today. I'm sitting here a little wetter than I'm used to being. Yeah, we like to enjoy our victories. In golf it's pretty rare that you actually get to win, and in this sport it's very rare that you get to win as a team.

I think to have four guys that are equally excited and happy and to celebrate with is a pretty unique situation. We certainly make the most of that.

Q. I know you're an agronomist yourself. Did the speeds on the greens match what you have at home? Is that what made you so comfortable?

MARC LEISHMAN: They probably match what Cam has at his place, actually. They are quick, especially with the wind. No, my green at home is not quite that quick. Too much work for that. And it takes a bit more talent than I've got with the grass, too.

The course was unbelievable. They get this place up so good for tournaments, and even when we were here in January it was really, really good condition. Yeah, it's a pleasure to putt on greens like that when if you hit a good putt, it's going in. Yeah, all credit to the grounds staff.

Q. Maybe a new mower or some kind of roller with the winning check?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I've been looking at a mower actually. Might get myself a mower.