After three brutally hot and humid rounds in the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok at Stonehill Golf Club, world No.3 Cameron Smith said critics who described the 54-hole, cut-free tournament as an "exhibition" were well wide of the mark.
"You only have to look at the quality of the field - there's 50 per cent of the major winners the last five or six years," Smith said.
"And to have young guys like old mate winning there on 18 is pretty special."
Smith shot a closing 70 in the 48-man field and finished on four-under, 15 shots behind "old mate" - 22-year-old Spaniard Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, who won $6.2 million after turning professional four months ago.
Smith's Punch GC team-mate Marc Leishman found form at Stonehill after a recent slump and finished tied for 10th on 11-under. He agreed with Smith that LIV Golf tournaments are "certainly not an exhibition".
"The best player still comes out on top, whether it's three rounds or four rounds.
"Just because some people say one trophy's more important than another, that's their opinion and they're entitled to it. But this was a world-class field. I think it's going places, that's for sure," Leishman said.
The 39-year-old from Warrnambool backed LIV Golf's 54-hole format by pointing to the typical TV ratings for a traditional four-day tournament.
"It shows that people don't really tune in for the first two rounds. Every day [in a LIV Golf tournament] means something. It's more of a sprint. It's more exciting," Leishman said.
After the final day's play was suspended for 90 minutes due to torrential rain, wind, thunder and lightning, Lopez-Chacarra won by three shots from American Patrick Reed. It was Lopez-Chacarra's first win as a professional.
Matt Jones finished tied for 15th on nine-under while Wade Ormsby was tied for 27th at seven-under.
Young Queenslander Jed Morgan got to 10-under and within five shots of the lead with a magnificent approach on the par-4 eighth that led to a tap-in birdie.
But the wheels fell off for the 22-year-old when he thinned his approach on nine and buried his ball deep into the face of the fairway bunker. After a rules official was found, he required two drops and eight attempts to place the ball, since it continued to run back into the trap. Morgan then hit a 7-iron 160m uphill into the wind onto the green and carded a bogey-5.
Further bogies on 12, 13, 17 and 18 left him to finish tied for 20th, pocketing $310,000. After his round on Saturday Morgan stated his desire to continue with LIV Golf in 2023 because that's "when the world ranking points come".
LIV Golf has formed alliances with the Asian Tour and the little-known Middle East and North Africa (MENA) tour in a bid for Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, which it hopes will bring leverage to recruit more star players.
Critics of the Greg Norman-fronted golf series say it's an exercise in 'sportswashing' with Saudi Arabia attempting to cleanse its image through international sport.
The tour heads to Saudi Arabia on Monday to contest the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah.
