2024 Season in Review: Iron Heads GC

Oct 18, 2024 - 1:48 PMWritten by: Mike McAllister

As the last seed entering the Team Championship, Iron Heads GC shocked the golf world with incredible upsets to nearly win it all

Sixth in a series of stories reviewing the 2024 season for each of the 13 LIV Golf League teams.

Previous reviews: 4Aces | Cleeks | Crushers | Fireballs | HyFlyers

IRON HEADS QUICK REVIEW

TEAM

The regular season was one to forget, with the team finishing last in points. But the season-ending Dallas Team Championship was a performance to remember. As the last seed, they produced the biggest upset in both the quarterfinals and semifinals matchups, beating the Nos. 4 and 1 seeds on consecutive days. In the stroke-play finals, they nearly completed the improbable journey, eventually tying for second. A great way to end an otherwise disappointing year.

PLAYERS (final points ranking)

Kevin Na (33): Was competitive in the first half of the season, with two top 10s and two other top 20s, before fading a bit in the back half. As the team captain, he pushed all the right buttons in Dallas.

Danny Lee (38): His tie for sixth at Andalucía was his best result since winning in Tucson early in 2023, but there were too many finishes near the bottom of the regular-season leaderboard. Kept tinkering with equipment and other adjustments in hopes of finding a solution.

Jinichiro Kozuma (45): The LIV Golf Promotions grad avoided relegation but rarely made noise during the regular season. But a Japan Tour win late in the season was an indication that he had found his game, and then in Dallas, his putter was the biggest weapon for any single player.

Scott Vincent (50): After finishing in the Lock Zone in 2023, the gritty Zimbabwean failed to duplicate that performance in 2024 and suffered relegation. Was the only Iron Head not to produce at least one top-10 individual finish.

TEAM OVERVIEW

Wins: 0 Podiums: 0 Points Finishes: 4 Seed: 13th Team Championship: T-2nd

COUNTING SCORES (league ranking)

Round 1: 74 under (9th) Round 2: 54 under (13th) Round 3: 5 under (13th) Total: 133 under (12th)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Tied for 2nd at the Dallas Team Championship after upsetting No. 4 Smash GC in the quarterfinals and No. 1 seed/defending champions Crushers GC in the semifinals
  • Lee defeated 2023 LIV Golf Individual Champion Talor Gooch and 2024 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau in singles matches
  • Team finished a regular season-best solo 6th in Adelaide behind top-10 finishes from Lee and Kozuma
  • Na’s T6 in Hong Kong is his best individual result in his LIV Golf career
  • Lee’s T6 in Andalucía is his best individual result since winning in Tucson early in the 2023 season
  • Kozuma’s T9 in Adelaide is the only top-10 finish posted by any of this season’s three LIV Golf Promotions qualifiers
  • Lee played in the final leaders’ group in Adelaide and Andalucía
  • Beyond LIV, Kozuma won the Sansan KBC Augusta on the Japan Golf Tour in August

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Quarterfinals: Defeated Smash 2-1. Na lost to Koepka, 6 and 5. Lee defeated Gooch, 1 up. Kozuma-Vincent defeated Kokrak-McDowell, 19 holes.

Semifinals: Defeated Crushers 3-0. Lee defeated DeChambeau, 2up. Vincent defeated Casey, 1 up. Na-Kozuma defeated Lahiri-Howell III, 3 and 1.

Finals (Championship Tier): T-2nd at 8 under. Kozuma 69, Na 69, Lee 70, Vincent 72.

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

EVENTTEAMNaLeeKozumaVincent
Mayakoba13T1748T38T38
Las Vegas11T34T39T34T45
JeddahT6T15T27T31T41
Hong Kong10T6T41T41T21
Miami11T24T37T51T21
Adelaide6T34T9T9T46
Singapore12T7T4954T37
Houston13T2450T32T42
Nashville12T2553T45T25
Andalucía8T40T6T40T17
UK12T415033T16
Greenbrier749T15T20T25
Chicago9T23T30T15T23

LEAGUE RANKINGS

STATISTICTEAMNaLeeKozumaVincent
Fwy Hit712T254320
Drive Dist.125143T2834
GIR1332T3552T26
Scrambling914353740
Putting Avg.917T4015T36
Birdies Avg.12T2545T43T25