CAM’S RIPPERS REFRESHEN ALL-AUSSIE LINEUP WHILE CLEEKS ADD ANOTHER RYDER CUPPER
Four more team rosters were revealed Thursday for the upcoming 2023 LIV Golf League season. Cameron Smith’s rebranded Rippers GC refreshens its all-Australia lineup; Cleeks GC brings in another veteran player in Bernd Wiesberger; and Crushers GC and Fireballs GC stand pat with their talented rosters.
The first four team rosters were revealed Wednesday, and the announcement of the final four rosters is forthcoming.
Here’s a closer look at the four-man rosters of each team announced on Thursday.
RIPPER GC
The big news Down Under is that Cameron Smith’s team has been rebranded with a name and logo more befitting its all-Australian heritage. Ripper GC is the new name, replacing the previous Punch GC. But there’s also a new member in the lineup, with 23-year-old Queenslander Jediah Morgan re-joining the roster.
Morgan played for three different teams in 2022, including a two-tournament stint with Punch GC. He transitioned to Torque GC when Smith and Marc Leishman became LIV Golf members prior to the tournament in Boston. But now Morgan has returned to join Smith, Leishman and Matt Jones in a lineup that will receive plenty of support when LIV Golf makes its first visit to Australia on April 20-22 in Adelaide.
Smith, the reigning Open Champion, won LIV Golf Chicago in just his second start after becoming a member. His team then won its quarterfinals and semifinals matches at the Miami Team Championship before finishing second by one stroke to 4Aces GC on the final day.
Morgan ranked 12th in driving distance in 2022 with an average of 305.8 yards. He and Jones (who ranked 13th at 305.4 yards) should provide the Rippers with plenty of, well, punch off the tee in 2023.
CLEEKS GC
With the acquisition of Bernd Wiesberger, Cleeks GC now has three players with Ryder Cup experience on its roster. The 37-year-old Austrian played in the 2021 Ryder Cup, marking the sixth time he has played in an international team event as a pro. Cleeks Captain Martin Kaymer and teammate Graeme McDowell have each made four Ryder Cup appearances. The only other team with three Ryder Cuppers is Majesticks GC.
Wiesberger began last season as a member of Niblicks GC, then transferred to HyFlyers GC for LIV Golf Portland and stayed on Phil Mickelson’s team the rest of the season. His best individual result came in the final regular-season event at LIV Golf Jeddah when he tied for 8th.
With 50-year-old Richard Bland playing some of the best golf in his career – he was the team leader in points last season – the all-European Cleeks will look to improve on a season in which they made one podium and finished 10th in the regular season. Despite not having an injured Kaymer for the Team Championship, the Cleeks won their quarterfinals match and hope those good vibes extend to the new season.
CRUSHERS GC
Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau saw no need to tinker with a lineup that was among the most consistent in the second half of the season.
Once the roster was stabilized with the additions of Paul Casey, Anirban Lahiri and Charles Howell III, the Crushers claimed three podium finishes in the final four regular-season tournaments. However, they remain in search of their first win of any kind.
DeChambeau battled some health problems last season, but he’s back to full strength now to lend firepower to his talented trio of ball-strikers.
“If I start playing better,” DeChambeau said, “we’re going to win a lot.”
FIREBALLS GC
Winners of LIV Golf Bangkok last season, the Spanish-speaking Fireballs have a deadly lineup that remains intact but still has plenty of room to improve.
Captain Sergio Garcia has returned from offseason knee surgery and comes off a tie for 5th in his last start at the International Series Oman. Abraham Ancer already has posted a win, claiming the prestigious PIF Saudi International powered by Softbank Investment Advisers in his second start of 2023.
Carlos Ortiz finished second in his LIV Golf debut event in Portland last year, while 22-year-old Eugenio Chacarra led the Fireballs to the team victory in Bangkok by winning the individual crown in just his fifth start after turning pro.
The Fireballs have an effective blend of legendary experience in Garcia, youthful exuberance in Chacarra, and team chemistry built on two players from Mexico and two from Spain. Plus, they start the season with a home game at LIV Golf Mayakoba, and will be home favorites again at LIV Golf Valderrama, a course in which Garcia has extensive success.
“The Fireballs team, we’re really, really excited to go to Mayakoba and Valderrama,” Ancer said.