Dallas Team Championship: HyFlyers, Iron Heads produce upsets in drama-filled quarterfinals
CARROLLTON, Texas – Iron Heads GC and HyFlyers GC, the two lowest-seeded teams entering the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship, each pulled off the biggest upsets in LIV Golf’s match play history thanks to spirited rallies in their foursomes matches during Friday’s quarterfinals at Maridoe Golf Club.
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The 13th-seeded Iron Heads knocked off 4th-seeded Smash GC with a singles win by Danny Lee over Talor Gooch and a foursomes victory by Scott Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma, whose winning par putt on the first extra hole capped a comeback ignited by Vincent’s hole-in one.
The 12th-seeded HyFlyers beat 5th-seeded Torque GC with wins from Cameron Tringale over Sebastián Muñoz in singles and foursomes by captain Phil Mickelson and Brendan Steele, with the longtime friends rallying from 3-down to beat Mito Pereira and Carlos Ortiz, 2 & 1.
The other winners Friday were Fireballs GC with the 3-0 sweep of Majesticks GC; Stinger GC, with the 3-0 sweep of Cleeks GC; and 4Aces GC, who beat RangeGoats GC 2-1.
The five winning teams advance to Saturday’s semifinals along with the top three seeds who earned quarterfinal byes. The matches are: Crushers GC vs. Iron Heads; Legion XIII vs. HyFlyers; Ripper GC vs. Fireballs; and Stinger vs. 4Aces. Saturday’s four winners will compete for the Team Championship in Sunday’s stroke-play finale.
No seeded team lower than 11th had won in the first two years of the Team Championship. The Iron Heads and HyFlyers are two of the three LIV Golf teams that have never won a tournament, making Friday’s result especially satisfying.
“We’ve shown that in match play, anything can happen,” said Iron Heads Captain Kevin Na, whose club was 0-6 in quarterfinal matches the first two seasons.
Mickelson took advantage of the format change this year that allows captains to compete in either singles or foursomes. He had lost all three singles against LIV Golf captains in the first two years.
“That flexibility can make a difference in getting your team the best dynamics, the best chance to win,” Mickelson said. “You saw a lot of mix-ups today, and I think we’ll probably see the same going into tomorrow as teams try to find their best format.”
Mickelson was one of three captains who won playing foursomes on Friday. The others were Stinger’s Louis Oosthuizen, who teamed with longtime partner Charl Schwartzel to beat Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer and two-time senior major champion Richard Bland; and the Fireballs’ Sergio Garcia, who partnered with Abraham Ancer to beat Majesticks GC Co-Captain Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield.
The trend will continue in the semifinals, with Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith partnering with Matt Jones in foursomes and Na opting to join Kozuma in foursomes after losing to Brooks Koepka, 6 & 5, in singles. Mickelson, Oosthuizen and Garcia will also continue to play foursomes Saturday.
“We're trying to make the strongest team we can have to have a chance at winning all three games,” Garcia explained. “I think that's the spirit that you want. That's the idea that you want to have.”
The Iron Heads seemed on their way to another quarterfinal loss after Na lost to Brooks Koepka, 6 & 5, and Vincent-Kozuma went 4-down after 11 holes. But then Vincent aced the 153-yard 14th with a 50-degree wedge, and that changed the match.
“That was unbelievable, very exciting,” Vincent said. “This is exactly what the match play brings, just a lot of unknowns and amazing opportunities. To bounce back from being four shots down at one stage, that was just incredible.”
It wouldn’t have happened without Kozuma’s clutch birdie putt on the final hole of regulation, or his par save from even farther out on the extra hole.
“Jini is an amazing putter,” said Na, who was watching the match alongside Lee. “Danny looked over at me, he goes, watch this, he's going to make this. I was like, I hope so, and he sure did. Jini really showed the world, I think, what he's made of.”
QUARTERFINALS NOTES
AVOIDING THE ACES: For the second consecutive round, the 4Aces are the team nobody wants to face.
For Friday’s quarterfinals, the Aces were the last remaining opponent for the higher seeds to select, and they proved why by beating the RangeGoats 2-1.
For Saturday’s semifinals, Dustin Johnson’s team was again the last lowest-seed remaining, leaving no choice for the Stingers, who now have to face the 2022 Team Champions.
Although Johnson lost his singles match to former teammate Peter Uihlein, Patrick Reed won his singles match against Thomas Pieters, while Pat Perez and Harold Varner III beat Bubba Watson and Matthew Wolff.
Reed’s 5 & 4 win was the first time he has won a LIV Golf match; he was 0-2 in his previous singles matches.
“I have a lot of confidence in my team,” Johnson said. “I think we're all playing really well. Obviously the other two guys, they won their matches today. I did not but felt like I played some really good golf. Just didn't quite get it done. But I'm looking forward to the challenge tomorrow against the Stingers.”
RAHM ILL BUT EXPECTED TO PLAY: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, the season-long Individual Champion, was ill on Friday and was not on-site at Maridoe for the captains’ press conference. But he’s scheduled to play in Saturday’s semifinals against the Iron Heads’ Danny Lee.
Teammate Tyrrell Hatton was the team representative at the selection announcement and said Rahm provided input on the opponent’s selection and match lineup.
“I spoke to him on the phone, and we exchanged a few WhatsApp messages,” Hatton said. “I know he was watching the golf today.”
VINCENT’S SECOND ACE: Scott Vincent’s ace Friday was the second of his career. And he said his caddie Jacob Flech called it.
“My caddie told me before the shot that ‘We need to be going straight at this pin, like we're going to make a hole-in-one,’ and sure enough it happened,” Vincent said. “Seems like he had a good feeling about it. I was just focused on hitting the shot.”
GARCIA-ANCER DUO: Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer each won tournaments during the regular season, and now they’re a feared foursomes partnership, winning 2 & 1 over the Majesticks’ Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield.
“Sergio and Abe make a perfect team in foursomes and would have probably been one of the best in history if they played together,” said fellow Fireballs teammate David Puig. “Sergio is one of the best putters in the world and they are always in position. Their short games are unreal.”
The two will remain a partnership, competing Saturday against Ripper Captain Cameron Smith and Matt Jones.
GRACE MAKES AN IMPACT: The Stingers’ Branden Grace struggled for results this season, ultimately finishing in the Drop Zone and facing relegation. But on Friday, he had perhaps his most productive day, beating the Cleeks’ Adrian Meronk in 19 holes in their No. 1 singles match.
“We were very happy to put him out there at singles,” said his Stinger captain, Louis Oosthuizen. “He can be tough. He will be in your face the whole time.”
Grace will have a tough opponent on Saturday as he faces Reed in singles.