For these three, Chicago offers last chance to avoid the LIV Golf shutout in 2024
A year ago, Talor Gooch won three individual LIV Golf titles en route to becoming the 2023 Individual Champion. Cameron Smith won twice to finish as the runner-up in the season-long points race. Bryson DeChambeau also won twice, missing out on earning the final bonus-paying third position by just three points.
Now in the first 12 tournaments of the 2024 LIV Golf season?
Zero wins for Gooch.
Zero for Smith.
Zero for DeChambeau.
With only one regular-season tournament left at next month’s LIV Golf Chicago at Bolingbrook, at least two of those three players will finish the year without a LIV Golf individual title. None of them will win the individual championship, and only Smith has a mathematical chance of finishing third, albeit very remote.
Of course, DeChambeau does have one victory in 2024, and it’s a biggie – the U.S. Open. No matter how everything else turns out, winning a major usually trumps any other accomplishment in the eyes of most professional golfers during a given year.
Nonetheless, the Crushers GC captain, currently ninth in points, would love to avoid the LIV Golf shutout in 2024.
“This year has been an interesting year,” he said Thursday during a media outing at Maridoe Golf Club to promote the season-ending Dallas Team Championship, which will be played the week after Chicago.
“Obviously winning a U.S. Open has been great. I haven't done as well as I would have liked to on LIV. Personally, I've had a bunch of top 10s, a bunch of close calls, just haven't gotten the job done, and hopefully I can do that in Chicago. But the game is still trending in a good direction.”
The same can be said for Smith, captain of the all-Australian Ripper GC.
He’s sixth in points after a tie for eighth at LIV Golf Greenbrier. That’s his fourth consecutive top-10 finish; he has seven overall, including three runner-up finishes.
In Hong Kong, he lost in a three-man playoff to eventual winner Abraham Ancer. In Singapore, he finished two shots behind Brooks Koepka. At UK, he was one stroke behind Jon Rahm.
He realizes he’s just a few strokes away from multiple victories and a shot to battle against Rahm and Joaquin Niemann for the individual championship.
Instead, he’s staring at a potential first winless year as a professional since 2019 – although if he doesn’t get it done in Chicago, he’ll certainly have chances later this year when he competes in the national events in his native Australia.
“There's still plenty of positives there,” Smith said. “But winning is a very hard thing. Sometimes things just don't go your way down the stretch, or a putt misses here or there, and before you know it, you've lost the tournament by one shot, which is a weird way to think of it because you've had such a great week.
“There's still been plenty of solid golf, and I've been patient in the past and kind of waited for my turn. But it's hard to be patient, especially at this time of the year.”
Gooch was the dominant force in 2023. He won three times during a five-start stretch in the middle of the season, including LIV Golf’s first visit to Adelaide when he opened with consecutive 10-under 62s.
Then with the Individual Championship on the line in Jeddah, he clinched the overall title by making the playoff against Koepka, who won the tournament with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
Gooch played for Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats GC last year, but he joined forces with Koepka on Smash GC during the offseason. While Koepka has won two individual titles and Smash has two team victories, Gooch has yet to celebrate on his own. His best result is a tie for second in Las Vegas, one shot behind Dustin Johnson, way back in February.
“Last year, golf was really easy,” said Gooch, currently 10th in points. “It's a game that is very humbling at times, and this year it's not been as easy.
“There's been some good moments, but my coach Boyd [Summerhays] and I have talked about it, through the first three or four tournaments, I think I had spent more time on the range through the first three or four tournaments than I did all of last year.
“Last year it was in the slot, and this year it hasn't been as easy, but we've been able to grind it out, and hopefully we've caught on to something.”
The 2024 LIV Golf season hasn’t been a total loss for the three players.
DeChambeau’s Crushers have two team wins and lead the points standings. They’re guaranteed a first-round bye in Dallas as they seek to defend their team championship from a year ago. Smith’s Rippers also have two team wins and are third in points. Smash comes off its second win this season at Greenbrier and will battle the Rippers and Torque for the third and final bye.
So that’s six champagne celebrations, all team-related.
When DeChambeau met the media in Dallas, he not only had the U.S. Open on display, but also the LIV Golf Team Championship trophy.
“That's a pretty special one, as well,” he said. “It's a unique-looking trophy. It's actually three-pieced; you can pull it apart. It's pretty cool. You can do some fun stuff with it.”
He’s had fun with his team at the top of the podium this season. But like Smith and Gooch, he’d love to double-dip in Chicago. Always better to finish a tournament with a trophy in each hand.