RD. 3 NEWS AND NOTES: TEAM SEEDS FINALIZED FOR MIAMI

NOTES

TEAM SEEDS FINALIZED FOR MIAMI – 4Aces GC will begin the title defense of its Team Championship in Miami as the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year.

The season-long team standings were finalized after LIV Golf Jeddah, with the 4Aces atop the list at 192 points. Crushers GC is second with 186 points, Torque GC third at 183 points and RangeGoats GC at 179 points.

Those four teams will receive byes in Friday’s Quarterfinals, with the higher seeds – starting with the 4Aces – selecting their opponent for Saturday’s Semifinals.

The RangeGoats started the week in Jeddah ranked fifth in the standings but jumped past Stinger GC into fourth place. The RangeGoats finished second on the tournament leaderboard behind the winning Fireballs GC.

“It’s awesome,” said RangeGoats Captain Bubba Watson. “Just an extra day for us to practice but also not have that mental grueling test the day before, right? That means whatever team we’re playing the next day has already had to go through stress and mental grind. So it’s good for us.”

Stinger GC fell to fifth and will get the first pick of opponents during Wednesday’s selection process at Trump National Doral.

Final order of seeds for the Team Championship:

1. 4ACES GC

2. CRUSHERS GC

3. TORQUE GC

4. RANGEGOATS GC

5. STINGER GC

6. FIREBALLS GC

7. RIPPER GC

8. SMASH GC

9. HYFLYERS GC

10. CLEEKS GC

11. MAJESTICKS GC

12. IRON HEADS GC

BROOKS WINS FOR FIRST TIME AS A FATHER: Brooks Koepka and his wife Jena Sims recently welcomed the birth of their first child, Crew. Sunday’s win was Koepka’s first as a dad.

“I’m sure Jena and Crew are watching,” Koepka said. “He won’t remember that one, but at least I’ve got something to say, that I did win while he was here.”

GOOCH OVERCOMES CASE OF NERVES: Having given himself an opportunity to win the Individual Champion title, Talor Gooch said he was “as nervous as could be” leading up to Sunday’s final round.

But his opening tee shot found the fairway, his approach found the green, and he drained a 30-foot birdie putt to quickly settle in.

“It was a very, very stressful day, very exciting day,” said Gooch, who needed just 22 putts Sunday in a bogey-free round highlighted by a string of three consecutive birdies down the stretch. “My caddie (Malcolm Baker) and I just did a great job of staying in the moment and just executing.”

WIESBERGER AVOIDS RELEGATION: Cleeks GC’s Bernd Wiesberger started the week on the Open Zone bubble at 44 and was in danger of falling into the Drop Zone and facing relegation.

With the pressure on, Wiesberger shot a 7-under 63 to finish 11th on the point leaderboard at 8 under. It’s his best result of the season and allowed him to stay in the Open Zone, where he can become a free agent and re-sign with Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks or any other interested team.

“Hopefully my performance today, I gave a little bit of push for (Kaymer) or the league for possibly having an invite next year,” Wiesberger. “I didn’t do enough on my own to secure next year but I still think I can play plenty of rounds like I did today.”

The four full-time non-captains who finished in the Drop Zone are Ripper GC’s Jediah Morgan, HyFlyers GC’s James Piot, Smash GC’s Chase Koepka and Iron Heads GC’s Sihwan Kim. They will have the opportunity to play their way back into the League at the Promotions tournament later this year.

LOCKED IN FOR 2024 – The top 24 players in the final Individual standings secured their spots for next year’s 2024 LIV Golf League. Here are the top 24:

1. Talor Gooch, RangeGoats GC

2. Cameron Smith, Ripper GC Captain

3. Brooks Koepka, Smash GC Captain

4. Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers GC Captain

5. Dustin Johnson, 4Aces GC Captain

6. Patrick Reed, 4Aces GC

7. Harold Varner III, RangeGoats GC

8. Mito Pereira, Torque GC

9. Branden Grace, Stinger GC

10. Charles Howell III, Crushers GC

11. Sebastián Muñoz, Torque GC

12. Peter Uihlein, 4Aces GC

13. Anirban Lahiri, Crushers GC

14. Dean Burmester, Stinger GC

15. Carlos Ortiz, Fireballs GC

16. Cameron Tringale, HyFlyers GC

17. Sergio Garcia, Fireballs GC Captain

18. Marc Leishman, Ripper GC

19. Brendan Steele, HyFlyers GC

20. Richard Bland, Cleeks GC

21. Joaquin Niemann, Torque GC Captain

22. Scott Vincent, Iron Heads GC

23. Jason Kokrak, Smash GC

24. Louis Oosthuizen, Stinger GC Captain

Players who finished 25th through 44th in points are in the Open Zone and eligible to re-sign with their teams or any other team if interested.

Click here for a full recap from the final round of LIV Golf Jeddah.

RD. 3 STAT LEADERS

Driving distance – Mito Pereira, 336.1-yard average

Longest drive – Sihwan Kim, 388.3 yards (9th hole)

Driving accuracy – Henrik Stenson, 100% (14 of 14)

Greens in regulation – Brooks Koepka, Scott Vincent, Charles Howell III, Charl Schwartzel, Paul Casey, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, Henrik Stenson, Sam Horsfield, 89% (16 of 18)

Scrambling – Talor Gooch (7 of 7), Abraham Ancer (5 of 5), Harold Varner III (4 of 4), Bernd Wiesberger (4 of 4), Eugenio Chacarra (4 of 4), Lee Westwood (3 of 3), Graeme McDowell (3 of 3), Kevin Na (3 of 3), Henrik Stenson (2 of 2), Charl Schwartzel (2 of 2), Paul Casey (2 of 2), 100%

Fewest putts – Talor Gooch, 22 putts

Most birdies – Talor Gooch, Graeme McDowell, 8

Bogey-free rounds – Talor Gooch 62, Kevin Na 63, Lee Westwood 63, Bernd Wiesberger 63, Abraham Ancer 64, Harold Varner III 65, Charl Schwartzel 66, Henrik Stenson 66, Eugenio Chacarra 67