LIV GOLF ORLANDO PREVIEW: NOTES ON THE 12 TEAMS
WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – A quick look at each of the 12 LIV Golf League teams going into Friday’s first round of LIV Golf Orlando at Orange County National.
Teams listed in order of the current point standings.
4ACES GC
Current individual points standings: Peter Uihlein (4), Pat Perez (10), Dustin Johnson (20), Patrick Reed (26)
Lead team standings through two events on strength of consecutive second-place finishes
Uihlein is one of just four LIV Golf players with top-10 points finishes in first two events
Perez, Uihlein and Johnson are each ranked inside the top 10 in GIR through two events
4Aces lead league in par-5 scoring at 39 under
FIREBALLS GC
Current individual points standings: Carlos Ortiz (2), Sergio Garcia (16), Abraham Ancer (25), Eugenio Chacarra (31)
Won their second team title at LIV Golf Tucson, having won during the 2022 Invitational Series season in Bangkok
Ortiz has two runner-up finishes and two other top 10s in eight regular-season starts
No player has hit more fairways this season than Ancer’s 65 (out of 84)
Top team this season in par-3 scoring (5 under)
CRUSHERS GC
Current individual points standings: Charles Howell III (1), Paul Casey (7), Bryson DeChambeau (34), Anirban Lahiri (40)
International Series Order of Merit leader Andy Ogletree replaces Lahiri (WD-personal reasons) in the lineup for Orlando
Mayakoba winner Howell leads league in GIR at 75.93% (82 of 108); Casey is T4 (71.3%) and DeChambeau is T8 (68.52%) in that category
In fairways hit, Casey, Lahiri and DeChambeau each rank inside the top 10
Crushers are only team collectively under par on par-4 holes this season (5 under)
STINGER GC
Current individual points standings: Branden Grace (6), Louis Oosthuizen (8), Dean Burmester (29), Charl Schwartzel (42)
Oosthuizen, part of the four-man playoff in Tucson, is the highest ranked in points among all the LIV Golf captains/co-captains
Burmester has yet to record a three-putt in his first two LIV Golf starts; his 108-hole streak is the second longest active mark
Grace has finished 18th or better in seven of his eight completed regular-season starts
TORQUE GC
Current individual points standings: Mito Pereira (9), Sebastian Munoz (15), Joaquin Niemann (18), David Puig (30)
Pereira is tied for second in GIR this season at 72.22%
Puig averaged 317.2 yards driving distance in Tucson, fourth highest total in the field
With an average age of 25.5, Torque is the youngest LIV Golf team
IRON HEADS GC
Current individual points standings: Danny Lee (3), Kevin Na (14), Scott Vincent (22), Sihwan Kim (48)
Lee’s individual win in Tucson was the first trophy won by Iron Heads GC, and the team’s third-place finish was its first podium result
Lee was the only player at The Gallery South course to play the par-3 holes under par (-1)
Lee, Na and Vincent have provided all the counting scores through the first two tournaments
RIPPER GC
Current individual points standings: Cameron Smith (12), Matt Jones (13), Marc Leishman (23), Jediah Morgan (47)
Smith, Jones and Leishman each ranked inside the top 11 in putting average through the first two events
Jones has 30 birdies this season, second-highest total in the league (Howell – 33)
Morgan ranks third in driving distance with a 323.0-yard average but has hit just 34 fairways, fewest in the league
HYFLYERS GC
Current individual points standings: Brendan Steele (6), Cameron Tringale (24), Phil Mickelson (37), James Piot (44)
Steele has finished inside the top five in both of his starts since joining LIV Golf prior to this season
Steele’s GIR percentage of 72% ties for second-best in the league
Tringale has needed just 163 putts this season, which ties for second fewest in the league
RANGEGOATS GC
Current individual points standings: Talor Gooch (17), Bubba Watson (32), Harold Varner III (36), Thomas Pieters (41)
Varner’s score has counted in all 18 regular-season rounds he has played since joining LIV Golf
Varner ranks first in par-4 GIR at 71% but is 47th in par-4 putting
Gooch is 5 under on par-4 holes this season, the third best score in the league
SMASH GC
Current individual points standings: Matthew Wolff (11), Jason Kokrak (27), Brooks Koepka (38), Chase Koepka (45)
Brooks Koepka leads the league in par-3 scoring this season at 5 under
Wolff and Brooks Koepka have had their scores count in each of the first six rounds of 2023
Smash has the lowest first-round scoring average of any team at 69.1 but the highest second-round average at 72.0
CLEEKS GC
Current individual points standings: Graeme McDowell (21), Richard Bland (33), Laurie Canter (39), Bernd Wiesberger (43)
Canter, a reserve player, is filling in for captain Martin Kaymer (wrist injury) for the third consecutive time to start the season
McDowell has the Cleeks’ lowest round this season, a 4-under 67 in the second round in Mayakoba
Bland was the only Cleeks player inside the top 24 in points in Tucson (24th place)
MAJESTICKS GC
Current individual points standings: Ian Poulter (19), Sam Horsfield (28), Henrik Stenson (35), Lee Westwood (46)
Entire lineup was 22 under on par 5s in Tucson but 26 over on the other holes
Horsfield has 24 birdies this season, four more than his next closest teammate (Poulter – 20)
Stenson leads the league in driving accuracy, hitting 74% of his fairways
Poulter hasn’t dropped a stroke in his last 43 par-5 holes played, the league’s longest active streak