Power Rankings: LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship
The 2024 LIV Golf League season comes to a close with the season-ending Team Championship in Dallas at Maridoe Golf Club. All 13 teams will compete this year, with the top three teams receiving a bye. Matchups will be determined later this week, and team captains can opt to participate in the singles or foursomes matchups during the first two days of match play.
PLAY LIV GOLF FANTASY NOW: Now that you read what the experts have to say, it is time to submit your own picks. Fill out your LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship bracket by the shotgun start (12 PM EST on Sept. 20) for a shot to win great prizes, including a chance at $100,000.
Here are the Team Championship Power Rankings, courtesy of Rotowire.
1. Crushers GC. The Crushers enter the Team Championship with the top seed after holding on to win by a stroke in Chicago and are also the defending team champions, winning last year in Miami. Bryson DeChambeau led the team by finishing eighth in the season-long individual standings. Anirban Lahiri finished T6 last week and his strong second-half of the year secured his spot in the lock zone. The only cause for concern is that Charles Howell III hasn’t shown much over the last two events since returning from injury.
2. Legion XIII. Joining the Crushers with a first-round bye is Legion XIII as the No. 2 seed. After sitting second-to-last following the opening round last week, Jon Rahm’s victory helped propel the team to a runner-up result. It was his second win over the last three tournaments and secured him as this year’s season-long individual champion. Caleb Surratt finished last in Chicago, so they’ll need a little more from him alongside Tyrrell Hatton and Kieran Vincent to take home the team championship.
3. Ripper GC. The Rippers are the remaining team that will receive a bye and that’s obviously a nice benefit in terms of extra rest compared to the teams seeded 4-13. Following back-to-back runner-up finishes, the group of Australians stumble into the playoffs with a 12th-place finish in Chicago. It wasn’t all bad in the Windy City, though, as Lucas Herbert finished in a share of sixth. Captain Cameron Smith led the team this year with a seventh-place finish in the individual standings.
4. Fireballs GC. A strong summer continued for the Fireballs as they finished third in Chicago for their fourth podium finish over their last seven events. Captain Sergio Garcia finished three back of Rahm to take a share of second and move up to third in the season-long standings. Abraham Ancer and David Puig had a strong finish as both finished in the top-20 in the final three events.
5. Smash GC. Smash GC has the fourth seed and will have the benefit of having the first pick of their match-play opponents. They followed their win at Greenbrier with a mediocre eighth-place finish, with Jason Kokrak only besting three players. Meanwhile, Captain Brooks Koepka finished in a share for sixth and the team will rely heavily on their star as he led the team by finishing fifth this year.
6. Torque GC. It was another solid, yet unspectacular showing from Torque GC with a T5 result in Chicago, as they finished the year failing to record a podium finish across the closing four events. They’ll have a chance to redeem themselves in Dallas, led by Joaquín Niemann, who finished second to Rahm not only in Chicago but in the season-long standings. Mito Pereira was able to stay out of the Drop Zone but was unable to finish in the top half of the standings in the final seven events.
7. RangeGoats GC. The RangeGoats have the nine seed for the team championship and showed some signs of life to close the year with back-to-back T5 finishes. Matthew Wolff was the lone player on the squad to finish the season inside the top-24, but he stumbled home the last two events. Fortunately, Peter Uihelin and Thomas Pieters righted the ship with top-20 finishes at The Greenbrier and in Chicago. Captain Bubba Watson finished the season in the Drop Zone.
8. 4Aces GC. It’s crazy to see that the 4Aces only had one top-5 finish this year as the addition of Harold Varner III (43rd) didn’t work out as expected. Captain Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed were unable to carry the team, with only five top-10s between the two of them. Pat Perez was the last man to survive being in the Drop Zone, finishing the season in 48th.
9. Cleeks GC. The 51-year-old Richard Bland had an excellent year to keep Cleeks GC afloat, finishing the year with five consecutive top-15 results. Despite a lackluster finish, Adrian Meronk had a solid year to finish two spots ahead of Bland at 17th in the individual standings. Captain Martin Kaymer finished the season in 40th, while Kalle Samooja was one of five players in the Drop Zone, finishing only 1.56 points behind Perez.
10. Stinger GC. The Stingers have the seven seed but limp into the Lone Star State after finishing last in Chicago. Nevertheless, if there’s a team capable of quickly turning things around, it’s the quartet from South Africa that has four podium finishes this year. Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester both finished in the top-10, and Legion XIII was the only other squad to have multiple players in the top-10.
11. Majesticks GC. Perhaps a fourth-place finish from the Majesticks in Chicago is the momentum they need heading into the Team Championship. Ian Poulter posted his best result of the season with a solo fifth, and we know this group that also includes Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood has plenty of team experience from the Ryder Cup. Sam Horsfield finished T34 in his return from a foot injury.
12. Iron Heads GC. One would think that Smash GC will choose to take on the Iron Heads as they are the bottom seed - having failed to finish in the top-5 all year. Scott Vincent finished in the Drop Zone and Jinichiro Kozuma wasn’t far behind, although he did improve his finish in each of the final four events. Kevin Na led the team, finishing the season in 33rd place.
13. HyFlyers GC. The HyFlyers bring up the rear in the Team Championship Power Rankings, as they failed to beat the Iron Heads in three of the last four tournaments. Brendan Steele led the way for the team this season, winning the individual title in Adelaide, but he failed to finish in the top half in the final four tournaments. Captain Phil Mickelson had a disappointing year, posting just one top-20 result.
PLAY LIV GOLF FANTASY NOW: Now that you read what the experts have to say, it is time to submit your own picks. Fill out your LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship bracket by the shotgun start (12 PM EST on Sept. 20) for a shot to win great prizes, including a chance at $100,000.