News and Notes: Crushers win in Chicago, claim top seed for Team Championship
BOLINGBROOK, Ill. – Jon Rahm won the individual title at LIV Golf Chicago on Sunday and clinched the season-long Individual Championship in the process, but there were plenty other news, notes and stats from the final round at Bolingbrook Golf Club.
RELATED: Rahm wins LIV Golf Chicago, Individual Championship; Crushers secure top seed
ROUND 3 NOTES
CRUSHERS CLAIM TOP SEED: Bryson DeChambeau and his Crushers GC entered LIV Golf Chicago having already secured one of the three quarterfinal byes for next week’s Dallas Team Championship.
But the team hadn’t won a tournament since Hong Kong in March, and had just a half-point lead over Legion XIII in the team standings. The top seed was on the line at Bolingbrook, and so was the ability to send a message to the other 12 teams.
The Crushers delivered on both counts, winning their third tournament title of the season by one stroke and securing the top seed, which will allow DeChambeau to pick his opponent in next Saturday’s semifinals. It’s the Crushers’ second consecutive win in Chicago; they won last season at Rich Harvest Farms.
“We wanted to prove a point,” DeChambeau said. “We wanted to show that we’re back, and we wanted to have some momentum going into next week. We feel like we’ve got ourselves in a good place.”
Anirban Lahiri led the Crushers in the final round with a 3-under 67, while DeChambeau shot 68, Paul Casey shot 70 and Charles Howell III – in just his second start since returning from a leg injury – shot a 71. Casey had a bogey-free round with 18 pars, the first time he’s done that in his career.
The three-day counting score of 14 under was the second-highest total by any winning team this season, a testament to the toughness of Bolingbrook.
Casey said that Saturday’s round “felt like a Chicago major had broken out.” Sunday’s field stroke average was two strokes lower, but still challenging.
For a team with three veteran players captained by the reigning U.S. Open champ, the toughness of Chicago played to their strengths. And now they go into Dallas not only as the defending champs but with plenty of momentum.
“[We] proved to ourselves that we’re in a good spot,” Casey said. “We talked about it internally, we haven’t gotten a win in a while. Let’s go get one – and we did. We’re proud of that.”
NIEMANN, GARCIA HAPPY WITH THEIR SEASONS: Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann led the Individual points race for most of the season until Jon Rahm caught him in the last two tournaments. But the 25-year-old from Chile still takes satisfaction in finishing second in the season-long race.
“I'm pretty happy,” Niemann said. “I was telling my caddie that I don't feel any disappointment. I feel like I gave it everything that I had. It didn't feel like I gave a shot away the whole season. That for me is a win.”
Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia finished third in the season-long race, overtaking Rahm’s teammate Tyrrell Hatton this week. The 44-year-old Garcia won his first LIV Golf tournament earlier this year in his native Spain in a playoff at Valderrama.
“More than anything, just to finish as high as possible, it's great against all these guys that are so good,” Garcia said.
FINAL TEAM SEEDS FOR DALLAS: The seeds in order for next week’s Team Championship. The Crushers, Legion XIII and Ripper GC will get byes for Friday’s quarterfinals, while Brooks Koepka and his Smash GC will get the first pick of match-play opponents.
1. Crushers GC
2. Legion XIII
3. Ripper GC
4. Smash GC 5. Torque GC 6. Fireballs GC 7. Stinger GC 8. Cleeks GC 9. RangeGoats GC 10. 4Aces GC 11. Majesticks GC 12. HyFlyers GC 13. Iron Heads GC
FIVE PLAYERS SUFFER RELEGATION: Regular LIV Golf team members 49th or lower in the final points standings finish in the Drop Zone and suffer relegation out of the league, although they can still earn their way back, including opportunities such as the International Series and the LIV Golf Promotions tournament.
These five players finished in the Drop Zone: Cleeks GC’s Kalle Samooja, Iron Heads GC’s Scott Vincent, Stinger GC’s Branden Grace, RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson and Legion XIII’s Kieran Vincent.
Samooja came closest to moving up into the Open Zone this week, finishing tied for 15th at 2 under. Two bogeys in his final three holes proved costly.
Grace won LIV Golf Portland in 2022, the first LIV Golf tournament held in the U.S., and finished second and ninth in the first two season-long individual standings.
Scott Vincent had finished in the top 24 Lock Zone the first two seasons, while his younger brother Kieran earned his spot this season through the Promotions tournament.
“He did do it once,” said Kieran Vincent’s captain Jon Rahm, “so he might be able to do it again.”
ROUND 3 STATS LEADERS
Driving accuracy: Jon Rahm, Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey, Graeme McDowell, Marc Leishman, 78.57% (11 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Matthew Wolff, 364.6 yards avg.
Longest drive: Joaquin Niemann, 379.1 yards, 14th hole
Greens in regulation: Sebastián Muñoz, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Thomas Pieters (7 of 7), Jon Rahm (6 of 6), Jason Kokrak (6 of 6), Sergio Garcia (5 of 5), Paul Casey (5 of 5), Bryson DeChambeau (5 of 5), Cameron Tringale (4 of 4), Henrik Stenson (4 of 4), Joaquin Niemann (3 of 3), Graeme McDowell (3 of 3), 100%
Putting: Ian Poulter, David Puig, Matt Jones, 1.30 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Cameron Tringale (64), Jon Rahm (66), Joaquin Niemann (66), Henrik Stenson (66), Sergio Garcia (68), Bryson DeChambeau (68), Thomas Pieters (68), Paul Casey (70)
