TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: HYFLYERS, STINGER, FIREBALLS, CLEEKS ADVANCE; SEMIFINALS SET
MIAMI – HyFlyers GC and Cleeks GC pulled off the upsets as lower-seeded teams during Friday’s Quarterfinal matches of the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami and will face the top two seeds in Saturday’s Semifinals at Trump National Doral.
HyFlyers Captain Phil Mickelson lost his high-profile singles match to Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka, 6 & 4, in a battle of LIV Golf’s most decorated major winners. But teammate Cameron Tringale beat Jason Kokrak in the other singles match, while the duo of Brendan Steele/James Piot beat Chase Koepka/Matthew Wolff in Foursomes to give the ninth-seeded HyFlyers a 2-1 victory.
“So excited about these guys. So proud of what they did, the way they played,” Mickelson said. “It’s inspiring. Look forward to the opportunity these guys gave me.”
Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer lost to Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith after a late rally to send his match to an extra hole. But Richard Bland beat Marc Leishman in the other singles, while Graeme McDowell/Bernd Wiesberger claimed a thrilling match against Matt Jones/Jediah Morgan in Foursomes that went three extra holes. McDowell rolled in the winning birdie putt from 20 feet to give the 10th-seeded Cleeks a 2-1 victory.
It’s the second consecutive year the Cleeks have pulled off an upset at Doral. Last year as the 10th seed, they beat 7th-seeded Torque. With a podium finish in Jeddah last week and now a quarterfinals win Friday, the Cleeks will have plenty of momentum entering Saturday.
“We’re a little bit dangerous looking going into tomorrow,” McDowell said. “We’ve kind of shifted into the next gear. We’ll try to stay in that gear.”
Fifth-seeded Stinger GC won all three of its matches against Iron Heads GC, while 6th-seed Fireballs GC beat Majesticks GC, 2-1.
Captains of the top four seeds then selected their semifinal opponents after Friday’s round. The shotgun start for Saturday is set for 1:15 p.m. EDT with these matchups:
No. 1 4Aces GC vs. No. 9 HyFlyers GC
No. 2 Crushers GC vs. No. 10 Cleeks GC
No. 3 Torque GC vs. No. 5 Stinger GC
No. 4 RangeGoats GC vs. No. 6 Fireballs GC
The defending Team Champion 4Aces GC will pose a tough challenge for the HyFlyers, but Mickelson – who will face Dustin Johnson in singles – looks forward to the opportunity.
“The Aces are the strongest team on LIV. They won it last year,” Mickelson said. “They've led throughout the year this year. But I'm really proud of my team for today and the effort that our guys made down the stretch to win and to finish the matches off.”
Johnson said selecting the lowest-seeded team available was the obvious choice. “I was sitting over here with the team, and they wanted to play the HyFlyers, so I said OK,” the captain said.
The Crushers lost in the semifinals last year with the same lineup, but captain Bryson DeChambeau said his team is stronger this year.
“I feel like we're a force to be reckoned with, and we've just got to keep playing our game in the way we know we can and see what happens,” DeChambeau said.
Torque GC, the youngest team in the LIV Golf League, won more tournament titles (four) than any other team this season, but they’ll face a tough South African squad that posted the only shutout on Friday.
“They've got youth, so he'll learn. So, we'll see,” Stinger Captain Louis Oosthuizen said of his match against Torque Captain Joaquin Niemann. “It's going to be fun tomorrow.”
RangeGoats Captain Bubba Watson will face Fireballs Captain Sergio Garcia, but the intriguing matchup will be 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch against young Eugenio Chacarra, who had the best performance Friday with a 6 & 5 win over the Majesticks’ Sam Horsfield.
“We're going to go out there, we're going to give it our best,” said Garcia, who lost a tight match against Majesticks co-captain Henrik Stenson. “My boys played amazing today, so I hope that they do more of the same tomorrow, and hopefully I'll play a little bit better, and we'll see if we can get that W.”
QUARTERFINALS RESULTS
No. 5 Stinger GC def. No. 12 Iron Heads GC, 3-0
Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger) def. Kevin Na (Iron Heads), 5 & 3. Oosthuizen won four consecutive holes to finish the first nine and never looked back.
Branden Grace (Stinger) def. Scott Vincent (Iron Heads), 2 & 1. Grace was 1 down before winning four of the last five holes.
Dean Burmester/Charl Schwartzel (Stinger) def. Sihwan Kim/Danny Lee (Iron Heads), 2 & 1. The Stingers rallied from an early deficit and won four holes during a seven-hole stretch to gain control.
No. 6 Fireballs GC def. No. 11 Majesticks GC, 2-1
Henrik Stenson (Majesticks) def. Sergio Garcia (Fireballs), 1 up. Stenson rallied midway through the round, winning three holes during a six-hole stretch.
Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs) def. Sam Horsfield (Majesticks), 6 & 5. Chacarra won five of the first six holes and shot 5 under for the 13 holes.
Abraham Ancer/Carlos Ortiz (Fireballs) def. Ian Poulter/Lee Westwood (Majesticks), 4 & 2. The Fireballs won three of the last five holes and closed out the match with a birdie.
No. 10 Cleeks GC def. No. 7 Ripper GC, 2-1
Cameron Smith (Ripper) def. Martin Kaymer (Cleeks), 19 holes. Smith was 3 up with three holes to play before Kaymer rallied to send the match to an extra hole, which Smith won with a birdie at the par-5 10th.
Richard Bland (Cleeks) def. Marc Leishman (Ripper), 4 & 3. The red-hot Bland was 3-up through five holes and never trailed.
Graeme McDowell/Bernd Wiesberger (Cleeks) def. Matt Jones/Jediah Morgan, 21 holes. In a sizzling extra-holes finish, McDowell’s 20-foot putt on the 21st hole was the final point that put the Cleeks through to the Semifinals.
No. 9 HyFlyers GC def. No. 8 Smash GC, 2-1
Brooks Koepka (Smash) def. Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers), 6 & 4. Koepka was 1 up through six holes, then took control by winning four of the next five holes.
Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers) def. Jason Kokrak (Smash), 2 & 1. Tringale closed out the win with a long birdie putt on the 18th while Kokrak hit two shots in the water.
James Piot/Brendan Steele (HyFlyers) def. Chase Koepka/Matthew Wolff, 1 up. The HyFlyers held on after taking the lead with a birdie at the par-3 13th, halving the final seven holes.
SEMIFINAL MATCHES
No. 1 4Aces GC vs. No. 9 HyFlyers GC
Captain Singles: Dustin Johnson (4Aces) vs. Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers)
Singles: Patrick Reed (4Aces) vs. Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers)
Foursomes: Pat Perez/Peter Uihlein (4Aces) vs. James Piot/Brendan Steele (HyFlyers)
No. 2 Crushers GC vs. No. 10 Cleeks GC
Captain Singles: Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers) vs. Martin Kaymer (Cleeks)
Singles: Paul Casey (Crushers) vs. Richard Bland (Cleeks)
Foursomes: Charles Howell III/Anirban Lahiri (Crushers) vs. Graeme McDowell/Bernd Wiesberger (Cleeks)
No. 3 Torque GC vs. No. 5 Stinger GC
Captain Singles: Joaquin Niemann (Torque) vs. Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger)
Singles: Sebastian Munoz (Torque) vs. Branden Grace (Stinger)
Foursomes: Mito Pereira/David Puig (Torque) vs. Dean Burmester/Charl Schwartzel (Stinger)
No. 4 RangeGoats GC vs. No. 6 Fireballs GC
Captain Singles: Bubba Watson (RangeGoats) vs. Sergio Garcia (Fireballs)
Singles: Talor Gooch (RangeGoats) vs. Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs)
Foursomes: Thomas Pieters/Harold Varner III (RangeGoats) vs. Abraham Ancer/Carlos Ortiz (Fireballs)