LIV GOLF TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS NOTES
PLAYING FOR POSITIONS: With the match play portion of the Michigan Team Championship now complete, the stage is set for all 12 teams to play for their final positions Sunday at The Cardinal at Saint John’s.
The format will switch to stroke play, with all four scores counting for each team just like during each round of the 2025 regular season.
The three remaining teams left in the Championship Bracket are Legion XIII, Crushers GC and Stinger GC. They will compete for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Each team is getting its second opportunity to win the Team Championship on the final day; the Crushers got the job done in 2023.
Torque GC, Smash GC and HyFlyers GC drop into the top tier of the Rankings Bracket and will compete for 4th, 5th and 6th. For the HyFlyers, they are guaranteed their best-ever Team Championship finish.
Saturday’s winners in the Rankings Bracket were Fireballs GC, 4Aces GC and Ripper GC. They will compete for 7th, 8th and 9th. The 4Aces and Ripper are previous Team Champions.
The three losing teams in the Rankings Bracket were RangeGoats GC, Cleeks GC and Majesticks GC. They will compete for 10th, 11th and 12th.
UNIQUE TEE TIMES: The three teams in the Championship Bracket will utilize four different tee times off the No. 1 tee Sunday, with a player from each team in each group. The first threesome will tee off at 1:05 p.m. ET, the second threesome at 1:16 p.m., the third threesome at 1:27 p.m. and the final threesome – consisting of captains Jon Rahm (Legion XIII), Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers GC) and Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger GC) – will tee off at 1:38 p.m.
THE SLOW BURN GAME: Smash Captain Brooks Koepka and Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri were playing mind games with each other during their singles match, especially by slowing the pace of action. Lahiri was deliberately slow, Koepka even slower, and eventually they were put on the clock but suffered no penalties after speeding up their play.
“I think it took us five holes,” said Koepka who won the match 1 up. “It wasn’t long, but I felt like we could play the rest of the holes at my pace, and I felt like I did.”
Asked if he was aware about the slow pace of his teammate’s match, Crushers Captain Bryson DeChambeau said, “They were definitely farther behind. I’m sorry about that. It’s just fun. We’re trying to have a good time. We’re trying to win, right?”
LEGION XIII’S YOUNG FOURSOMES: Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt are the only two Legion XIII players to be undefeated in the first two days, as they won both their foursomes matches while Captain Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton each went 1-1.
It’s been an impressive performance for the 21-year-old Surratt and 22-year-old McKibbin. They led for 28 of the 34 holes they played over the two rounds and never trailed. They won nine holes to their opponents’ four.
“They both wanted to be here, and they both wanted to do well,” Rahm said. “They’re both for the most part quite collected individuals. Me and Tyrrell take the other side of the coin. It’s nice to see two young guys so even keel throughout the whole thing.”
Rahm said the experience both players are receiving in the match play competition this week should prove extremely valuable later in their careers.
“When I first spoke to Tom before coming to LIV, this is the tournament that obviously one of the weeks that came to mind and something we’re really excited,” Rahm said. “That can get you ready for many future things.”
LOUIS AND CHARL SHOW: The Stinger GC pairing of Captain Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel goes back to their first Presidents Cup together in 2013. They played foursomes the last two years at the LIV Golf Team Championship and are 4-0, including Saturday’s win.
What makes the South African veterans so successful? “We’re just very comfortable around each other,” Oosthuizen said. “I don’t think we’ve ever said sorry to each other if we hit a bad shot. … It’s just a very good relationship. We’re pretty good together.”
NUMBERS FOR THE TOP THREE: Legion XIII led the league in team scoring this season at 267 under (69.5 stroke average), including 96 under in the second round and 119 under in the third round, also league bests.
Crushers GC ranked second in scoring at 243 under (69.8 stroke average) and led the league in first-round scoring (86 under).
Stinger GC ranked sixth overall in scoring at 165 under. Their most productive round was the final round at 94 under, third best of any team.
TRINGALE NOW 7-0: HyFlyers GC’s Cameron Tringale moved his LIV Golf match play record to a perfect 7-0 with his win over Tyrrell Hatton. Tringale won his first match in foursomes in 2022 and has won his last six matches in singles. Included among the players he has defeated are two players with Ryder Cup experience in Hatton and Patrick Reed and two former Presidents Cup players in Abraham Ancer and Sebastián Muñoz. All four of those players have won LIV Golf tournaments.
HOT BLANDY: Cleek GC’s Richard Bland won the most holes of any player on Saturday, claiming eight holes as he beat Fireballs GC’s Josele Ballester 6 & 4. At age 52, Bland is 30 years older than Ballester, who joined the league at mid-season.
