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Golfunity Episode 28 LIV Tour PGA Canadian Open
Catch up on the latest from the #livgolf League and look ahead to the #usopen ! The recent LIV Golf Virginia presented by Maaden event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club saw Torque GC Captain #JoaquinNiemann continue his dominant 2025 season, winning his record sixth individual LIV Golf title with a final-round 63.
#brysondechambeau Crushers GC also made history, winning their second consecutive team title and eighth overall, making them the all-time winningest team in LIV Golf. The tournament featured strong play from veterans and rising stars alike. #AnirbanLahiri finished runner-up after leading going into Sunday, his sixth second-place finish on LIV Golf. #GraemeMcDowell posted his first LIV podium finish, tying for second. Phil Mickelson showed flashes of his legendary short game, including a “miracle chip” for birdie. Young Spanish star #JoseleBallester, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, made his professional debut at the event after signing a multi-year deal with #sergiogarcia Fireballs GC.
Looking ahead, 14 LIV Golfers are qualified and set to compete in the 2025 US Open at Oakmont Country Club. These players earned their spots through various methods. Several qualified based on previous Major victories, including defending US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, two-time US Open winner Brooks Koepka, 2016 US Open winner Dustin Johnson, 2021 US Open winner Jon Rahm, 2021 PGA Champion #philmickelson , 2022 Open Champion #CameronSmith, and 2024 US Senior Open winner Richard Bland. Others like #TyrrellHatton and #patrickreed secured their places via their position in the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 19.
Carlos Ortiz and Jinichiro Kozuma successfully navigated the challenging Final Qualifying process. Joaquin Niemann qualified as the top player not otherwise exempt from the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Standings as of May 19. Josele Ballester was already exempt as the reigning US Amateur champion. Phil Mickelson has stated there is a “high likelihood” that this 2025 tournament could be his last U.S. Open appearance. Find out more about the LIV Golf season, player performances, and the lead-up to the third men’s Major of the year!
golf unity the most popular golf infotainment podcast in town welcome back you are locked in with golf unity the most popular golf infotainment podcast in town that’s right and you are here for episode 28 of the deep dive we’ve got this uh huge stack of sources you guys sent over seriously appreciate that and we are absolutely fired up to unpack it all for you yeah lots to dig into it’s all focused on the uh recent lav golf action we’re talking virginia team stuff and importantly what it all means for the majors especially with the us open coming up exactly consider this your shortcut your express lane to being totally clued in our mission today dive into all this intel pull out the absolute must know nuggets the surprising bits and just connect the dots for you lav the majors how it all fits together okay let’s jump right in first stop lv golf virginia at robert trent jones golf club gainesville virginia right and this place it’s got some history doesn’t it rtj senior’s masterpiece hosted president’s cups soulhem cup it has and our sources actually flagged a cool little fact phil mickelson apparently the only guy in the field last week who played in those president’s cups there wow okay so he’s got some deep course knowledge maybe a unique perspective for sure definitely gives him a different look at it and the course itself uh described as a proper test hard yeah but fair it seems like it rewards the you know the thinking player mhm not just a bombers’s paradise then big greens tricky contours sounds like you got to be smart you do can’t just bash it and there’s water especially late in the round the par 3 11th around the 18th green on lake manasses it demands precision yeah you got that drivableish par4 10th but then the beastly 18th variety sounds like a great venue it does demands precision maybe a bit of luck especially with those weather delays we saw but all right let’s get to the results the big stuff okay winners let’s talk winners individually we neman again incredible right it is his fourth libby win just this season and his sixth overall career livy win the sources are clear he’s now the winningest individual player in liby golf history already wild and his first livby win in the us too he’s just uh he’s on another level this year his ability to close wow totally dominant in this format right now and on the team side crushers gz took it down yeah that’s bryson liheri casey and charles how iii and get this their second consecutive team win and their eighth overall eight wins which makes them the all-time winningest team in the league and the sources pointed out they did it with the exact same roster they started with that’s not just talent that’s like serious chemistry stability pays off a proper dynasty forming in the team game okay so diving into the actual event drama right from the start wasn’t there oh yeah round one had that long weather delay over a 100red minutes and when they came back braayson desau just exploded he’s like t18 when they stopped one under yep then after the delay chip in eagle on 14 birdie on 15 another chip in for birdie on 16 shoots 66 grabs a share of the lead his quote was perfect i came out hot uh yeah you did bryson some finish he really flipped a switch sharing that lead after day one was martin kamer also a 66 that was good to see wasn’t it he’s been you know struggling a bit tied for the best putting average in the field that day yeah he sounded positive too said something like “i know i’m good enough today the game is there.” maybe finding some confidence and looking sharp in his new bucket hat apparently the sources did mention the hat uh teamwise after round one range goats were up top ali schneider stepped in for injured matt wolf shot a 67 that counted for the team great stuff from a reserve yeah wolf withdrew after eight holes so that was clutch lots of big names tied at four under two rahm neman phil mcdow phil shot 67 his lowest opening round relative to par in ages like 16 livy starts said his short game felt great he was having fun again starting to play well he said neman also shot 67 after a shaky start double bogey and a bogey early battled back and josilla ballister the us amateur champ making his pro debut for fireballs gc shot 74 tough start okay round two anderban lehiri steps up big time bogeyree 64 takes the 36hole lead at 11 under and he talked about learning not to play defensively with the lead right just keep attacking exactly he said “whether i am three ahead or two back i’m still going to try and birdie every hole.” that’s a a a powerful mindset shift really interesting insight clearly worked for him there he led by two over bubba watson kimer and graham mcdow a lot of major winners chasing him kam mcdow phil wasn’t far back louis shou two you could feel that veteran presence near the top kar even talked about how much winning now would mean compared to when he was younger that hunger is still there definitely and bubba tied for second he credited a new putter a mallet said he finally felt like he could get the ball to the hole there is probably something to it you believe in it love that and the stats back him up fourth on libby in strokes gained putting this season huge jump belief is key in putting uh crushers took the team lead after two rounds just one shot ahead of smash tc tight race there they also moved the final round start time way up because of potential weather smart move and that final round wow more drama neman seals the deal bogeyree 63 on sunday incredible round and the story behind it he said he got inspired during the second rain delay watching carlos alcarez the tennis player make a comeback win no way that’s amazing yeah said he got inspiration from alcarez then went out and ripped off four straight birdies right after the delay holes 14 through 17 that charge won him the tournament that is fantastic sometimes inspiration just hits you right wild meanwhile lihiri finishes t2 shoots 68 his sixth runner up on liv kind of sting oh for sure he called it disappointing but part of the learning process good attitude to have gray mcdow also t2 shot a great 66 his first livey podium in 43 starts huge result for gmac he said he’s feeling his game trend upwards feeling the juices flow again and he’s right near that lock zone bubble now massive finish for his season absolutely and we have to talk about phil oh my goodness the shot vintage phil pull out birdie from that super thick greenside rough facing sideways basically chipped it backwards it was nuts desambo called it one of the greatest shots i’ve ever seen and phil’s reaction so understated one of my better ones classic he finished t8 just pure magic bracen himself finished t4 with a 65 that’s his sixth straight top five overall fourth straight on liv just unreal consistency machine-like and john rom t8 he still hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in any liv regular season event he’s completed that streak continues also got a shout out ben campbell set a ley record seven straight birdies seven on his way to a 62 just coming back from a wrist injury too incredible run of holes he finished t19 yeah previous record was six uh other low final rounds too lee westwood shot 62 tied his career low thomas peters a 63 for another t4 kazuma 64 steel 64 some low scores out there good scoring conditions when the weather held off uh jose bister the young pro finished t50 and the final team standings crushers won at nas of 36 four aces rallied for second at 34 smash gc third and eggs are 31 and you mentioned the 2025 format change all four scores counting every round that’s going to ramp up the team drama even more more volatility for sure no doubt okay so that wraps virginia but the golf world doesn’t stop next week the us open oakmont the big one and it’s really interesting looking at the sources to see how many levy players are teeing it up 14 of them qualified 14 that’s a significant number it is and what’s really fascinating is the way they got in the different paths it kind of tells a story about where pro golf is right now doesn’t it totally you’ve got the defending champ bryson he’s got a 10-year exemption easy street right brooks kupka two-time us open winner he’s exempt through 2028 plus his pga win last year helps dustin johnson won the us open at oakmont in 2016 that gets him in this year and next phil mickelson the guy who’s finished second six times he’s in from his 2021 pga win and he even hinted this could be his last us open at oakmont wow that’s a big statement from him cam smith his 2022 open championship win gives him a 5-year pass into the us open john rom the 2021 us open champ obviously exempt so that’s a chunk of them set through major wins okay but then it gets more mixed right exactly we neman fresh off the win just talked about he’s the first guy to qualify via that new direct liiv pathway top player in their standings not otherwise exempt as of may 19th that’s a landmark moment really lav getting a direct entry route it is a significant development then you have guys who qualified via the official world golf ranking terrell hatton patrick reed they were inside the top 60 on that key date in may hatton comfortably reed uh just squeaked in at 55th cutting it close and then the qualifiers uh the true grinders yep golf’s longest day carlos ortiz got through in dallas janikro kazuma made it through a playoff in japan and mark lushman survived a three for two playoff in maryland talk about pressure intense stuff and forget the amateur star josei ballister he’s in as the us amateur champ made his pro debut now playing a major what a whirlwind incredible and finally richard bland he qualified by winning the us senior open last year so yeah look at that list past us open champs other major winners world ranking guys the new liv spot qualifier grinders the us am champ a senior open winner is a real mix m it really paints a picture of all the different avenues players are navigating now just to get into the biggest tournaments crazy it really is okay so shifting back to the lv season itself virginia was roughly the halfway point things are getting serious in the team standings definitely ram’s team legion 13th they’re still leading overall but fireballs and crushers are right there that top three is huge right gets you a buy in the team championship exactly straight to the semi-finals so the teams just outside that like ripper gc torque gc they’re feeling the heat to make a move and the sources brought up some uh burning questions for the second half like can legion 13 stay on top even though rahm hasn’t won individually yet his consistency is obviously huge for them good question and what about sergio garcia he won early looked great but then really slumped missed the mast’s cut poor olivy finishes since can he find that form again he needs to for fireballs for the crushers can someone else besides bryson win lihiri’s been knocking on the door constantly how pushed bryson close once casey’s been runner up they need that second threat what about cam smith joined alve as the open champion world number two i think still hasn’t won an individual liiv event in 2025 best finish is t5 can he get back to that truly elite level ripper gc needs him yeah they do sebastian munoz currently sixth in points statistically maybe the best player without a lovey win since last year can he crack that top five he’s been super solid uh four aces dominated season one kind of middle of the pack now can dj recapture his magic peters is playing well for them reed is steady but they need wins stinger gc seems kind of stuck in that fifth eighth range louie hasn’t quite hit his peak form from last year and brandon grace is flirting with the drop zone 49th in points he needs a good second half yeah that drop zone adds pressure just to remind everyone top 24 in the lock zone safe for next year 2548 is the open zone team’s choice to resign them 49th and below drop zone vulnerable to relegation unless the team keeps you or you require adds another layer high stakes for those guys matthew wolf too rough season so far just one top 10 can he turn it around maybe playing back in the us helps him he’s still so talented flashes off the tea are still there and brooks kopka tied for the most levy wins ever five of them but this season just a runner up in singapore otherwise pretty quiet can he snap out of this funk you expect more from him you do and lastly the teams near the bottom majestics clicks iron heads sources say the majestics legends are struggling statistically iron heads low in points putting poorly kazuma coming back helps them but it looks tough down there going to be a battle to avoid those bottom spots for sure one last little nugget from the sources gear stuff bryson debuted new irons in virginia la golf irons co-designed them himself hinted they’re something special h interesting his approach play stats haven’t been quite as strong as his driving this year apparently maybe these new irons of the fix always tinkering that guy always okay uh before we wrap this deep dive the sources also touched on a couple things outside liv just for context right always good to see the bigger picture ryan fox won the rbc canadian open on the pga tour big win for him second win in about a month got him into the us open via world ranking cool story too late bloomer rugby cricket background yeah credits his dad for his mental game and he had a great quote about oakmont sounds like it’s going to be a proper beat up uh-huh sounds about right also lee hodes was back playing at the canadian open after a bizarre rib injury trip getting into his car ouch yeah weird one but he had a good saturday round shot 63 good to see him back okay so there you have it that was a ride lev golf virginia nean making history crushers setting records phil being phil we unpacked all those different paths the 14y guys took to get into the us open at oakmont really shows you the state of the game right now we looked at the key storylines shaping up as the levy season heads into its crucial second half lots of pressure building so thanks to this deep dive using the sources you sent in you should be totally up to speed on all this recent action and what it means going forward that’s the goal here at golf unity the most popular golf infotainment podcast in town we do the digging so you get the gold make sure you ring the bell so you never miss one of these deep dives and please hit us up on social media tell us what you thought of virginia who you like at oakmont what livey story lines have you hooked seriously let us know we want to hear it and get ready for episode 29 what’s next could be a preview of ley golf dallas coming up later this month or maybe we find something else juicy in the sources you’ll have to tune in and as you think about everything we covered here’s that final provocative thought for you with all these different ways to qualify for majors now and the different league structures is success in golf becoming more about finding the right pathway or when it really comes down to it is pure performance still the ultimate equalizer something to chew on all right until next time keep diving deep head over to our social media tell us what you think let’s hear it and give us your predictions for the future of golf [Music]
