DORAL, Fla. — It pays to play well in the LIV Golf League, just ask Crushers GC.
Bryson DeChambeau’s team finished at 11 under to win the 2023 LIV Golf Team Championship and claim the top prize of $14 million Sunday at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster. Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats GC finished runner-up, with Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC in third and last year’s champions, 4Aces GC led by Dustin Johnson, in fourth.
All four scores counted in Sunday’s final round, which is different from LIV’s regular-season events where the lowest score is dropped each day. The semifinal winners competed for the top-four places (Tier 1), while teams to lose on Saturday competed for places 5-8 (Tier 2), with Friday’s losers going for places 9-12 (Tier 3).
But remember, team prize money goes back to the team at LIV events. In the Team Championship, the teams keep 60 percent and each player takes home 10 percent. Not too shabby for three days (at most) of work.
Here’s how much money each team earned this week near Miami.
1
Crushers GC — $14 million
Captain Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey led Crushers GC to a semifinal win over Cleeks GC to finish in Tier 1, and in the final round held on despite some late struggles to take the title.
2
RangeGoats GC — $8 million
Bubba Watson’s squad cooled off Fireballs GC in the semifinals to advance to Tier 1 and nearly fought back to take the team title from the Crushers. Three players finished under par, led by Watson, who shot a 5-under 67.
3
Torque GC — $6 million
Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC made quick work of Stinger GC with a semifinal sweep to play into Tier 1. Niemann was the lone player to go low (66) on Sunday as his squad finished three shots from second place.
4
4Aces GC — $4 million
After a quarterfinal bye and semifinal win over Fireballs GC, the defending champions were in Tier 1 come Sunday and never got off the bus to play for the top spot. Peter Uihlein (69) and Patrick Reed (71) were the lone players under par.
5
Stinger GC — $3.25 million
After Stinger swept Iron Heads GC on Friday they got the brunt of the broomstick with a 3-0 defeat to Torque GC to wind up in Tier 2. Come Sunday Dean Burmester and Branden Grace each shot 5-under 67 to solidify their spot at the top of the second tier.
6
Fireballs GC — $3 million
Captain Sergio Garcia had the lone win of the Fireballs’ semifinal loss to the RangeGoats on Saturday which placed the Spaniard’s team in Tier 2. In the final round Carlos Ortiz was the only player to shoot under par with the low round of the entire day at 8-under 64.
7
Cleeks GC — $2.75 million
Cinderella’s party in Miami ended early on Saturday as the Cleeks – who knocked off Ripper GC on Friday – lost after lopsided defeats from Martin Kaymer and Richard Bland. On Sunday the team ho-hummed their way around the course with two scores of even and two of 2 over to finish just outside the middle of the pack.
8
HyFlyers GC — $2.5 million
Mickelson’s HyFlyers got bounced during Saturday’s semifinals by the 4Aces after their win on Friday against wayward Smash GC. In the final round they all struggled to get going (no one worse than James Piot’s 8-over 80) and finished last in their tier.
9
Ripper GC — $2 million
The most shocking result from Friday was Cam Smith’s Ripper GC taking the L to Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks thanks to wins from Richard Bland over Marc Leishman (4 and 3) and the three-hole playoff victory Graeme and Bernd Wiesberger earned over Matt Jones and Jed Morgan. In the final round the Aussies were the last team to finish under par thanks to Matt Jones’ 6-under 66.
10
Smash GC — $1.75 million
Brooks Koepka won his quarterfinal match against Phil Mickelson 6-and-4 in the quarterfinals, but the HyFlyers won the next two points to defeat Koepka’s Smash GC on Friday and place them in tier 3. On Sunday, Smash finished at even par to lock in their team championship position of 10th.
11
Majesticks GC — $1.5 million
The three-way captained Majesticks might need a new name after they lost quickly to Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs on Friday, and come Sunday bogeyed their way to the tune of a 4 over, 11th place finish.
12
Iron Heads GC — $1.25 million
The Iron Heads were dead last all season and solidified their tier 3 position with a 3-0 loss to Stinger GC on Friday, where none of the matches reached the 18th green. It was only fitting they finished as the caboose one last time, coming in 12th after at 5 over.
