The LIV Golf Team Championship is here with Trump National Doral hosting the final event of the 2022 Invitational Series.
The format has been changed up as LIV Golf eyes a thrilling finish to their inaugural season.
The Ryder Cup style format will catch the eye over the first two days, while captains have been tasked with choosing their opponents to spice up rivalries.
Ian Poulter steps in for Lee Westwood as Majesticks skipper, while Dustin Johnson hopes to become a double champion after clinching the individual title.
Here’s everything you need to know about the final LIV Golf event in Miami:
What is LIV Golf?
Reports of a new breakaway league first emerged in 2019 but gathered pace last year as two-time Open champion Greg Norman became the face of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series as its chief executive.
With Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund financing the series, there is a clear link to the Saudi Arabia government, whose record on human rights has been criticised by groups such as Amnesty International.
But what for a long time was considered to be a bargaining threat to the traditional PGA and DP World Tours and nothing more, took shape as the LIV Golf Series, which also features new competition rules and what tournament organisers say is an “exciting” new format.
What is the format for the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami?
The top 36 players from the previous seven events and the Individual Standings qualify for the Team Championship, while league commitments and captains’ selections complete the field.
Friday, 28 October - Quarter Finals
The top four seeded teams will receive a bye. Teams seeded five-12 will battle it out in a head-to-head, Ryder Cup style match-play format.
The highest-ranked teams have selected their opponents. Unlike the Ryder Cup, no player will sit out, so all 32 players in the eight teams will compete in a shotgun start. A point is award for each head-to-head team match and there are three matches: two singles matches and one foursomes match. A team with two points will advance to Saturday’s matches and the matches will play out until a winner is confirmed, meaning to draws or half points.
Saturday, 29 October - Semi Finals
The top four seeded teams will now play the teams that emerged from Friday’s quarter-finals, with the same format and head-to-head team match play deciding who makes the Team Championship.
The highest-ranked teams select their opponents once again and all 32 players in the eight teams will be playing in a shotgun start. Just like Friday, we will see: two singles matches and one foursomes match and a point per match awarded to confirm a winning team with two points overall or more. The four teams winning teams advance to the Team Championship.
Sunday, 30 October - Team Championship
This is where it changes once more, with the four winning teams competing in a shotgun-start round of stroke play.
All 16 players will compete with the field divided up into two-balls. The team captains will play together. All four scores count towards the team’s score and lowest collective stroke-play score will crown the inaugural LIV Golf team champions.
When is the Miami event?
The tournament will begin on Friday 28 October and run through to Sunday 30 October. The first day, which includes the quarter-final matches, starts at 12pm ET (5pm BST) at Trump National Doral in Florida. The same start time will occur on Saturday in the semi-finals, but look for the last day of competition to start earlier UK time when the clocks go back, meaning a 4pm start if tuning in from the UK.
Who is playing?
The biggest names have emerged as captains with 12 teams of four players for the team championship.
The captains and three designated team members are outlined below, with teams 1-4 handed a bye into Saturday’s semi-finals.
Captains include Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Brooks Koepka, Ian Poulter, Joaquin Niemann, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Martin Kaymer Cameron Smith and non-playing captain Bubba Watson.
What are the teams and who is in the field?
1 |
4 Aces |
Dustin Johnson |
Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez |
2 |
Crushers |
Bryson DeChambeau |
Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri |
3 |
Fireballs |
Sergio Garcia |
Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra |
4 |
Stinger |
Louis Oosthuizen |
Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Hennie du Plessis |
5 |
Smash |
Brooks Koepka |
Jason Kokrak, Peter Uihlein, Chase Koepka |
6 |
Majesticks |
Ian Poulter |
Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Sam Horsfield |
7 |
Torque |
Joaquin Niemann |
Scott Vincent, Adrian Otaegui, Jediah Morgan |
8 |
Hy Flyers |
Phil Mickelson |
Bernd Wiesberger, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale |
9 |
Iron Heads |
Kevin Na |
Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phacara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim |
10 |
Cleeks |
Martin Kaymer |
Graeme McDowell, Laurie Canter, Richard Bland |
11 |
Punch |
Cameron Smith |
Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby |
12 |
Niblicks |
Bubba Watson (non-playing) |
Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford, James Piot, Turk Petit |
Is it on TV?
LIV Golf has yet to be picked up by a major broadcaster in the UK.
However, the action is live streamed for free on the LIV Golf YouTube channel and Facebook page.
How much is the prize money?
The eighth and final event of LIV Golf in the 2022 Invitational Series will see players battle it out at the iconic Blue Monster course for an eye-watering $50 million purse. That’s double the prize money for each of the first seven events.
The winning team pockets $16 million, meaning a $4 million payout to each member, while all 12 teams receive prize money.
Regular season standings
1 |
Dustin Johnson |
121 |
2 |
Branden Grace |
79 |
3 |
Patrick Reed |
76 |
4 |
Cameron Smith |
56 |
5 |
Charl Schwartzel |
55 |
6 |
Carlos Ortiz |
50 |
7 |
Matthew Wolff |
50 |
8 |
Peter Uihlein |
49 |
9 |
Louis Oosthuizen |
49 |
10 |
Talor Gooch |
49 |
11 |
Sergio Garcia |
44 |
12 |
Joaquin Niemann |
42 |
13 |
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra |
41 |
14 |
Henrik Stenson |
40 |
15 |
Paul Casey |
40 |
Regular season team standings entering Team Championship Miami
RANK | TEAM | POINTS |
---|---|---|
1 |
4 Aces |
140 |
2 |
Crushers |
80 |
3 |
Stinger |
72 |
4 |
Fireballs |
69 |
5 |
Majesticks |
59 |
6 |
Torque |
34 |
7 |
Iron Heads |
32 |
8 |
Smash |
30 |
9 |
Hy Flyers |
29 |
10 |
Cleeks |
20 |
11 |
Punch |
16 |
12 |
Niblicks |
13 |