Captained by Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers GC ended the 2023 LIV Golf season the way they started it: with a team victory party. On Sunday, though, the celebration was far more rewarding as the Crushers hoisted the 2023 LIV Golf Team Championship trophy.
Each of the four team members contributed to this historic win: Anirban Lahiri produced a superb bogey-free round of 65 while Charles Howell III (72) and Paul Casey (73) were reliably steady.
This allowed the team’s captain and superstar to put on a wild show and claim victory.
DeChambeau made the turn on 3 under, then quickly birdied Nos. 10 and 11 to reach 5 under without a bogey. The California native, though, then went bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie on Nos. 12-15.
With the Crushers’ lead reduced to just a single stroke over RangeGoats GC, DeChambeau crushed his tee shot, and flew the green on the par-4 16th. His ball hit the Birdie Shack grandstand behind the green and landed on the front edge of the No. 2 green.
Facing a blind shot from 109 yards, DeChambeau hit a wedge back over the grandstand and onto the 16th green. He then made the birdie putt to extend the Crushers’ lead to two.
“My drop zone, I was going to drop in a sidehill lie out of the rough over palm trees. It was just not feasible,” said an excited DeChambeau. “I got a perfect lie in front of the green on 2 … I was like, it’s a 109-shot, whatever, let’s go. And hit it to 20 feet and made an incredible putt.”
Moments later, Casey followed with a clutch 6-foot par putt on his final hole while the RangeGoats’ Thomas Pieters missed his from similar distance.
When the RangeGoats’ 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch bogeyed the 18th after finding the water with his tee shot, the Crushers had enough cushion to absorb DeChambeau’s bogey and RangeGoats captain Bubba Watson’s birdie on the 18th (a two-shot swing).
DeChambeau finished with a 5-under 67.
“I thought this year would be special,” said Howell. “We started off with a win. Obviously, Baan and Bryson have played phenomenal golf here recently.”
Although the RangeGoats came up short, Watson – who shot a bogey-free 67 – was proud of his team’s effort.
“The RangeGoats came out of nowhere,” said Watson. “We played great. We’ve got to improve a little bit. But gosh, finished second for the year. What a great place.”
As for DeChambeau, winning the LIV Golf Team Championship helps to make up for the disappointment in the regular-season finale in Jeddah when he came up short of capturing the Individual Champion title.
“Any time you get a win with a team, I’d say honestly that’s more important than individual stuff,” said DeChambeau. “Look, majors are great but there’s a team behind you there. I’ve got a team, my own team.
“But having the Crushers be front and center of the first inaugural full season just means the world. We are part of history, and I couldn’t be more proud of these guys and definitely takes the sting out of last week. But the team is what it’s all about, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
LIV Golf Team Championship: Final Results
For Sunday’s Finals, all 48 players among the 12 teams competed in one round of stroke play, with all four players’ scores counting toward their team’s score. The four semifinal winners competed for places 1-4*, with the teams defeated in the semifinals competing for places 5-8**. The teams defeated in Friday’s quarterfinals competed for places 9-12***. Of the prize money earned by each team, 60% goes to the team, with 10% going to each of the four participating players.
- CRUSHERS GC* (-11). Anirban Lahiri 65, Bryson DeChambeau 67, Charles Howell III 72, Paul Casey 73. Prize money: $14,000,000
- RANGEGOATS GC* (-9). Bubba Watson 67, Talor Gooch 70, Thomas Pieters 70, Harold Varner III 72. Prize money: $8,000,000
- TORQUE GC* (-6). Joaquin Niemann 66, David Puig 71, Sebastián Muñoz 72, Mito Pereira 73. Prize money: $6,000,000
- 4ACES GC* (E). Peter Uihlein 69, Patrick Reed 71, Pat Perez 73, Dustin Johnson 75. Prize money: $4,000,000
- STINGER GC** (-7). Dean Burmester 67, Branden Grace 67, Charl Schwartzel 73, Louis Oosthuizen 74. Prize money: $3,250,000
- FIREBALLS GC** (-4). Carlos Ortiz 64, Eugenio Chacarra 73, Sergio Garcia 73, Abraham Ancer 74. Prize money: $3,000,000
- CLEEKS GC** (+4). Martin Kaymer 72, Bernd Wiesberger 72, Richard Bland 74, Graeme McDowell 74. Prize money: $2,750,000
- HYFLYERS GC** (+5). Cameron Tringale 70, Brendan Steele 71, Phil Mickelson 72, James Piot 80. Prize money: $2,500,000
- RIPPER GC*** (-5). Matt Jones 66, Jediah Morgan 71, Marc Leishman 73, Cameron Smith 73. Prize money: $2,000,000
- SMASH GC*** (E). Jason Kokrak 69, Brooks Koepka 70, Matthew Wolff 72, Chase Koepka 77. Prize money: $1,750,000
- MAJESTICKS GC*** (+4). Henrik Stenson 69, Ian Poulter 72, Lee Westwood 74, Sam Horsfield 77. Prize money: $1,500,000
- IRON HEADS GC*** (+5). Scott Vincent 70, Danny Lee 71, Kevin Na 73, Sihwan Kim 79. Prize money: $1,250,000
LIV Golf Media Press Release and Stats used to produce report.
