Twenty-four hours after shocking Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC, the Iron Heads went out and smoked Bryson DeChambeau’s top-seeded Crushers GC in Saturday’s semis at the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship.
Kevin Na’s underdog squad isn’t the only team entering Sunday’s finale at Maridoe Golf Club with a compelling storyline.
Legion XIII entered Dallas as one of the top betting favorites and in peak form. But then its captain, Jon Rahm – hot off a double victory in Chicago, withdrew from weekend play, citing flu-like symptoms.
The unexpected development in losing Rahm, though, didn’t derail Legion XIII against HyFlyers GC. They are moving on to Sunday’s finals.
And don’t forget about the story arc of the 4Aces: Dustin Johnson’s squad, who were something of a dynasty during LIV’s first two seasons, has a chance at redemption after a regular season that was very un-Ace-like, resulting in the 10th overall seed. They will enter Sunday’s finale for the third straight year.
Finally, Cam Smith‘s all-Australian Ripper GC, who won twice in the regular season, including an epic playoff victory in their home country at Adelaide, can now look to complete their own dream season after a win over Sergio Garcia’s always-tough Fireballs.
But it’s the Iron Heads who are the talk of the tournament – easily the biggest story in all of golf at the moment.
After defeating Smash GC in the quarterfinals, they drew up another perfect game plan against the Crushers.
Danny Lee’s 2-up win in singles over Crushers captain DeChambeau, the reigning U.S. Open champion and golf’s box-office star, registers as arguably the largest shock in the young history of the Team Championship.
“I felt like I took down a Goliath today,” Lee said. “It’s Bryson DeChambeau, the most popular golfer on the planet right now.”
SEMIFINAL RESULTS
IRON HEADS (13) def. CRUSHERS (1), 3-0
- Singles 1: Scott Vincent (Iron Heads) def. Paul Casey (Crushers), 1 up. With the match square with three holes left, Vincent birdied the par-5 17th for the decisive winning hole.
- Singles 2: Danny Lee (Iron Heads) def. Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers), 2 up. Lee never trailed against the hometown favorite, who twice rallied from 2 down to square the match. Lee won two of the final three holes for the upset.
- Foursomes: Kevin Na-Jinichiro Kozuma (Iron Heads) def. Anirban Lahiri-Charles Howell III (Crushers), 3 & 1. The Iron Heads won four holes during a five-hole stretch and responded to every Crushers threat after that.
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LEGION XIII (2) def. HYFLYERS (12), 2-1
- Singles 1: Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers) def. John Catlin (Legion XIII), 20 holes. Catlin, filling in for Jon Rahm, took a late lead but Tringale won the final hole in regulation before his birdie won the last completed match of the day.
- Singles 2: Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII) def. Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers), 5 & 4. Ogletree had the lead after six holes, but Hatton then flipped the match, winning six of the next seven holes to cruise to victory.
- Foursomes: Caleb Surratt-Kieran Vincent (Legion XIII) def. Phil Mickelson-Brendan Steele (HyFlyers), 4 & 3. The young Legion XIII duo won four of the first six holes, and then reeled off three consecutive winning holes in a terrific performance.
RIPPER (3) def. FIREBALLS (6), 2-1
- Singles 1: Marc Leishman (Ripper) def. Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs), 19 holes. Leishman was 2 up with five to play, then Chacarra grabbed the lead by winning three of the next four holes. Leishman squared the match after Chacarra found trouble off the tee, then won with a par on the playoff hole.
- Singles 2: Lucas Herbert (Ripper) def. David Puig (Fireballs), 1 up. Herbert rallied with three consecutive winning holes down the stretch.
- Foursomes: Sergio Garcia-Abraham Ancer (Fireballs) def. Cameron Smith-Matt Jones (Ripper), 3 & 1. The Fireballs played bogey-free golf to rally after an early deficit and put the match away by winning two of the final three holes.
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4ACES (10) def. STINGER (7), 2-1
- Singles 1: Dustin Johnson (4Aces) def. Dean Burmester (Stinger), 1 up. Johnson rallied on the final nine holes with three birdies and then matched pars on the final hole to avoid a playoff.
- Singles 2: Patrick Reed (4Aces) def. Branden Grace (Stinger), 1 up. Grace rallied on three different occasions, but Reed made the decisive birdie at the par-3 eighth in a match in which he never trailed.
- Foursomes: Louis Oosthuizen-Charl Schwartzel (Stinger) def. Harold Varner III-Pat Perez (4Aces), 3 & 2. The South African duo won the opening hole, were 5-up through nine, and were solid the rest of the way in winning their second foursomes match this week.
CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
After competing in match play for the first two rounds of the Dallas Team Championship, the final day that will determine the season-long champion will consist of stroke play in which all four scores count, mimicking the final round of every LIV Golf tournament this season.
No player can hide on Sunday, and avoiding high scores will be just as important as going low, especially on a Maridoe course that is one of the toughest faced by LIV Golf players this season.
“Anything under par out here is an amazing score,” said Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith.
Of the four teams – Legion XIII, Ripper GC, 4Aces GC and Iron Heads GC – competing for the Team Championship in the top tier, Legion has been the most productive team in the all-scores-count final round this season with a cumulative score of 84 under. But that was with captain Jon Rahm leading the way.
Rahm will not play Sunday after withdrawing due to illness. His spot will be taken by reserve John Catlin.
“You just have to treat it like another Sunday,” said Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton, Legion’s second in command. “Yeah, just go out there and try your best. It’s going to be quite an exciting finish with all four scores counting.
“I think the course will probably play a little bit different to how it did today. Being set up for match play, I think there was a few more tees forward than what we’ll probably face tomorrow.”
Ripper was 69 under in final rounds this season, while the 4Aces were 48 under. The Iron Heads were 3 over in the final round, the only team not to finish under par. They were 26 shots worse than the next best total.
But the Irons Heads have momentum after their two rounds of match-play upsets, and they seem to have found a putting stroke that others have struggled to match.
“I think our team is getting better,” Na said. “Some of the guys are a bit younger players in the world stage, but they’re only getting better every week we play in the experience they’re building and the confidence they’re building.”
Na has said this week that in match play, anything can happen. Will that be the same for stroke play? Dustin Johnson, the 4Aces captain, said he could still see surprises happening on Sunday.
“Especially one round of stroke play,” Johnson said. “Obviously over four days, stroke play is not really going to have too many surprises. Still, you do every once in a while. It’s golf.”
LEFTOVER NOTES
CRUSHERS DISAPPOINTED
The top-seeded Crushers will not have a chance to repeat Sunday. The best they can do is a fifth-place finish competing in Tier 2 after losing to the Iron Heads in the semifinals.
“We’re disappointed,” said Paul Casey. “We will go away and process it. Such small are the margins out here, you got to get everybody firing on their cylinders from the get-go.
“Although we have fallen short and we won’t be playing for the championship tomorrow, I love the format. It’s great. It showcases golf in different ways, the fact we can play match play and stroke play in the same tournament is great.”
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HATTON DISCUSSES RAHM
Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton said he woke up Saturday expecting to see Jon Rahm in the lineup, despite the captain falling ill the day before with flu-like symptoms. But once Hatton arrived at Maridoe, he knew Rahm, this year’s Individual Champion, was in no shape to play.
“It was apparent that he just wasn’t going to be up to it, which was unfortunate,” Hatton said. “I think we all kind of wish him well and want him to get back healthy as soon as possible.”
TEAM TIERS
TIER 1
These four teams won their semifinal matches and will compete for the 2024 LIV Golf Team Championship and positions 1st through 4th on the final leaderboard.
- Legion XIII (2)
- Ripper GC (3)
- 4Aces GC (10)
- Iron Heads GC (13)
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TIER 2
These four teams lost in the semifinals and will compete for positions 5th through 8th on the final leaderboard.
- Crushers GC (1)
- Fireballs GC (6)
- Stinger GC (7)
- HyFlyers GC (12)
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TIER 3
These five teams lost in the quarterfinals and will compete for positions 9th through 13th on the final leaderboard.
- Smash GC (4)
- Torque GC (5)
- Cleeks GC (8)
- RangeGoats GC (9)
- Majesticks GC (11)
