LIV Golf today revealed the matchups for Friday’s quarterfinal round of the 2023 LIV Golf Team Championship, teeing off October 20-22 at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami. Team opponents were announced at a captains’ selection show press conference to kick off this week’s three-day tournament taking place at the iconic Blue Monster course, site of LIV Golf’s 14th and final event of the year.
For each head-to-head team matchup, three matches will take place: two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match. All 32 players amongst the eight participating teams will compete simultaneously in a shotgun start and matches will be played until a winner is determined. Each match winner receives one point, and the first team to earn two points will advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
The first round of LIV Golf’s momentous season-ending event will showcase some of the biggest names in golf squaring off. Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, captain of HyFlyers GC, will take on five-time major champion and 2023 PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, captain of Smash GC. The day’s featured singles matches also includes Fireballs GC captain and 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia versus 2016 Open champion and Majesticks GC co-captain Henrik Stenson, while Ripper GC captain and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith will face two-time major winner and former world No. 1 Martin Kaymer, captain of Cleeks GC. Friday’s fourth singles match will feature 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, captain of Stinger GC, taking on Kevin Na, captain of Iron Heads GC.
As the highest-ranked team playing on Friday, Oosthuizen’s fifth-seeded Stinger GC was given the first selection for its opponent. Branden Grace, who finished ninth overall in the LIV Golf Individual Standings, will face Scott Vincent, who finished fourth in LIV Golf Jeddah presented by ROSHN to secure his spot in the league for 2024. In the groups’ alternate-shot matchup, the Stingers’ Dean Burmester and Charl Schwartzel will face Sihwan Kim and Danny Lee, who secured an individual win earlier this season in Tucson.
The sixth-seeded Fireballs GC, coming off a team victory in Jeddah, elected to take on the 11th seed Majesticks GC, the most experienced squad in the field with more than 2,000 starts amongst them. A pair of young, rising stars will face off in Eugenio Chacarra and Sam Horsfield, while veteran Ryder Cup legends Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood will take on the Mexican duo Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz in the foursomes match.
Seventh-seed Ripper GC will pair up Matt Jones and Jed Morgan versus former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger. Marc Leishman was selected for Ripper’s second singles match, in which he’ll play England’s Richard Bland, who finished 20th in this season’s rankings to secure his spot with LIV Golf for 2024.
The Smash-HyFlyers showdown is the only matchup involving teams consisting entirely of American players. Big-hitting Matthew Wolff will team up with Chase Koepka in the foursomes match, where James Piot will play alternate shot alongside Brendan Steele. For the second singles match, Jason Kokrak will face Cameron Tringale.
The LIV Golf League awarded points to teams based on their finish at each tournament, with values ranging from 32 points (first place) to 0 (9th-12th). Following the 13th and final regular season event, team standings determined seeds 1-12 for the Team Championship. Top-seeded 4Aces GC (192 points – Captain Dustin Johnson), second seed Crushers GC (186 points – Captain Bryson DeChambeau), third seed Torque GC (183 points – Captain Joaquin Niemann) and fourth seed RangeGoats GC (179 points – Captain Bubba Watson) earned a bye and automatically advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
Following Friday’s results, team captains for the top four seeds and captains for the four quarterfinal match winners will convene, with the higher-seeded teams selecting their opponents for Saturday’s semifinal round. On Sunday, all 48 players amongst the 12 teams will compete in one round of stroke play, with all four players’ scores counting towards their team’s score. The four teams advancing to the finals will compete for places 1-4, with the teams eliminated in the semifinals competing for places 5-8. Teams eliminated in the quarterfinals will compete for places 9 through 12, with larger prizes awarded to teams based on their finishing position.
Tickets are on sale at LIVGolf.com, where single-day and three-day grounds passes are all-inclusive of the world-class golf competition featuring many of the game’s biggest stars and all fan activities on site, including Saturday’s live concert by Alesso and Sunday’s concert by FISHER.
DAILY TOURNAMENT FORMAT
Quarterfinals: Friday, October 20
Teams seeded 1-4 will receive a bye
Teams seeded 5-12 will compete in head-to-head match-play competitions
Highest-ranked teams select their opponents
All 32 players amongst those eight teams will compete simultaneously in a shotgun start
For each head-to-head team match-up, three matches will take place: two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match
Matches will be played until a winner is determined; there will be no ties. Each match winner receives one point
Teams earning two points will advance to Saturday’s Semifinals
Semifinals: Saturday, October 21
Teams seeded 1-4 will join the winning four teams from Friday for another day of head-to-head team match play
Highest-ranked teams select their opponents
All 32 players amongst those eight teams will compete simultaneously in a shotgun start
Teams compete in the same format as Friday: two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match, with each match winner receiving one point
Matches will be played until a winner is determined; there will be no ties
The four teams earning two points will advance to Sunday’s Finals
Finals: Sunday, October 22
All 48 players amongst the 12 teams will compete in a shotgun start with one round of stroke play
All four individual scores count towards the team’s score
The four teams advancing to the finals compete for 1st through 4th place
The four teams eliminated in the semifinals compete for 5th through 8th place
The four teams eliminated in the quarterfinals compete for 9th through 12th place
Larger prizes are awarded to teams based on their finishing position
The lowest team score on Sunday amongst the four teams that advanced to the finals is crowned the 2023 LIV Golf Team Champion
Festivities begin at 10:30 a.m. local time when gates open to welcome guests of all ages to the variety of unique activations on site. Parking is free all three days in advance of the tournament’s 1:15 p.m. ET shotgun start on Friday and Saturday and 1:05 p.m. start Sunday. Grounds passes allow fans to walk the course, watch the action up close and grant entry to the interactive Fan Village – an immersive area featuring food and beverages and a specially-designed LIV Kids Zone for the youngest fans to relax and play. Activities include the indoor RangeGoats pickleball, chipping challenge, soccer precision wall, mini golf, mega putt, locker room, Torque GC’s racing simulator, American football pro pass, and much more. Visitors can enjoy golf-themed games and interactive experiences throughout the day, while giant video screens broadcast the live action.
At each LIV Golf tournament, free admission is granted for young people ages 12 and under. In addition, LIV Golf provides special offers for college and university students, teachers, medical professionals and first responders. Active-duty military and veteran service members are also granted complimentary grounds passes for themselves and a guest, as well as discounts for hospitality and experience packages. For more details on redeeming these special offers, visit LIVGolf.com.
The LIV Golf Team Championship will air from 1:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday on The CW, The CW App and LIV Golf Plus, with Friday’s round carried on The CW App and LIV Golf Plus. In addition, LIV Golf tournaments are carried on YouTube and on more than a dozen international broadcast partners, delivering league broadcasts in over 180 territories to more than 380 million homes worldwide. For more information on how to watch the 2023 LIV Golf League, visit LIVGolf.com/where-to-watch.
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