The LIV Golf Team Championship Preview You Cannot Miss

Starting Friday, a select group of controversial Famous golfers will play for the richest purse in the long history of golf: $50 million. The winning team will receive a $16 million first-place prize at Trump National Doral in Miami and take home the LIV Golf Team Championship trophy.

Team Championship Format

Friday, October 28 – Quarter Finals

LIV Golf teams ranked 5 – 12 this season will play in head-to-head match-play

The top four seeded teams will get byes.

The higher-seeded squads get to pick their match-play opponents.

There will be three total matches as part of each team match. Two singles matches and one 4v4 match.

Each match will be played until a victor is determined. The match winner gets one point.

Any team that earns two points will advance to Saturday.

 

Saturday, October 29 – Semi-Finals

The top four seeded squads who had byes will be joined by the winners of Friday’s matches for another day of team match play in the same format as the day prior.

Teams ranked highest choose their opponent.

Advancing to the final round of the Team Championship will be the four winning teams (who earn two points in their matches).

 

Sunday, October 30 – Team Championship

The final round will be a two-ball stroke play with a shotgun-start consisting of the four final teams.

Each golfer will compete in two balls with the team captains golfing with each other.

Each of the four scores counts for the team’s total score.

At the end of the final round of the PGA tournament, the team with the lowest overall score will be declared the winner.

 

The Course

The Blue Monster course at Trump National Doral Golf Club is one of the most famous courses in America. Renovated in 2014 by Gil Hanse, the famed course extends over 7,600 yards. It’s a challenging track featuring a series of strategically placed bunkers, long fairway runs, undulating greens, Bermuda rough that will swallow up the ball, and water everywhere. All of these elements combine for a golf experience that demands both distance and precision. The famous 18th Hole is traditionally considered one of the hardest holes on any golf course.

 

The Weather

Friday, October 28

Hi 83°, Low 73°: Sunny, 6% chance of rain, 9 MPH winds

Saturday, October 29

Hi 84°, Low 73°: Sunny, 9% chance of rain, 10 MPH winds

Sunday, October 30

Hi 84°, Low 72°: Mostly sunny, 19% chance of rain, 9 MPH winds

 

LIV Golf Team Championship – Analysis

Smash GC (+800)

The foursome of Chase and Brooks Koepka, Peter Uihlein, and Jason Kokrak are coming off a team win in Saudi Arabia, along with Brooks winning the event outright.

Uihlein has also been terrific, finishing 2nd twice in his last three events. At +800, they’re odds are more favorable than the top three options on the board. They don’t get the first-match byes because they aren’t in the four best teams, but their team is firing on all cylinders right now.

His captain Brooks Koepka has been a dominant force when he was healthy, and now that he seems back to his best, it looks like he may be able to add another title to his collection.

 

Stinger (+900)

This squad of South African golfers has won two events this season. They enter the event as the No. 4 seed, so they’re guaranteed to get a first-round bye. Louis Oosthuizen posted four top-ten finishes, while Hennie du Plessis had a second-place finish in London to teammate Schwarzels (Grace was third in that week).

 

Majestic (+2000)

The veteran group of Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Sam Horsfield enter this week as the No. 6 seed. They had three top-three placements in seven tournaments. They haven’t been quite as sharp lately; they’ve finished no higher than seventh in the last few tournaments. Nevertheless, even if they have longer odds than the top six teams, there is some value in having this veteran team on your card. Stenson, West­wood, and Poulter have competed in 23 Ryder Cup matches between them; so they are very experienced in the match-play format.

 

LIV Golf Team Championship – The Teams & Odds

4 Aces GC +175 – Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez

Crushers GC +350 – Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri,

Fireballs GC +400 – Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Eugenio Chacarra

Smash GC +800 – Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Peter Uihlein, Chase Koepka

Stinger GC +900 – Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Hennie Du Plessis

Punch GC +1400 – Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby

Hy Flyers GC +2000 – Phil Mickelson, Bernd Wiesberger, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale

Majestic GC +2000 – Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Sam Horsfield

Torque GC +2800 – Joaquin Niemann, Scott Vincent, Adrian Otaegui, Jediah Morgan

Cleeks GC +3500 – Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Laurie Canter, Richard Bland

Iron Heads GC +3500 – Kevin Na, Sadom Kaewkanjana, Phachara Khongwatmai, Sihwan Kim

Niblicks GC +3500 – Bubba Watson (non-playing captain), Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford, James Piot, Turk Pettit

 

LIV Golf – Prize Money

1st – $16m

2nd – $8m

3rd – $6m

4th – $4m

5th – $3m

6th – $3m

7th – $3m

8th – $3m

9th – $1m

10th – $1m

11th – $1m

12th – $1m

 

LIV Golf Team Championship – The Field

Abraham Ancer

Adrian Otaegui

Anirban Lahiri

Bernd Wiesberger

Branden Grace

Brooks Koepka

Bryson DeChambeau

Cameron Smith

Cameron Tringale

Carlos Ortiz

Charl Schwartzel

Charles Howell III

Chase Koepka

Dustin Johnson

Eugenio Chacarra

Graeme McDowell

Harold Varner III

Hennie Du Plessis

Henrik Stenson

Hudson Swafford

Ian Poulter

James Piot

Jason Kokrak

Jediah Morgan

Joaquin Niemann

Kevin Na

Laurie Canter

Lee Westwood

Louis Oosthuizen

Marc Leishman

Martin Kaymer

Matt Jones

Matthew Wolff

Pat Perez

Patrick Reed

Paul Casey

Peter Uihlein

Phachara Khongwatmai

Phil Mickelson

Richard Bland

Sodom Kaewkanjana

Sam Horsfield

Scott Vincent

Sergio Garcia

Sihwan Kim

Talor Gooch

Turk Pettit

Wade Ormsby