“We are going to pick Fireballs GC.”
And with that, Ripper GC skipper Cam Smith – fresh off a quarter-final bye – laid the foundations for a sizzling semi-final showdown against Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs outfit at the LIV Golf Team Championship in Dallas.
Asked why he used his Captain’s pick, courtesy of Ripper GC’s top-3 finish in the regular season, Smith was his typical nonchalant self.
“A bit of thought. That’s about it.”
He expanded when pressed again.
“No, nothing in particular, just – I don’t know, it seemed like we watched a lot of TV today, and that’s who we wanted to go with.”
Smith’s selection followed a day of drama at Maridoe Golf Club. Iron Heads GC and HyFlyers GC, the two lowest-seeded teams entering the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship, each pulled off the biggest upsets in LIV Golf’s match play history thanks to spirited rallies in their foursomes matches during Friday’s quarter-finals.
The 13th-seeded Iron Heads knocked off 4th-seeded Smash GC with a singles win by Danny Lee over Talor Gooch and a foursomes victory by Scott Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma, whose winning par putt on the first extra hole capped a comeback ignited by Vincent’s hole-in one.
The 12th-seeded HyFlyers beat 5th-seeded Torque GC with wins from Cameron Tringale over Sebastián Muñoz in singles and foursomes by captain Phil Mickelson and Brendan Steele, with the longtime friends rallying from 3-down to beat Mito Pereira and Carlos Ortiz, 2 & 1.
The other winners Friday were Fireballs GC with the 3-0 sweep of Majesticks GC; Stinger GC, with the 3-0 sweep of Cleeks GC; and 4Aces GC, who beat RangeGoats GC 2-1.
The five winning teams advance to Saturday’s semi-finals along with the top three seeds who earned quarter-final byes. The matches are: Crushers GC vs Iron Heads; Legion XIII vs HyFlyers; Ripper GC vs Fireballs; and Stinger vs 4Aces. Saturday’s four winners will compete for the Team Championship in Sunday’s stroke-play finale.
No seeded team lower than 11th had won in the first two years of the Team Championship. The Iron Heads and HyFlyers are two of the three LIV Golf teams that have never won a tournament, making Friday’s result especially satisfying.
“We’ve shown that in match play, anything can happen,” said Iron Heads captain Kevin Na, whose club was 0-6 in quarter-final matches the first two seasons.
Mickelson took advantage of the format change this year that allows captains to compete in either singles or foursomes. He had lost all three singles against LIV Golf captains in the first two years.
“That flexibility can make a difference in getting your team the best dynamics, the best chance to win,” Mickelson said. “You saw a lot of mix-ups today, and I think we’ll probably see the same going into tomorrow as teams try to find their best format.”
Mickelson was one of three captains who won playing foursomes on Friday. The others were Stinger’s Louis Oosthuizen, who teamed with longtime partner Charl Schwartzel to beat Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer and two-time senior major champion Richard Bland; and the Fireballs’ Sergio Garcia, who partnered with Abraham Ancer to beat Majesticks GC Co-Captain Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield.
The trend will continue in the semi-finals, with Ripper GC captain Smith partnering with Matt Jones in foursomes and Na opting to join Kozuma in foursomes after losing to Brooks Koepka, 6 & 5, in singles. Mickelson, Oosthuizen and Garcia will also continue to play foursomes Saturday.
“We’re trying to make the strongest team we can have to have a chance at winning all three games,” Garcia explained. “I think that’s the spirit that you want. That’s the idea that you want to have.”
The Iron Heads seemed on their way to another quarter-final loss after Na lost to Brooks Koepka, 6 & 5, and Vincent-Kozuma went 4-down after 11 holes. But then Vincent aced the 153-yard 14th with a 50-degree wedge, and that changed the match.
“That was unbelievable, very exciting,” Vincent said. “This is exactly what the match play brings, just a lot of unknowns and amazing opportunities. To bounce back from being four shots down at one stage, that was just incredible.”
It wouldn’t have happened without Kozuma’s clutch birdie putt on the final hole of regulation, or his par save from even farther out on the extra hole.
“Jini is an amazing putter,” said Na, who was watching the match alongside Lee. “Danny looked over at me, he goes, watch this, he’s going to make this. I was like, I hope so, and he sure did. Jini really showed the world, I think, what he’s made of.”
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
IRONHEADS GC def. SMASH GC, 2-1
Singles 1: Brooks Koepka (Smash) def. Kevin Na (Iron Heads), 6 & 5. Koepka won the first hole with a birdie and never trailed, making three consecutive birdies down the stretch.
Singles 2: Danny Lee (Iron Heads) def. Talor Gooch (Smash), 1 up. Lee won the first three holes and matched Gooch down the stretch to give the Iron Heads their first-ever match win.
Foursomes: Jinichiro Kozuma-Scott Vincent (Iron Heads) def. Jason Kokrak-Graeme McDowell, 19 holes. Smash were 4 up through 11 holes, but Vincent’s ace sparked the Iron Heads’ rally; Kozuma then made two clutch putts down the stretch, including the winning birdie for the upset team win.
HYFLYERS GC def. TORQUE GC, 2-1
Singles 1: Joaquin Niemann (Torque) def. Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers), 4 & 3. Niemann took control in the middle portion of the round, then pulled away in the final six holes.
Singles 2: Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers) def. Sebastián Muñoz (Torque), 3 & 2. Tringale kept his LIV Golf match play record perfect (4-0), winning four of seven holes during one stretch.
Foursomes: Phil Mickelson-Brendan Steele (HyFlyers) def. Mito Pereira-Carlos Ortiz (Torque), 2 & 1. Torque was 3-up through seven before the HyFlyers won five of the next nine holes for the comeback victory and the team win.
FIREBALLS GC def. MAJESTICKS GC, 3-0
Singles 1: Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs) def. Henrik Stenson (Majesticks), 19 holes. Stenson won the last two holes in regulation to tie, but Chacarra won the first extra hole with a par.
Singles 2: David Puig (Fireballs) def. Ian Poulter (Majesticks), 3 & 2. Puig won the first two holes, then took control in the middle of the round with three straight winning holes.
Foursomes: Sergio Garcia-Abraham Ancer (Fireballs) def. Lee Westwood-Sam Horsfield (Majesticks), 2 & 1. The Fireballs were down early before rallying to take the lead, then held off the Majesticks down the stretch.
STINGER GC def. CLEEKS GC, 3-0
Singles 1: Branden Grace (Stinger) def. Adrian Meronk (Cleeks), 19 holes. Grace, who’ll be relegated after the season, earned a hard-fought victory with a birdie on the first extra hole.
Singles 2: Dean Burmester (Stinger) def. Kalle Samooja (Cleeks), 4 & 3. Burmester’s three-hole stretch of birdie-eagle-birdie gave him the lead and he never let up in his round that included six birdies.
Foursomes: Louis Oosthuizen-Charl Schwartzel (Stinger) def. Martin Kaymer-Richard Bland, 4&2. The Stinger duo won four of the first seven holes and responded whenever the Cleeks threatened to rally.
4ACES GC def. RANGEGOATS GC, 2-1
Singles 1: Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats) def. Dustin Johnson (4Aces), 3&1. Uihlein kept his match play record perfect (4-0) with a six-hole stretch of one eagle and four birdies against his former captain.
Singles 2: Patrick Reed (4Aces) def. Thomas Pieters (RangeGoats), 5 & 4. Reed won for the first time in his LIV Golf match play career, making birdie on the opening hole and never losing a hole.
Foursomes: Harold Varner III-Pat Perez (4Aces) def. Bubba Watson-Matthew Wolff, 2&1.The Aces were 4-up through 11 before the RangeGoats won three of the next four holes to make it close.
