The 2023 LIV Golf season will come to an end this weekend at the Team Championship, and Saturday’s play is headlined by two of the league’s biggest names in Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
In advance of their matchup in the LIV Golf Team Championship quarterfinals, Dustin Johnson criticized Phil Mickelson and his HyFlyers teammates.
Johnson will be competing to retain the championship he and his 4Aces teammates won a year ago when the 2023 LIV season comes to an end at their Miami finale this weekend. Mickelson’s HyFlyers will be the Aces’ first opponent in their title defense, thanks to captain Johnson’s decision.
Having entered the week as the No. 1 seeded team, Johnson was given the power to pick his team’s opponent for their last eight clash that takes place on Saturday at Trump Doral.
When asked he had chosen to take on following the end of play on Friday, Johnson quickly named Mickelson and his HyFlyers teammates. Asked the reason behind his HyFlyers call out, Johnson simply replied: “Well, I was sitting over here with the team and they wanted to play the HyFlyers, so I said OK.”
With the HyFlyers being the second-lowest ranked team still in the competition, just ahead of the Cleeks, Johnson and company’s 4Aces selection appears to have been a wise one. Two single matchplay matches will be played, one of which will be played by the captains, and a third foursomes match will feature two players from each team competing against one another.
This means that as they compete for a spot in the final four, fans will be treated to a headline Johnson vs. Mickelson match-up. Johnson’s 4Aces have yet to play on the Miami course despite receiving a bar to the quarterfinals for holding the top spot in the overall standings.
Mickelson and the HyFlyers meanwhile have already been in action, defeating Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC on Friday. For Mickelson it was a tough day individually, after he was thrashed by Koepka 6&4 in the captain’s clash. It was ‘Lefty’ who had the last laugh though, as Cameron Tringale defeated Jason Kokrak, before Brendan Steele and James Piot defeated Chase Koepka and Matt Wolff in the decider.
The HyFlyers captain acknowledged that following his own loss, he had some work to do the previous night to make sure he contributed to his team’s victory over the league leaders. He acknowledged, “I’ve got a little work, a lot of work, to do on my game overnight.”
But I have a team that has made this really enjoyable and special and delivered today. I’m incredibly proud of Steeley Steel, Camo Tringale, Riot Piot, and all of these other guys who played some really outstanding golf today. We are eager to have the chance to play the league’s best team—or at least the best team overall—and we look forward to the challenge.