DORAL, Fla. — It pays to play well in the LIV Golf League, just ask Crushers GC.
Bryson DeChambeau’s team finished at 11 under to win the 2023 LIV Golf Team Championship and claim the top prize of $14 million Sunday at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster. Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats GC finished runner-up, with Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC in third and last year’s champions, 4Aces GC led by Dustin Johnson, in fourth.
In contrast to LIV’s regular-season competitions, where the lowest score is eliminated every day, all four scores were taken into consideration in the final round on Sunday. Teams that lost on Saturday competed for places 5-8 (Tier 2), while teams that lost on Friday competed for places 9–12 (Tier 3). The semifinal winners competed for the top four spots (Tier 1).
But keep in mind that at LIV events, team prize money goes back to the team. The teams keep 60% of the prize money from the Team Championship, and each player receives 10%. Not bad for three days’ worth of work, at most.
Here’s how much money each team earned this week near Miami.
Captain Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey led Crushers GC to a semifinal win over Cleeks GC to finish in Tier 1, and in the final round held on despite some late struggles to take the title.
Bubba Watson’s squad cooled off Fireballs GC in the semifinals to advance to Tier 1 and nearly fought back to take the team title from the Crushers. Three players finished under par, led by Watson, who shot a 5-under 67.
Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC made quick work of Stinger GC with a semifinal sweep to play into Tier 1. Niemann was the lone player to go low (66) on Sunday as his squad finished three shots from second place.
After a quarterfinal bye and semifinal win over Fireballs GC, the defending champions were in Tier 1 come Sunday and never got off the bus to play for the top spot. Peter Uihlein (69) and Patrick Reed (71) were the lone players under par.
Branden Grace of Stinger GC walks during Day Two of the LIV Golf Invitational – Miami at Trump National Doral Miami on October 21, 2023 in Doral, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
After Stinger swept Iron Heads GC on Friday they got the brunt of the broomstick with a 3-0 defeat to Torque GC to wind up in Tier 2. Come Sunday Dean Burmester and Branden Grace each shot 5-under 67 to solidify their spot at the top of the second tier.
Captain Sergio Garcia had the lone win of the Fireballs’ semifinal loss to the RangeGoats on Saturday which placed the Spaniard’s team in Tier 2. In the final round Carlos Ortiz was the only player to shoot under par with the low round of the entire day at 8-under 64.
