From a Correspondent
Boston: New boy Anirban Lahiri will slot into the Crushers GC led by Bryson DeChambeau for LIV Golf Invitational Boston that tees off on Friday.
On Wednesday, LIV Golf unveiled the 12 teams from the 48-player field competing at The International course near Boston, the fourth in the series that teed off in England.
World no. 2 Cameron Smith who also joined the LIV series ahead of the Boston event, will lead an all-Australian lineup in Punch Golf Club.
He will be joined by fellow new face Marc Leishman, Matt Jones and former captain Wade Ormsby.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series features teams of four where players compete as individuals and teams for both points and prize money.
All four members of each team play the three-day tournament. The golfer with the lowest 54-hole stroke play total will be the individual winner with $20 million to be divided amongst the field.
In the team competition, the best two stroke play scores in the first two rounds will count for each team. For the third and final round, the best three scores will count.
The lowest overall team score after 54 holes will be the team winner. Teams will compete for a $5 million purse, with $3 million to the winners, $1.5 million and $500,000.
Each player will receive a 25% share of the earnings.
Team notes
4 ACES GC: Captain Dustin Johnson has assembled the team to beat.
The all-American roster with Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch and Pat Perez won consecutive team titles, by 7 strokes in Portland and 8 strokes in Bedminster, with a cumulative counting score of 48 under.
Johnson and Reed each finished in the top 5 individually in both events.
MAJESTICKS GC: The move to add Swedish star Henrik Stenson paid immediate dividends for captain Lee Westwood.
Stenson won the individual title in his LIV Golf debut in Bedminster, and Majesticks GC posted their best result as a team, finishing second.
Stenson, Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield each finished under par in Bedminster, the only team to achieve that feat in any of the first three events.
FIREBALLS GC: Captain Sergio Garcia’s team have finished in the top three in each of the last two events, but the Spanish-speaking foursome go into Boston with higher ambitions than another third-place result.
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz is a cumulative 19 under in his first two LIV Golf starts, and Garcia comes off his best performance.
Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Spanish rookie Eugenio Chacarra complete a talented group.
HY FLYERS GC: Captain Phil Mickelson adds LIV Golf newcomer Cameron Tringale to the squad.
Matthew Wolff and Bernd Wiesberger compete again for the Hy Flyers, with Wolff showing at Bedminster he’s capable of putting the team on his back.
His runner-up finish to Stenson fired Hy Flyers GC to fourth place, their best team result. Adding the steady Tringale, a top-60 world player, will raise hopes of a podium result.
Saffers’ challenge
STINGER GC: After a win in London and a second-place finish in Portland, captain Louis Oosthuizen’s squad finished outside the podium for the first time in Bedminster.
Now comes the South African team’s first lineup change, with Shaun Norris replacing Hennie du Plessis. Norris turned pro in 2002; so did Oosthuizen and London winner Charl Schwartzel.
Add Portland winner Branden Grace – who turned pro in 2007 – and Stinger GC have a combined 75 years of professional experience in their lineup.
CRUSHERS GC: New LIV Golf member Anirban Lahiri steps in for Shaun Norris, and the two-time Olympian from India will provide another steady hand for captain Bryson DeChambeau’s team.
Crushers GC added Paul Casey and Charles Howell III prior to Bedminster and finished sixth.
If DeChambeau channels previous successes – one of his 10 professional wins came in Massachusetts in 2018 – expect Crushers GC to make some noise.
NIBLICKS GC: Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson debuts as LIV Golf’s first non-playing captain, overseeing the squad while he rehabs from knee surgery.
Watson will have a close friend in his lineup with Harold Varner III making his LIV Golf debut in Boston.
Varner joins holdovers Hudson Swafford, James Piot and Turk Pettit in the all-American lineup. Pettit comes off a top-10 finish in Bedminster.
SMASH GC: Another all-American lineup, this one with local ties. Massachusetts native Peter Uihlein joins captain Brooks Koepka’s team, replacing Englishman Richard Bland who moves to a new squad.
Chase Koepka and Jason Kokrak are the holdovers for Smash GC.
The Koepka brothers showed improvement in Bedminster, with Brooks shooting a final-round 66 to give him some momentum heading into Boston.
CLEEKS GC: Captain Martin Kaymer gets an experience boost, as 49-year-old Richard Bland replaces 20-year-old Spanish amateur David Puig in the lineup.
It’s the fourth different lineup for Kaymer’s team, although carryovers Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Laurie Canter of England will provide familiar faces for the all-European roster.
Kaymer finished 12th in Bedminster, his best individual performance.
IRON HEADS GC: The lineup that finished fifth in Portland are reuniting in Boston, as Sihwan Kim returns to LIV Golf thanks to his status on the International Series Order of Merit.
Captain Kevin Na’s team might be poised to make some noise, with Thai golfers Phachara Khongwatmai and Sadom Kaewkanjana each coming off top-10 finishes at the recent International Series Korea.
Team boost
PUNCH GC: The all-Australian lineup gets a significant boost in star power, with world no. 2 and reigning Open champion Cameron Smith taking over the captaincy and 13-time winner Marc Leishman also joining the team.
Both are making their LIV Golf debuts this week, which should pay immediate dividends for Punch GC, who have finished 12th and 11th since the lineup went full-Aussie.
Former captain Wade Ormsby and fast-playing Matt Jones complete the roster.
TORQUE GC: The new-look Torque GC is headed by captain Joaquin Niemann, the world no. 19, who’s making his LIV Golf debut in Boston.
His unit includes Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent, who is playing on his fourth different team in as many events; Australia’s Jediah Morgan; and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui, who played for the original Torque GC team in London prior to a roster shakeup.
In the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational London, Stinger GC, with captain Louis Oosthuizen and fellow South Africans Schwartzel, du Plessis and Grace, won with a total score of 20-under par.
4 Aces GC captain Dustin Johnson and the all-American lineup of Gooch, Perez and Reed then reeled off back-to-back team victories in Portland and Bedminster.
Amongst the newcomers, Smith (Punch GC) and Niemann (Torque GC) will serve as team captains in Boston along with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, who will debut as a non-playing captain for Niblicks GC. (courtesy livgolf.com)
Also read: Lahiri ends 7-year stay with PGA Tour, switches to LIV Golf
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