Bottom seeds stun higher ranked opponents in LIV Golf Dallas team quarter-finals

The two lowest-ranked teams in the season-long standings pulled off the big upsets on quarter-final day of the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship in Carrollton, Texas, on Friday with Iron Heads GC and HyFlyers GC ousting higher-seeded Smash GC and Torque GC respectively with fighting displays in the foursomes matches.

The Maridoe Golf Club first witnessed 13th seeds Iron Heads eliminate fourth-seeded Smash 2-1 with Danny Lee beating 2023 champion Talor Gooch before Scott Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma got the better of the experienced Graeme McDowell and Jason Kokrak on the first extra hole after their comeback was given momentum by Vincent’s hole-in one.

“My caddie told me before the shot that ‘We need to be going straight at this pin, like we're going to make a hole-in-one,’ and sure enough it happened,” Vincent said. “Seems like he had a good feeling about it. I was just focused on hitting the shot.”

Added his captain, Kevin Na, who was beaten in the first singles by his opposite number, Brooks Koepka in a one-sided 6&5 match, “We’ve shown that in match play, anything can happen.”

The next shock was 12th-seeded HyFlyers 2-1 sending fifth seeds Torque out of contention with Cameron Tringale beating Sebastián Muñoz 3&2 in singles and captain Phil Mickelson linking up with old friend Brendan Steele rallying from 3-down to beat Mito Pereira and Carlos Ortiz, 2&1 in the foursomes.

Mickelson took advantage of the format change this year that allows captains to compete in match-ups of their choice having lost all three singles against rival team leaders 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 later. 

“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.”
 
The other winning teams on Friday were Fireballs GC who swept Majesticks GC 3-0. Stinger GC posting an identical result over Cleeks GC; and 2022 champions 4Aces GC edging out RangeGoats GC 2-1.
 
In Saturday’s semi-finals with the top three seeds having earned first round byes, top seeds Crushers GC play the Iron Heads, no. 2 seeds  Legion XIII take on the HyFlyers, third ranked Ripper GC meet the Fireballs; and Stinger go up against the 4Aces with the winning teams competing for the team championship title in Sunday’s stroke-play finale.

Legion XIII, led by 2024 individual champion Jon Rahm had anxious moments on Friday as the Spanish star was taken ill and did not attend the captains’ press conference where the team were represented by Tyrrell Hatton.

Rahm, however, is on the team sheet to play on Saturday with his name appearing in the match-up against the HyFlyers’ Tringale. “I spoke to him on the phone, and we exchanged a few WhatsApp messages,” Hatton said, adding Rahm had also provided selection inputs. “I know he was watching the golf today.”
 
Mickelson was one of three captains who won having opted to play the foursomes on Friday, the others being Stinger’s Louis Oosthuizen, who teamed with Charl Schwartzel to beat Cleeks GC captain Martin Kaymer and Richard Bland, and the Fireballs’ Sergio Garcia, who partnered Abraham Ancer to beat Majesticks GC co-captain Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield.
 
In the semi-finals, Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith will start alongside Matt Jones in foursomes and Iron Heads skipper Na joining Kozuma in foursomes against the Crushers pairing of Anirban Lahiri and Charkes Howell III. Mickelson, Oosthuizen and Garcia are also slated to play the foursomes on Saturday.
 
“We're trying to make the strongest team we can have to have a chance at winning all three games,” Garcia said. “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 defeat after Na lost to Koepka, and Vincent-Kozuma went 4-down after 11 holes. But Vincent then aced the 153-yard 14th to change the match. “That was unbelievable, very exciting,” the Zimbabwean said later. 

“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.” Following up, Kozuma sank a clutch birdie putt on the final hole of regulation and then saved par 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.”

Meanwhile, beside the Ireon Heads, the 4Aces are once again the team nobody wants to face.
 
For Friday’s quarter-finals, the Aces were the last remaining opponents for the higher seeds to select, and they beat the RangeGoats 2-1. For the semis, Dustin Johnson’s team were again the lowest ranked, leaving no choice for the Stingers, who now have to face the 2022 team champions.
 
Although Johnson lost his singles match to former teammate Peter Uihlein, Patrick Reed won his singles against Thomas Pieters, while Perez and Harold Varner III beat Bubba Watson and Matthew Wolff. Reed’s 5 & 4 win was his first in a LIV Golf match after two previous defeats.

“I have a lot of confidence in my team,” Johnson said. “I think we're all playing really well. Obviously the other two guys, they won their matches today. I did not but felt like I played some really good golf. Just didn't quite get it done. But I'm looking forward to the challenge tomorrow against the Stingers.”
 
Semi-final pairings (seeding in parentheses)

Crushers GC (1) vs Iron Heads GC (13)
Singles 1: Paul Casey (Crushers) vs. Scott Vincent (Iron Heads); Singles 2: Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers) vs. Danny Lee (Iron Heads); Foursomes: Anirban Lahiri/Charles Howell III (Crushers) vs. Kevin Na/Jinichiro Kozuma (Iron Heads)
 
Legion XIII (2) vs HyFlyers GC (12)
Singles 1: Jon Rahm (Legion XIII) vs. Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers); Singles 2: Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII) vs. Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers); Foursomes: Caleb Surratt/Kieran Vincent (Legion XIII) vs. Phil Mickelson/Brendan Steele (HyFlyers)
 
Ripper GC (3) vs Fireballs GC (6)
Singles 1: Marc Leishman (Ripper) vs Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs); Singles 2: Lucas Herbert (Ripper) vs. David Puig (Fireballs); Foursomes: Cameron Smith/Matt Jones (Ripper) vs. Sergio Garcia/Abraham Ancer (Fireballs).
 
Stinger (7) GC vs 4Aces GC (10)
Singles 1: Dean Burmester (Stinger) vs Dustin Johnson (4Aces); Singles 2: Branden Grace (Stinger) vs. Patrick Reed (4Aces); Foursomes: Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel (Stinger) vs. Harold Varner III/Pat Perez (4Aces).