Who qualified for LIV Golf Finals? Exploring the semifinal results of the team championship decider
The semifinals of the 2024 LIV Golf Team Championship were played this Saturday, September 21, at the Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas, Texas. The event continued to deliver big upsets with the elimination of the heavy favorites for the title.
Kevin Na's Iron Heads GC team pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the entire LIV Golf season by defeating the defending champions and season leaders, Bryson DeChambeau's Crushers GC.
Iron Heads GC not only defeated Crushers GC, but held them without a single point. Danny Lee defeated reigning US Open champion DeChambeau in the first singles match, while Scott Vincent defeated Paul Casey in the second.
In the foursomes match, Na and Jinichiro Kozuma defeated Anirban Lahiri and Charles Howell III 3&1 in 17 holes.
That way the team ranked 13th in the season rankings advanced to the final round after defeating the 4th and 1st ranked teams in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
Legion XIII, without Jon Rahm, who withdrew due to illness, defeated HyFlyers GC, who had also upset Joaquin Niemann's fifth-ranked Torque GC in the quarterfinals, 2-1.
John Catlin, Rahm's replacement, lost to Cameron Tringale in a hard-fought first singles match that went to the second playoff hole. Tyrrell Hatton easily defeated Andy Ogletree in the second individual match, as did Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent with Phil Mickelson and Brendan Steele in the foursomes.
A look at the other two LIV Golf Team Championship matches
4Aces GC, LIV Golf's inaugural season champion team, defeated South Africa's Stinger GC 2-1. Captain Dustin Johnson defeated Dean Burmester in the first singles match, while Patrick Read defeated Branden Grace in the second.
Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen teamed with Charl Schwartzel to defeat Harold Varner III and Pat Perez in foursomes.
Finally, all-Australian Ripper GC defeated Fireballs GC 2-1. Both captains, Cameron Smith and Sergio Garcia, played in foursomes with Matt Jones and Abraham Ancer respectively, with Garcia and Ancer winning.
However, the two singles matches went to the Australians as Marc Leishman defeated Eugenio Chacarra in a one-hole playoff and Lucas Herbert defeated David Puig.
All teams (winners and losers) will play the final round of the LIV Golf Team Championship on Sunday. The format will be stroke play, and all players' scores will contribute to the team score.
However, not all teams will compete for the title. Teams that lost in the quarterfinals will compete for places 9-13, while teams that lost in the semifinals will compete for places 5 through 8.
Only the four winners on Saturday will compete for the Team Championship trophy, which comes with a $14 million check. 40% of the prize money will go to the players, while 60% will go to the franchise.