Crushers GC victorious at LIV Golf Korea, becomes first team to 10 regular-season wins
BUSAN, South Korea – To win a record 10th regular-season team title, Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC received help from a golden-haired reserve from Australia.
The Crushers successfully defended their LIV Golf Korea title won on a different course last year in Incheon, shooting a collective 23 under to beat OKGC by three shots. With their second win of this season, the Crushers now have 10 regular-season victories, breaking a tie with Legion XIII and 4Aces GC for most by any team.
“Just grateful, super grateful that I've got amazing guys, an amazing team,” said DeChambeau, who finished solo third individually at 11 under, one shot out of a playoff. “We all click in different ways, but we all work to make our team the best out here.”
RELATED: FINAL LEADERBOARD
Those 10 wins have come in 50 regular-season starts since the core group of DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri and Paul Casey were established midway through the inaugural 2022 season.
Sunday’s win, however, was the first with a lineup adjustment, as reserve player Travis Smyth filled in for Casey, who was sidelined with a wrist injury.
Smyth was critical for the team’s success, finishing in a four-way tie for eighth at 7 under that also included Howell. He played his final 10 holes in a bogey-free 3 under, providing some critical birdies en route to shooting 67.
“I didn't want to be the fill-in guy that disappoints the team and stops them from standing on the podium,” said Smyth, who unfurled his blond shoulder-length hair during the team’s post-round press conference. “I'm over the moon. I'm super-proud of myself, super-proud of these guys, and couldn't have asked for a better first week.”
The Australian becomes just the second reserve player to celebrate any kind of LIV Golf trophy; John Catlin won as a reserve with Smash GC at Greenbrier during the 2024 season.
“Man, the week that Travis had, shooting those scores around this golf course,” Howell said. “When you're playing for a team and you're up there at the top and you're wanting to win, it's just one of the really, really cool things about LIV Golf – and it happens every week.”
FINAL LEADERBOARDS
Individual Top 10
1 (-12) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (66-69-66-67) *
2 (-12) – Talor Gooch, OKGC (69-63-69-67)
3 (-11) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65-68-71-65)
4 (-10) – Dustin Johnson, 4Aces (70-70-64-66)
5 (-9) – Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (65-70-67-69)
T6 (-8) – Brendan Steele, HyFlyers (70-69-68-65); Harold Varner III, OKGC (68-69-68-67)
T8 (-7) – Travis Smyth, Crushers (72-66-68-67); Lucas Herbert, Ripper (71-66-69-67); Marc Leishman, Ripper (69-68-68-68); Charles Howell III, Crushers (65-70-68-70)
* Won on first playoff hole with birdie
Team Top 3
1 (-23) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 65-68-71-65, Smyth 72-66-68-67, Howell III 65-70-68-70, Lahiri 68-73-70-71; Rd. 4 total: -7)
2 (-20) – OKGC (Gooch 69-63-69-67, Varner III 68-69-68-67, Kokrak 68-70-69-70, McDowell 68-71-73-71; Rd. 4 total: -5)
3 (-15) – Ripper GC (Leishman 69-68-68-68, Herbert 71-66-69-67, Smith 67-68-68-73, Smylie 71-69-74-69; Rd. 4 total: -3)
ROUND 4 NOTES
DECHAMBEAU WAKES UP: Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau was 6 under on his first 10 holes of the week. He then played the next 45 holes in even par.
“I kind of went to Never Never Land,” he said.
Specifically, DeChambeau said his swing got out of sync and that his hands were getting ahead of him.
“It continued that way for the next two rounds, and it was very frustrating,” he explained. “I spent some long hours on the range trying to figure some stuff out and I was talking to AI quite a bit last night trying to go through some different physics principles that makes the club turn over, having some alpha torque and gamma torque put in there. I was like, what makes that possibly do that, and was talking about just grip pressure and tension.”
Suffice to say, he figured it out Sunday. Starting with the second hole, he posted five birdies in a 10-hole stretch to climb into contention before coming up a shot short of making the playoff.
“I feel like I'm on the right path now, and I had it OK in the first round, but I felt really good this round,” DeChambeau said. “I felt better than I did in the first round, which is a good trend.”
STATS LEADERS
Round 4
Driving Distance: Dean Burmester, 319.6-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Dean Burmester, 345.3 yards (11th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 11 and 12.
Driving Accuracy: Victor Perez, 92.86% (13 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Travis Smyth, Younghan Song, Laurie Canter, 88.89% (16 of 18)
Scrambling: Nine players tied at 100%, led by Richard Bland (7 of 7), Miguel Tabuena (7 of 7)
Fewest Putts: Danny Lee, 24
Bogey-free rounds: Brendan Steele (65), Laurie Canter (65), Louis Oosthuizen (65), Dustin Johnson (66), Branden Grace (67), Richard Bland (67), Miguel Tabuena (68)
Cumulative
Driving Distance: Jon Rahm, 311.3-yard avg.
Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, 76.79% (43 of 56)
Greens in Regulation: Laurie Canter, 81.94% (59 of 72)
Scrambling: Richard Bland (27 of 33), 81.82%
Fewest Putts: Danny Lee, 104
Lowest Rounds: Rd. 1 – Bryson DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, Scott Vincent (65); Rd 2 – Talor Gooch (63); Rd. 3 – Dustin Johnson (64); Rd. 4 – Bryson DeChambeau, Brendan Steele, Laurie Canter, David Puig, Cameron Tringale, Josele Ballester, Louis Oosthuizen (65)
