Crushers GC victorious at LIV Golf New York for record-setting 11th team title
BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC emerged as the LIV Golf New York team champions in a tight battle against Torque GC and Legion XIII to become the winningest team in league history with 11 regular-season tournament titles. “It’s just the truth – when golf courses get tougher, it seems like we shine more for some reason,” DeChambeau said.
The Crushers won with a cumulative score of 6 over, the highest ever by a winning team in LIV Golf history. On Thursday, they opened with a score of 11 over and were tied for 11th but steadily worked their way up the leaderboard the rest of the week, relying on their veteran depth rather than the heroics of two-time U.S. Open winner DeChambeau, who ultimately tied for 38th.
Paul Casey was the team’s top performer, shooting 6 under for the week to tie for 6th and producing a clutch 3-under 68 on Sunday. Anirban Lahiri tied for 17th at 1 over and Charles Howell IIII tied for 28th at 4 over.
The Crushers entered the final round eight strokes back of Torque but shot a cumulative 1 under to Torque’s 9 over. Lahiri birdied his last hole to provide separation from Legion XIII, who tied for second with Torque.
“I think when you get to a Sunday afternoon and we get in with a sniff, I think all our tails go up,” said Lahiri, who joined the team four years ago in Boston to complete its current lineup. “Like, we really want to win pretty badly.”
ROUND 4 NOTES
PODIUM SPOTS STILL UP FOR GRABS: Even though Jon Rahm has clinched the season-long Individual Championship, the other two spots on the podium will be determined at LIV Golf Indianapolis in two weeks.
Bryson DeChambeau currently is in second place in the standings with 726.20 points, with Joaquin Niemann in third at 553.66 points. Lucas Herbert is fourth at 541.41 points and Tyrrell Hatton is fifth at 453.23 points.
Those four players will battle it out for the second and third place finishers behind Rahm.
DECHAMBEAU ON HIS WEEK: Bryson DeChambeau shot 76-74 in his first two rounds at Bedminster, taking him out of the running in his bid to remain close to Jon Rahm in the Individual Championship race. The Crushers captain shot 70-71 on the weekend but was still able to celebrate a team trophy.
“I might have been 6-, 7-, 8-over par going into the third round, but I'm like, I need to get this thing back to even par, not just for myself but for my team,” DeChambeau said.
“It's a bit disappointing and honestly embarrassing to be that far over considering the skill set and the playability that I know I have. But you've got to fight for every shot. It's a little different out here. From a team aspect, yeah, this is what sets LIV Golf apart for sure.”
TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS
Individual Top 10
1 (-16) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (64-65-70-69)
2 (-13) – Harold Varner, OKGC (69-67-65-70)
T3 (-9) – Lee Westwood, Majesticks (69-65-69-72); Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (69-68-72-66)
5 (-7) – Byeong Hun An, Korean (72-68-68-69)
T6 (-6) – Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (68-70-70-70); Tom McKibbin, Legion XIII (70-66-70-72); Paul Casey, Crushers (70-67-73-68)
T9 (-4) – Younghan Song, Korean (72-70-68-70); Branden Grace, Southern Guards (73-69-72-66)
Team Top 3
1 (+6) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 76-74-70-71, Casey 70-67-73-68, Howell III 75-69-71-73, Lahiri 74-67-73-71; Rd. 4 score: -1)
T2 (+8) – Legion XIII (Rahm 72-71-73-76, Hatton 73-76-69-72, McKibbin 70-66-70-72, Surratt 76-69-68-71; Rd. 4 score: +7)
T2 (+8) – Torque GC (Niemann 64-65-70-69, Ancer 71-72-70-76, Ortiz 71-71-76-73, Munoz 74-71-76-75; Rd. 4 score: +9)
Click here for full leaderboard
STATS LEADERS
Round 4
Driving Distance: Matthew Wolff, 315.6-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Dean Burmester, 325.9 yards (15th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 15 and 18.
Driving Accuracy: Sergio Garcia, 100% (14 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Richard T. Lee, 88.89% (16 of 18)
Scrambling: Scott Vincent (5 of 5), Laurie Canter (5 of 5), Brendan Steele (4 of 4), Paul Casey (3 of 3), Richard T. Lee (2 of 2), 100%
Fewest Putts: Peter Uihlein, 23
Bogey-free rounds: Scott Vincent (66), Richard T. Lee (67), Paul Casey (68)
CUMULATIVE
Driving Distance: Dean Burmester, 311.9-yard avg.
Driving Accuracy: Paul Casey, Yosuke Asaji, 82.14% (46 of 56)
Greens in Regulation: Joaquin Niemann, 77.78% (56 of 72)
Scrambling: Harold Varner III, 79.17% (19 of 24)
Fewest Putts: Harold Varner III, 105
Lowest Rounds: Rd. 1 - Joaquin Niemann (64). Rd. 2 – Richard Bland (64); Rd. 3 – Harold Varner III (65); Rd. 4 – Scott Vincent (66), Laurie Canter (66), Branden Grace (66)
