Majesticks GC and Iron Heads GC set for Wednesday showdown

PLYMOUTH, Mich. – It’s a win-or-go-home showdown on Wednesday morning between Majesticks GC and Iron Heads GC, the bottom two seeds from the regular season that will square off in LIV Golf’s first-ever play-in matchup prior to this weekend’s Michigan Team Championship.

RELATED: Format explainer for Michigan | Format updates

Follow the matches on LIV Golf's social and YouTube channels.

The Majesticks finished 12th and the Iron Heads 13th in the final points standings after last week’s regular-season finale in Indianapolis. As a result, they will go head-to-head in the high-stakes contest, with the winner joining the 11 other seeds in Friday’s Quarterfinals at The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort. The losing team Wednesday will see its season end.

The play-in matchup will consist of two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match, with a total of three points available. The first team to secure two points is the winner. The match pairings for Wednesday showdown are as follows, all starting from Hole 1:

• 8:00 AM: Singles 1: Lee Westwood vs. Danny Lee

• 8:11 AM: Singles 2: Sam Horsfield vs. Yubin Jang

• 8:22 AM: Foursomes: Henrik Stenson & Ian Poulter vs. Kevin Na & Jinichiro Kozuma

12. MAJESTICKS GC

How they got here: The Majesticks earned 9.16 points for the season. They accumulated points in the first two tournaments this season, including a season-best T5 in Adelaide, but followed that with three consecutive results at the bottom of the team leaderboard. It was a poor season overall for the Majesticks, who had all three of their tri-captains competing to avoid the drop last week in Indianapolis. However, they do enter Michigan off their second-best performance of the year, a solo sixth.

Ian Poulter made birdie on four of his last five holes to sneak into the Open Zone, which unfortunately knocked his teammate, Henrik Stenson, down into relegation territory. Poulter finished 48th in the LIV Golf standings with Stenson falling to 49th.

Lee Westwood had an up-and-down season with a few flashes of brilliance. Although he finished 46th in the standings, his ceiling was higher than Poulter’s and Stenson’s. Westwood finished T10 in Virginia and had a strong Open Championship performance where he finished T34.

Sam Horsfield finished 39th in the standings with his best finish of the season coming in Adelaide (T7).

Previous Team Championship matches: Majesticks GC defeated Iron Heads GC in 2022, however Kevin Na was the only Iron Heads player who's currently on the roster in 2025. Na was defeated by Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson won his singles and Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield won their foursomes match. This will be the first time that Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson will be paired together for foursomes at the Team Championship.

Reason for optimism: There’s no denying that the Majesticks had a poor season, but match play has historically been a strength for Poulter, Stenson and Westwood. Poulter has represented Europe in seven Ryder Cups (2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2021), with an overall record of 15-8-2, including an unbeaten 6-0-1 in singles matches. He was part of five winning European teams, earning the nickname "The Postman" for his ability to deliver under pressure. Westwood has a great deal of match play experience and holds the record for the most matches played for Team Europe (47), surpassing Nick Faldo in 2021. Stenson holed the winning putt for Team Europe in his Ryder Cup debut in 2006 at The K Club. He competed in five Ryder Cups (2006, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2018) and formed a formidable duo with England’s Justin Rose.

13. IRON HEADS GC

How they got here: The Iron Heads finished last in the standings, earning only one point all season, and finished last in five different tournaments this season, including two of the last three.

Their captain, Kevin Na, had a disappointing season and finished 44th in the individual standings. Na’s best finish this season was a T12 in Hong Kong.

Jinichiro Kozuma was the lone bright spot for the Iron Heads. Kozuma missed the first five events of the LIV Golf season with a back injury but was outstanding after returning, finishing a team-best 32nd in the individual points standings. The highlight of the season came in the form of a T2 finish in Dallas, where he lost in a playoff to Patrick Reed. The season was undoubtedly a success for the 31-year-old, but he did begin to struggle towards the end of the season. Kozuma finished 40th or worse in each of his last three starts.

Danny Lee had one top 10 finish all season, which came in Miami (T9). He finished 43rd in points, while newcomer Yubin Jang finished 53rd and in the Drop Zone, resulting in relegation after this week.

Previous Team Championship matches: Danny Lee was the standout performer in singles during the Iron Heads 2024 run, serving as the team’s go-to player, while Jinichiro Kozuma dominated in foursomes, winning both of his matches. Captain Kevin Na initially played singles, but after losing in the Quarterfinals (to drop his singles record to 0-3 in LIV Golf), he opted to play foursomes with Kozuma in last year’s semifinals, which proved to be a wise decision, as the Iron Heads swept the top-seeded Crushers GC. Lee defeated Bryson DeChambeau 2 up; Scott Vincent defeated Paul Casey 1 up; and Na-Kozuma defeated Anirban Lahiri and Charles Howell III 3 and 1.

Reason for optimism: Last year at the Team Championship, despite finishing last in the regular season, they produced multiple upsets. They knocked out the 1st (Crushers) and 4th (Smash) seeds and had a great run in the stroke-play finals, eventually finishing T2. Na, Lee and Kozuma are all returning from the team that made the 2024 Cinderella run and will look to do the same in Michigan.