The strategy of foursomes at the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship

PLYMOUTH, Mich. – This week at the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship, teams will be faced with the challenging foursome format, where two teammates will play an alternate shot match against their opponents. In foursomes, there is a great deal of strategy that goes into the pairings, including skill set of each player, the golf ball being used, and even which holes the players are teeing off on.

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With teams needing to earn two points in each round to advance, choosing the right foursome tandem will be critical.

NEW FOURSOME PAIRINGS

Charles Howell III and Paul Casey (Crushers GC), Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter (Majesticks GC), Caleb Surratt and Tom McKibbin (Legion XIII), Sergio Garcia and Josele Ballester (Fireballs GC), and Marc Leishman and Matt Jones (Ripper GC).

Crushers GC: Paul Casey and Charles Howell III
In the past, the Crushers have utilized Howell III and Anirban Lahiri as their foursomes team, but with poor results (0-3). This year, Captain Bryson DeChambeau is looking to shake things up with the Casey and Howell III pairing.

Casey, ranked first in Strokes Gained: Approach in 2025, brings elite iron play, while Howell III is a reliable fairway finder and good putter. DeChambeau praised their compatibility: “Having Paul Casey and Charles that are pretty consistent and guys that just don't waver that much, it's something I'm willing to put up against the Majesticks.”

Majesticks GC: Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter

Stenson and Poulter have played together on plenty of European Ryder Cup teams in addition to their time as teammates together on LIV Golf, but interestingly, this week is the first time they’ve been paired together in foursomes. In fact, it’s the fourth different foursomes combination the Majesticks have used in as many years.

After the Majesticks advanced following the play-in match against Iron Heads GC on Wednesday, where Stenson and Poulter lost 4&2, the other tri-captain, Lee Westwood, discussed the change.

“I’ve played with Ian and Sam, I think. I don’t think I’ve played with Henrik. I feel like we played all right in a couple of our matches and lost. Match play is just like that. I’ve played World Match Play where it’s over 36 holes and then you generally get the winner you think you’re going to get, but I’ve played match plays over 18 holes, the Dell Match Play in Austin and when we used to play up in Tucson, and it’s a sponsor’s nightmare because all the stars you want to watch could be going home the first day. With good players, it’s a very volatile format. Nothing is a given.”

Legion XIII: Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt

With Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton playing singles, it was inevitable that the two young players on Legion XIII would take on the foursomes match. McKibbin’s superior iron play pairs with Surratt’s elite putting and strong driving, and they should make a formidable duo. McKibbin and Surratt will take on Cleeks Golf Club’s Martin Kaymer and Frederik Kjettrup in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Fireballs GC: Sergio Garcia and Josele Ballester

It came as a bit of a surprise that Garcia chose to pair with Ballester, as he’s been an extremely successful singles player in his time as the Fireballs GC Captain (4-1 record). However, given how well David Puig and Abraham Ancer are playing and Garcia’s long relationship with the former U.S. Amateur champion, the pairing certainly makes sense.

“Well, I’ve known him for a long time. I knew what he was capable of,” Garcia said of Ballester. “Obviously he played very well a couple weeks earlier at JCB and had a good finish there, had a strong finish. Yeah, it’s been fun to see him kind of settled in and getting more and more comfortable. Obviously he’s an unbelievable player, great potential, beautiful person. Very excited to obviously have him in our team and really excited to play foursomes with him tomorrow.”

The Spanish duo will face the struggling pairing of Andy Ogletree and Brendan Steele.

Ripper GC: Marc Leishman and Matt Jones

In 2022, Matt Jones was utilized by Ripper GC in foursomes alongside Wade Ormsby, who’s no longer on the team. In 2023, it was more of the same as Jones paired with Jediah Morgan. Last year, Jones played with Captain Cameron Smith, and the duo lost to Garcia and Abraham Ancer of Fireballs GC, but the team was able to advance with singles matches wins by Lucas Herbert and Leishman.

Given that the foursome pairings haven’t stuck for Ripper, it makes sense for them to give the Leishman and Jones a chance to shine. They’ll take on an extremely difficult opponent in Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, who’ve played in multiple Presidents Cups together.

COURSE ANALYSIS: ODD VS. EVEN HOLES

The Cardinal at St. John’s layout provides an interesting angle for foursomes strategy. All three par 3s are odd-numbered, so the odd-hole player handles five tee shots on par-4s and par 5s and 13 approach shots, including each of the par-3 tee shots. The even-hole player takes all nine tee shots on par-4 and par-5 holes, but only five approach shots, while managing three times as many first putts as his playing partner.

Therefore, the stronger approach player should tee off on odd holes, where iron play is paramount, while the better driver and putter takes the even holes. DeChambeau emphasized this approach for Casey and Howell: “I feel like they’ll choose to have [Paul Casey] on the par 3s.”

ADDITIONAL STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS

Beyond shot distribution, foursomes strategy involves nuanced factors like playing style compatibility and equipment choices, such as pairing players who use the same golf ball, as they aren’t allowed to replace the ball to their preference in between shots.

RangeGoats GC captain Bubba Watson highlighted these elements when discussing the RangeGoats’ foursome team of Matthew Wolff and Peter Uihlein: “In our team matchup, (Wolff and Uihlein) play the same golf ball, so there’s no worries there. They play at home back down in West Palm. They’re members at the same course, and they play the same kind of game, hit the ball hard off the tee and then try to find it and hit it onto the green."

Watson made his last comment with a smile as the room erupted in laughter.

“Let’s just call it like it is; we’ve seen their stats,” he quipped. “So, they have the same game, right? They play the same ball, and they’ve played with each other so many times, really good friends. I wanted to challenge them. They’re playing against, gosh, No. 4 and No. 8 (in the individual standings) I think I looked at, against Carlos (Ortiz) and (Sebastián) Muñoz, so they have a tough matchup, but they wanted the challenge. I said, well, have fun with that match,” resulting in more laughter from those attending.