HyFlyers, Cleeks pull off upsets to reach LIV Golf Team Championship semi-finals

Brendan Steele and James Piot of the HyFlyers won their Foursomes match. (Supplied)
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Updated 21 October 2023
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HyFlyers, Cleeks pull off upsets to reach LIV Golf Team Championship semi-finals

  • Stinger win all 3 matches against Iron Heads, 6th-seed Fireballs beat Majesticks 2-1 as both also advance to semis

MIAMI: HyFlyers GC and Cleeks GC pulled off the upsets as lower-seeded teams during Friday’s quarterfinal matches of the LIV Golf Team Championship in Miami and will face the top two seeds in Saturday’s semi-finals at Trump National Doral.

HyFlyers’ captain, Phil Mickelson, lost his high-profile singles match to Smash GC captain, Brooks Koepka, six and four, in a battle of LIV Golf’s most decorated major winners.

But teammate Cameron Tringale beat Jason Kokrak in the other singles match, while the duo of Brendan Steele and James Piot beat Chase Koepka and Matthew Wolff in foursomes to give the ninth-seeded HyFlyers a 2-1 victory.

Mickelson said: “So excited about these guys. So proud of what they did, the way they played. It’s inspiring. Look forward to the opportunity these guys gave me.”

Cleeks GC captain, Martin Kaymer, lost to Ripper GC captain, Cameron Smith, after a late rally to send his match to an extra hole. But Richard Bland beat Marc Leishman in the other singles, while Graeme McDowell and Bernd Wiesberger claimed a thrilling match against Matt Jones and Jediah Morgan in foursomes that went three extra holes. McDowell rolled in the winning birdie putt from 20 feet to give the 10th-seeded Cleeks a 2-1 victory.

It was the second consecutive year the Cleeks have pulled off an upset at Doral. Last year as the 10th seed, they beat seventh-seeded Torque. With a podium finish in Jeddah last week and now a quarterfinal win on Friday, the Cleeks will have plenty of momentum entering Saturday.

McDowell said: “We’re a little bit dangerous looking going into tomorrow. We’ve kind of shifted into the next gear. We’ll try to stay in that gear.”

Fifth-seeded Stinger GC won all three of its matches against Iron Heads GC, while sixth-seed Fireballs GC beat Majesticks GC, 2-1.

Captains of the top four seeds then selected their semi-final opponents after Friday’s round. The shotgun start for Saturday is set with these matchups: No. 1 4Aces GC versus No. 9 HyFlyers GC; No. 2 Crushers GC versus No. 10 Cleeks GC; No. 3 Torque GC versus No. 5 Stinger GC; No. 4 RangeGoats GC versus No. 6 Fireballs GC.

The defending team champion 4Aces GC will pose a tough challenge for the HyFlyers, but Mickelson – who will face Dustin Johnson in singles – was looking forward to the opportunity.

“The Aces are the strongest team on LIV. They won it last year. They’ve led throughout the year this year. But I’m really proud of my team for today and the effort that our guys made down the stretch to win and to finish the matches off,” Mickelson added.

Johnson said selecting the lowest-seeded team available was the obvious choice. “I was sitting over here with the team, and they wanted to play the HyFlyers, so I said OK.”

The Crushers lost in the semi-finals last year with the same lineup, but captain, Bryson DeChambeau, said his team was stronger this year.

“I feel like we’re a force to be reckoned with, and we’ve just got to keep playing our game in the way we know we can and see what happens,” DeChambeau added.

Torque GC, the youngest team in the LIV Golf League, won more tournament titles (four) than any other team this season, but they will face a tough South African squad that posted the only shutout on Friday.

On his match against Torque captain, Joaquin Niemann, Stinger captain, Louis Oosthuizen, said: “They’ve got youth, so he’ll learn. So, we’ll see. It’s going to be fun tomorrow.”

RangeGoats captain, Bubba Watson, will face Fireballs Captain Sergio Garcia, but the intriguing matchup will be 2023 individual champion Talor Gooch against young Eugenio Chacarra, who had the best performance Friday with a 6 and 5 win over the Majesticks’ Sam Horsfield.

Garcia, who lost a tight match against Majesticks co-captain, Henrik Stenson, said: “We’re going to go out there, we’re going to give it our best. My boys played amazing today, so I hope that they do more of the same tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll play a little bit better, and we’ll see if we can get that W.”


Yan Liu has an albatross and a late birdie to hang onto the lead in the Chevron Championship

Updated 26 April 2025
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Yan Liu has an albatross and a late birdie to hang onto the lead in the Chevron Championship

  • Liu holed her 175-yard second shot on the 505-yard, downwind par-5 eighth with a 7-iron for the albatross
  • Top-ranked Nelly Korda rallied late in the afternoon to make the cut in her title defense, following an opening 77 with a 68

THE WOODLANDS, Texas: Yan Liu had an albatross to offset three front-nine bogeys and rebounded from a late bogey for an even-par 72 and a one-stroke lead over four players Friday in the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major tournament of the year.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda rallied late in the afternoon to make the cut in her title defense, following an opening 77 with a 68. She won last year at The Club at Carlton Woods for the last of her record-tying five straight victories.

She used a different putter Friday.

“I putted for an hour and a half after the round yesterday, so just needed something different,” Korda said. “Sometimes that’s all you need.”

Fog delayed the start of play, with nine players unable to finish the round because of darkness.

Liu, the 27-year-old Chinese player who shared the first-round lead with Haeran Ryu after a 65, admitted she would feel some pressure Saturday.

“I think, definitely, I will feel a little bit, because, well, this is major,” Liu said. “I know the course is going to be harder, harder, so I think I just stay patient, calm because I’m very emotional person.”

Hyo Joo Kim (71) was a stroke back with Lindy Duncan (66), Sarah Schmelzel (68) and Mao Saigo (68). Kim won the Ford Championship a month ago in Arizona for her seventh LPGA Tour title, while the other four players at the top of the leaderboard are winless.

Liu holed her 175-yard second shot on the 505-yard, downwind par-5 eighth with a 7-iron for the albatross.

“I saw the ball how to go in, so that’s really cool thing,” Liu said. “But I think they don’t have video for that hole. Little sad.”

Liu then bogeyed No. 9 and opened the back nine with seven pars. She dropped into a six-way tied for the lead with a bogey on the par-3 17th. Her tee shot hopped left into fluffy Bermuda rough, she chunked her second to the fringe and missed a 15-foot par try.

She got the stroke back with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th, finishing about an hour before sunset.

“Last hole, is my first birdie today,” Liu said. “I’m glad I made it.

Ryu had a 74 to fall two strokes back in a group with Angel Yin (70) , Manon De Roey (71) and Hye-Jin Choi (71). Weiwei Zhang also was 5 under with three holes left when play was suspended.

Lexi Thompson was 4 under, following an opening 73 with a 67. The 30-year-old Florida player retired from full-time play at the end of last season.

“I’m still practicing and training,” Thompson said. “I love working out. I’m still striving to be better for when I do tee it up because every time I tee it up I still want to win. It’s not like I’m just going out here to show face. I’m still very competitive, but just trying to enjoy the few times I will play.”

She won the 2014 event — then the Kraft Nabisco Championship — at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California.

 

 


Bryson DeChambeau bombs his way to lead at LIV Golf Mexico City

Updated 26 April 2025
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Bryson DeChambeau bombs his way to lead at LIV Golf Mexico City

  • In the thin air of Mexico City, DeChambeau averaged 370 yards per drive with three 400-yard drives
  • His team Crushers GC posted a collective score of 15 under to tie for first with Smith’s all-Australian Ripper GC

Bryson DeChambeau opened with an 8-under-par 63 to take a one-shot lead over fellow major champions Cameron Smith and Jon Rahm at LIV Golf Mexico City on Friday.
DeChambeau eagled his first hole of the day, the short par-4 second at Club De Golf Chapultepec, and was 4 under through three. He carded just one bogey before finishing birdie-birdie-par-birdie.
In the thin air of Mexico City, DeChambeau averaged 370 yards per drive with three 400-yard drives, per a reporter.
“Yeah, 370 is about right,” DeChambeau said. “I was flying it that far on the driving range. I’m like, ‘OK, I think that’s going to be my average,’ and if the fairways get firm, it could be more. It could be a lot more.”
The team DeChambeau captains, Crushers GC, posted a collective score of 15 under to tie for first with Smith’s all-Australian Ripper GC.
Smith paired nine birdies with two bogeys.
“Just kind of getting out of my own way today was really important and just trusting it,” Smith said. “It’s a tough golf course, especially to get it in the fairway, which is something that I’ve been struggling with. I decided to just kind of let it go and get out of my own way.”
As for Rahm, the Spaniard is third in the points standings so far this season but is still searching for his first win since September at LIV Golf Chicago.
He had the same total as Smith — nine birdies, two bogeys — which included a near-ace at his finishing hole, the par-3 18th. His ball skirted right past the cup and he made a short birdie putt.
Rahm was also pleased with his start of three birdies in a row.
“What better way to start it than with three birdies in a row,” Rahm said. “That just set the tone, and felt really comfortable on the greens all day. Couldn’t really have asked for a much better score.”
Bubba Watson is alone in fourth at 5-under 66. England’s Tyrrell Hatton is fifth at 4-under 67.
 


Ryu, Liu share Chevron Championship lead as defending champion Korda struggles

Updated 25 April 2025
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Ryu, Liu share Chevron Championship lead as defending champion Korda struggles

  • The round was suspended late as a storm approached The Club at Carlton Woods, with 24 players unable to finish
  • Among those unable to complete the round were Lexi Thompson, who retired from full-time tour golf last year, and LPGA rookie Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden, who won last week in Los Angeles in her third start as an LPGA Tour member

THE WOODLANDS, Texas: Haeran Ryu and Yan Liu each shot bogey-free 7-under 65 to share the lead during the suspended first round of the Chevron Championship as top-ranked Nelly Korda struggled to a 77 on Thursday in her title defense.

The round was suspended late as a storm approached The Club at Carlton Woods, with 24 players unable to finish.

Korda won the event last year for the last of her five straight LPGA Tour victories and had hoped to rediscover that dominant form in the season’s first major. Instead, she made bogeys on four straight holes and was 4-over par after six holes.

Korda added two more bogeys on the back nine and was 12 shots behind the leaders and needing a big second round simply to make the cut.

Ryu of South Korea and Liu of China had no such problems.

Ryu birdied five of her first 10 holes to move in front and made her seventh birdie on her closing hole, the ninth.

Liu got going on her back nine with four birdies in a five-hole stretch. She, too, made a closing birdie to tie Ryu.

Hya Joo Kim was a shot behind the two leaders heading to her final hole, but took bogey on the 18th to finish with a 67.

The group at 68 included Ariya Jutanugarn, Hye-Jin Choi, Carlotta Ciganda, Manon De Roey and Brooke Matthews. Lucy Li also was 4-under par through 14 when play was suspended,

Among those unable to complete the round were Lexi Thompson, who retired from full-time tour golf last year, and LPGA rookie Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden, who won last week in Los Angeles in her third start as an LPGA Tour member.

Thompson was at 1-over par with her final hole, the ninth, remaining. Lindblad was at 2-over par with her last hole, the 18th, to play. Lindblad had a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 14th.

Ryu, with two career LPGA Tour victories, changed putters midway through last week’s tournament in Los Angeles, liked how it felt and continued with it in Texas.

Ryu said she was more comfortable on the greens. She often opened the face with her former putter, Ryu explained, and was happy to make several tricky putts in her round. “It’s really good for me,” she said.

Liu, seeking her first LPGA Tour win, was not happy with her performance off the tee in Los Angeles last week and worked to get it corrected. “This week, I fixed my driver, so it feels very solid,” she said.

Little was solid for Korda, who began her season with a pair of top 10 finishes, but has not been as crisp as a year ago when she won seven events and was the Rolex Player of the Year.

When Korda walked off the 18th green following her round, she told a small group of media that she was headed back to work.

“I’m going to go and practice and see where it takes me,” she said.

Korda is seeking her third career major.


Defending champion Korda chases first win of season at Chevron Championship

Updated 23 April 2025
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Defending champion Korda chases first win of season at Chevron Championship

  • Unlike last season, no one has emerged as a dominant force so far in 2025 with the first eight LPGA events producing eight different winners
  • World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand finished runner-up to Ko at HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore

LOS ANGELES: Nelly Korda heads into her title defense in the Chevron Championship seeking her first victory of 2025, a stark contrast to the blistering early pace of her 2024 campaign but one that doesn’t bother the world No. 1 at all.

“I would say last year is last year,” Korda said Tuesday as she prepared for the first women’s major of the year to tee off on Thursday at Carlton Woods in suburban Houston.

“This is a brand new year. What I achieved last year, no one can take that from me. That’s always going to be such a great memory, but it’s a fresh week and a fresh mindset.”

Last year Korda withstood a tension-packed back nine to beat Maja Stark by two strokes and claim her fifth victory in five starts — matching an LPGA Tour record set by Nancy Lopez in 1978 and equalled by Annika Sorenstam from 2004-05.

Korda would go on to win seven titles in a spectacular 2024 campaign.

But she has just two top-10 finishes in five starts this season, having opted to skip the LPGA’s Asian swing after a runner-up finish in the Tournament of Champions in January and a tie for seventh in the Founders Cup in February.

Korda said she needed the rest, and while she faded from contention at the LA Championship last week to finish tied for 16th, the 26-year-old American says that aspects of her game are coming around.

“I think I saw some improvements in my game last week with my irons,” Korda said. “Definitely felt a little bit more comfortable with that.

“Then just need my putter to click a little bit more to make those putts. I think that’s where it’s been lacking, is the putts that I was making last year I’m just not making as many this year.

“But that’s just golf. I’ve gone through waves like this before, and if I just continue working at it, hopefully it does click.”

Unlike last season, no one has emerged as a dominant force so far in 2025 with the first eight LPGA events producing eight different winners.

All eight are in a Chevron field that features 24 of the top 25 in the world rankings.

They include world No. 3 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, the winner of the 2016 edition of the Chevron — when it was still held in California.

Ko claimed her 23rd career title at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.

World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand finished runner-up to Ko there and while she is seeking her first title of the year she has five top-10 finishes in six starts.

Fourth-ranked Lilia Vu, the 2023 Chevron champion, returns after missing her title defense last year because of a back injury that caused her so much pain she wondered if she would be able to play tournament golf.

“I would say I’m in a much better place than I was last year,” said Vu, who made a triumphant return to competition last June at the Meijer LPGA Classic.


Justin Thomas ends 3-year drought with playoff victory in RBC Heritage

Updated 21 April 2025
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Justin Thomas ends 3-year drought with playoff victory in RBC Heritage

  • In the playoff, Novak missed from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas
  • The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball dropped, stooping over and clutching both arms to celebrate a win that felt long overdue
  • His previous win was the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May of 2022

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.:Justin Thomas ended nearly three years without a victory Sunday by making a birdie putt from just outside 20 feet in a playoff at Harbor Town to beat Andrew Novak in the RBC Heritage.

Thomas played bogey-free in dry, fast conditions for a 3-under 68, making a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th that looked like it might be the winner until Novak, who grew up in South Carolina, matched him with a big birdie of his own for a 68.

Novak, who has had three good chances to win in his last 14 tournaments, had an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation that was left all the way.

In the playoff, Novak missed from just inside 35 feet, setting the stage for Thomas. The putt was so pure that Thomas dropped his putter before the ball dropped, stooping over and clutching both arms to celebrate a win that felt long overdue.

His previous win was the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May of 2022. His game slipped and he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in 2023, and he was left off the Presidents Cup team a year ago.

His game was back in order — he cracked the top 10 again — and needed only a victory to confirm his game was back among the elite.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed winning,” Thomas said on the 18th green as he stood next to wife Jill and 5-month-old daughter Molly.

Thomas and Novak finished at 17-under 267, three shots clear of anyone else.

Novak was a runner-up in Bermuda last fall. He was right there at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. He was in the mix at the Valero Texas Open. And this looked like it might be his moment to break through until Thomas refused to be denied.

“Winning is hard. It’s really, really hard,” Thomas said with a tinge of emotion in his voice. “I’ve worked my butt off and stayed patient, stayed positive.”

He won for the 16th time on the PGA Tour, and to his recollection, he has never had to make a putt of length on the 18th hole to win by a shot.

“That was as fun as I thought it would be,” Thomas said.

They pulled away in the middle of the round from a tight leaderboard — a four-way tie at one point as they were joined by 54-hole leader Si Woo Kim and Maverick McNealy.

Daniel Berger closed with a 65 to tie for third with McNealy (70), Mackenzie Hughes (67) and Brian Harman (69).

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler even got in on the act, just briefly. He started four shots behind and was even for the round through eight holes. But he ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn to pull within two.

Scheffler was running out of hole when he took on a high-risk shot needing eagle to have a legitimate chance. That found the water, leading to double bogey. He still shot 70 and tied for eighth, his third straight top 10 while contending into the final hour.

“I think I’m really close,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I did a lot of things well this week, just a few of the important shots I just didn’t pull off. Outside of that it was a pretty solid week.”

Thomas won the tournament with a birdie in a playoff. He saved his chances toward the end of the front nine when he made four straight putts starting on the fifth hole — 7 feet for birdie, 7 feet for par, 8 feet for par and just inside 15 feet for birdie on No. 8, where he took on the trees with a 7-iron to give himself a chance.

Novak had tree trouble and battled away, getting a few good bounces and a remarkable par save from a sandy lie amidst a forest on No. 11.

He moves high enough in the world ranking — inside the top 35 — that he should be a lock for the US Open and now needs to stay in the top 50 the next month for the British Open.

“I’m not as frustrated as I thought I would be.” Novak said. “I feel like I did a lot of good things. I’m pretty proud of putting myself in that position when I really felt like I wasn’t swinging it that great this week.

“I thought I was a little more comfortable down the stretch than maybe I have been in the past. Justin just went out and won it. There’s nothing you can really do about it.”