Crushers win team title as LIV Golf faces uncertain future
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Team Crushers captain Bryson Dechambeau with teammates Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri after winning the team championship.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MIAMI – India’s Anirban Lahiri said that he was “pumped up” as he fired a seven-under 65 in leading Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers to the LIV Golf team championship on Sunday, as the Saudi-backed golf series entered an off-season of uncertainty.
The 36-year-old had five birdies and an eagle at Doral in the four-player total stroke team final with teammates DeChambeau finishing on 67, fellow American Charles Howell on 72 and England’s Paul Casey on 73.
“I was really pumped up,” Lahiri said. “I wasn’t tense at all. I had a couple of Sundays (this season) when I let myself down, but I wasn’t going let the team down today.”
Crushers finished on 277 to defeat two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson’s Range Goats by two strokes with Torque, captained by Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, third on 282.
DeChambeau sank long birdie putts at the par-three 13th and 15th holes, then made another at the par-four 16 after his tee shot landed on an adjacent hole to keep the Crushers ahead.
“I can’t be happier with this team of mine,” the 2020 US Open champion said.
“We’ve been wanting to win this for a long time. Last year really left a sour taste and I can’t be happier with this team... They worked their butts off.”
Upstart LIV Golf, which lured many top PGA Tour players with record money and fewer events, sparked golf’s civil war in 2022, with defectors being banned from PGA events.
A framework merger agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) was announced in June but has yet to be finalised as a Dec 31 deadline looms.
There has also been talk of American investors looking to invest in the PGA Tour, but there has yet to be any concrete progress regarding this matter.
Among those who must sign off on any deal is a PGA Tour policy board with a majority-player membership that includes 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods.
With reports that Endeavor Group Holdings has submitted an investment bid to the PGA Tour earlier in October and Fenway Sports is interested in a similar move, the PGA Tour might find new revenues without the PIF.
That leaves LIV Golf unsure of what the off-season will bring even with reports that a 2024 LIV campaign would include several United States events opposite notable PGA stops.
“I thought there was an agreement to have, to try to create, an agreement that gave the PIF first right of refusal on potential investors,” six-time Major winner Phil Mickelson said. “I just don’t know how it all plays out.”
Captain Bryson DeChambeau of Crushers GC during the LIV Golf Team Championship on Oct 22.
PHOTO: AFP
The veteran had predicted more PGA exits for LIV for 2024, saying some have called with interest in a move.
“I know that’s going to happen,” he said. “When players look at LIV, they’re wanting to be a part of it.”
But with no world golf ranking points awarded at LIV events, it is tough for most LIV players to qualify for Majors.
Two-time Major winner Dustin Johnson said he was happy with his decision to join LIV, adding: “It’s something different and I’ve really enjoyed it the last two seasons. Looking forward to everything to come in the future.”
Watson said LIV’s best is yet to come, citing interest in sponsoring and purchasing LIV teams.
“We’re at the young stages of this league. We’re at the young stages of these franchises,” he said.
“The interest is there. Anywhere from 10 to 20 people have asked to buy the Range Goats. There were three in Singapore, and then after Singapore the floodgates opened. I met with people this week.” AFP
