Golf: Smith delivers Punch to help eliminate Mickelson’s Hy Flyers at LIV Team Championship

Hy Flyers captain Phil Mickelson (right) with Punch's Cameron Smith during the first round of the LIV Golf Team Championship on Oct 28, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

DORAL, Florida – The first day of the LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump National Doral featured the elimination of Phil Mickelson’s team, Hy Flyers.

Cameron Smith of Australia defeated Mickelson 1 up in matchplay to help end Mickelson’s season on Friday in Miami.

Smith’s team, Punch, advanced to the quarter-finals by beating Hy Flyers 2-1. Smash defeated Niblicks 2-1, Majesticks beat Iron Heads 3-0 and Cleeks took down Torque 2-1.

Each first-round match was made up of three pairings – two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match, all worth one point.

The top-four teams in the season standings – 4 Aces, Crushers, Fireballs and Stinger – earned a bye straight into the semi-finals, which will be played on Saturday in the same format.

In addition to Smith beating Mickelson in a tight match, teammate and fellow countryman Marc Leishman beat American Matthew Wolff 4 and 2 in their other singles match. Cameron Tringale, from the United States, and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger earned a point in vain for Hy Flyers by beating Australians Matt Jones and Wade Ormsby 3 and 2.

In an all-American battle, Smash got past Niblicks in spite of captain Brooks Koepka losing 4 and 3 to Harold Varner III. Peter Uihlein tamed James Piot 5 and 3, and the duo of Jason Kokrak and Chase Koepka outlasted Turk Pettit and Hudson Swafford 2 and 1.

Captain Ian Poulter of England led Majesticks by defeating Kevin Na of Iron Heads 4 and 2. Majesticks had the sweep as Englishman Lee Westwood beat Sihwan Kim 4 and 3, and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and England’s Sam Horsfield beat the Thai duo of Sadom Kaewkanjana and Phachara Khongwatmai 4 and 2.

Joaquin Niemann of Chile beat Jordan’s Shergo Al Kurdi 5 and 3 to score Torque a point over Cleeks. However, England’s Laurie Canter beat Australian Jediah Morgan 1 up and England’s Richard Bland and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell won 2 up over Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui to secure the win for Torque.

On Saturday, 4 Aces will face Cleeks, Smash will play Majesticks, Fireballs will battle Punch and Stinger will square off with Crushers.

The four winning teams will advance to Sunday’s final round, which will use standard strokeplay. All four players on each team will compete and everyone’s scores will count towardS the team score, with the lowest team score winning the team championship and US$16 million (S$22.6 million) from the US$50 million prize pool. REUTERS

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