The Aces’ bid for a repeat team championship in the 2023 LIV Golf finale came up well short as Bryson DeChambeau and the Crushers touched off a two-stroke win over the Range Goats on Sunday in Miami. The Crushers won by five over the Torque and eight over the Aces for their first team title in what was a closer competition throughout the day than the scores make it look like.
DeChambeau was a star, but he wasn’t the star for the Crushers in the 18-hole finals between the four teams that emerged from the first two days of play. All four scores counted for each team on Sunday, and the Crushers got good numbers from each of their guys. Anirban Lahiri shot 7-under 65 to lead all 16 golfers on the day, while DeChambeau chipped in a 5-under 67 to help him out. Charles Howell (E) and Paul Casey (+1) rounded out the Crushers’ scoring as they posted a 11-under 277.
The Crushers advanced to the finale after getting a bye on Friday for being one of the top four teams in the regular season and then beating the Cleeks 2-1 in the semifinals match play event on Saturday. DeChambeau pummeled Martin Kaymer 4&3, while Casey trounced Richard Bland 6&5 to secure the 2-1 victory and advance alongside the Aces, Range Goats and Torque.
This is a bit of redemption from a year ago. The Crushers had one of the better teams in the 2022 regular season but failed to make it to this same four-team finale in Miami as DeChambeau lost to Louis Oosthuizen and the Stinger GC in 23 holes during the semifinals. His was not the only loss in that semifinal matchup, but it was the deciding one as the Stinger GC moved on to the finals. That was clearly something discussed by the team — as DeChambeau noted in his post-round interview.
“We’ve been wanting to win this for a long time,” said DeChambeau. “I can’t be happier with this team of mine. I don’t know what else to say. I’m at a loss for words right now. They worked their butts off. … I’m so ecstatic with this team.”
While DeChambeau demurred and credited his teammates, he’s certainly the player who has carried them for much of the second half of the year.
Following a strong first three majors of the year, he finished second at LIV Valderrama before winning LIV Greenbrier (where he shot 58) and LIV Chicago. He finished fourth in the season long individual points race behind Talor Gooch, Cameron Smith and Brooks Koepka.
Though DeChambeau has dropped to No. 125 in the Official World Golf Rankings, which does not count LIV events, he is ranked No. 25 in the Data Golf rankings, which includes these tournaments. He might not be back to the 2018 Bryson, who won five times on the PGA Tour, or the 2020 Bryson, who won the U.S. Open, but he seems to be not that far off. DeChambeau’s finishes at the majors — T4 at the PGA Championship and T20 at the U.S. Open — should be a tell.
It was a lucrative week for the Crushers (as well as the other LIV teams) this week in Miami. There was a $50 million team prize available for all 12 squads, and the Crushers took home $14 million of it; $8.4 million goes to the team while each player receives $1.4 million for his efforts on the week. The second-place Range Goats will receive $8 million, while the third place Torque earned $6 million and fourth-place Aces received $4 million.