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Find your frequency hereCam Smith's LIV team bundled out of race for mega millions
AAP • August 23rd, 2025 4:58 pm
Captain Cam Smith stepped up but couldn't drag Ripper GC to victory at the LIV Golf teams championship | Photo: Michael Errey/AAP
Cam Smith's Ripper GC have failed to go back to back at the LIV Golf Team Championship, losing their quarter-final 2-1 in Michigan.
It has been a poor year for the Australian team on the LIV circuit, but they entered this weekend's event, offering the winners a prize of $US14 million ($NZ23.8 million), as defending champions.
Ripper could also draw on happy memories from 2024, when they took down South African outfit Stinger GC in Adelaide to win the first LIV Golf team playoff.
With Kiwi caddie Sam Penfold by his side, Smith never trailed in his singles showdown with Stinger's Branden Grace, the highlight of the captain's 3 and 2 victory an eagle on the par-4 second hole at The Cardinal at Saint John's.
But Dean Burmester, fresh from winning this month's LIV event in Chicago, extended his hot form to defeat Lucas Herbert, 4 and 2.
And Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen trumped Marc Leishman and Matt Jones, 4 and 3.
Leishman and Jones won two of the opening three holes before the South Africans seized momentum, with Schwartzel icing the match with a birdie putt.
The top two seeds at the Team Championship, Legion XIII and Crushers GC, needed breaks to go their way in order to win their matches 2-1 and advance out of the quarters.
Captained by Spanish star Jon Rahm, top-seeded Legion XIII edged No.11 seeds Cleeks GC 2-1 thanks to Englishman Tyrrell Hatton's 19-hole win in singles.
There will be no shoeys for Lucas Herbert and Cam Smith at this weekend's tournament | Photo: Michael Errey/AAP
It was a similar scene for the second-seeded Crushers, under the care of Bryson DeChambeau, who secured a 2-1 win over No.12 Majesticks GC with his singles victory.
Third-seeded Fireballs GC, captained by Sergio Garcia of Spain, were the victims of the only 3-0 sweep of the day as Phil Mickelson's 10th-seeded HyFlyers GC moved on instead.
The top seeds were able to dictate their semi-final opponents. Legion XIII selected HyFlyers, setting up a singles match between Rahm and Mickelson.
DeChambeau's Crushers chose to face Brooks Koepka's Smash - but the ex-PGA Tour rivals will not go head to head.
After Koepka's line-up was revealed, DeChambeau opted to put India's Anirban Lahiri against Koepka, while DeChambeau will play Talor Gooch.
"I've got my reasons," DeChambeau said about dodging Koepka.
"It's not personal, though, I can tell you that."
The third semi-final will pit Torque (captained by Chile's Joaquin Niemann) against Stinger.
Bryson DeChambeau on the idea of LIV Golf coming to New Zealand | Sport Nation
