MIAMI: Bryson DeChambeau\u2019s Crushers GC won the Team Championship of the 2023 LIV Golf League in dramatic fashion here on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fueled by Anirban Lahiri\u2019s spectacular bogey-free round, steady play by Charles Howell III and Paul Casey, and a riveting back-nine performance from their captain DeChambeau, Crushers GC won the all-scores-count shootout by two shots over Range Goats GC. Torque GC finished third, while defending champion 4Aces GC settled for fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the Crushers did not reach the Team Championship final, as they were knocked out in the match-play semifinals. But the team started the new season with a bang, winning in Mayakoba, Mexico, on the strength of Howell\u2019s individual victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeChambeau found his form in mid-season and won two individual titles, with the Crushers winning again in Chicago. They completed the journey to the top at Trump National Doral, shooting a combined 11-under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year really left a sour taste in our mouth,\u201d DeChambeau said as he celebrated with his teammates on the 18th green of the iconic Blue Monster course. \u201cI can\u2019t be happier with this team of mine. I don\u2019t know what else to say. I\u2019m at a loss (for) words right now \u2026 these guys are the best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lahiri was the team\u2019s top performer on Sunday, shooting a seven-under 65 that included consecutive hole-outs at the par-four seventh (for birdie) and par-five eighth (for eagle). It was a terrific effort for a player who had come so close to winning an individual title in 2023 with two runner-up finishes and another podium result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a couple of Sundays where I let myself down,\u201d Lahiri said. \u201cBut I wasn\u2019t going to let the team down today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeChambeau was three-under at the turn, then birdied the 10th and 11th holes before suffering his first bogey at the 12th to start his rollercoaster back-nine. He then birdied the 13th from 36 feet (10.9 meters), bogeyed the 14th, then birdied the 15th from 35 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the most dramatic moment came at the drivable par-four 16th, with the Crushers\u2019 lead reduced to one stroke. DeChambeau\u2019s tee shot hit the top of the Birdie Shack grandstand behind the green and finished on the front edge of the second green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing a blind shot from 109 yards, DeChambeau hit a wedge back over the grandstand and onto the 16th green, then made the birdie putt to increase the Crushers\u2019 lead to two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy drop zone, I was going to drop in a sidehill lie out of the rough over palm trees. It was just not feasible,\u201d DeChambeau explained. \u201cI got a perfect lie in front of the green on two \u2026 I was like, it\u2019s a 109-shot, whatever, let\u2019s go. And hit it to 20 feet and made an incredible putt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moments later, Casey followed with a clutch six-foot par putt on his final hole while the RangeGoats\u2019 Thomas Pieters missed his from similar distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the RangeGoats\u2019 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch bogeyed the 18th after finding the water with his tee shot, the Crushers had enough cushion to absorb DeChambeau\u2019s bogey and RangeGoats captain Bubba Watson\u2019s birdie on the 18th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeChambeau finished with a five-under 67, while Howell shot even-par 72 and Casey a 73.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought this year would be special,\u201d said Howell. \u201cWe started off with a win. Obviously, Baan and Bryson have played phenomenal golf here recently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the RangeGoats came up short, Watson \u2014 who shot a bogey-free 67 \u2014 was proud of his team\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe RangeGoats came out of nowhere,\u201d Watson said. \u201cWe played great. We\u2019ve got to improve a little bit. But gosh, finished second for the year. What a great place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for DeChambeau, winning the Team Championship helps to make up for the disappointment in the regular-season finale in Jeddah when he came up short of capturing the Individual Champion title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny time you get a win with a team, I\u2019d say honestly that\u2019s more important than individual stuff,\u201d DeChambeau said. \u201cLook, majors are great but there\u2019s a team behind you there. I\u2019ve got a team, my own team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut having the Crushers be front and center of the first inaugural full season just means the world. We are part of history, and I couldn\u2019t be more proud of these guys and definitely takes the sting out of last week. But the team is what it\u2019s all about, and I couldn\u2019t be more proud.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIAMI: Bryson DeChambeau\u2019s Crushers GC won the Team Championship of the 2023 LIV Golf League in dramatic fashion here on Sunday. Fueled by Anirban Lahiri\u2019s spectacular bogey-free round, steady play by Charles Howell III and Paul Casey, and a riveting back-nine performance from their captain DeChambeau, Crushers GC won the all-scores-count shootout by two shots<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2240,"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238\/revisions\/2240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajmantimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}