Bryson DeChambeau sank an 8-foot birdie putt on his final hole Saturday to edge Talor Gooch, propelling his Crushers team into the LIV Golf League final. They’ll face Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII and the South African Stinger squad in Sunday’s championship.
Rahm’s Legion XIII survived a scare in the quarterfinals when he lost his singles match to Adrian Meronk. But Rahm bounced back in the semifinals, defeating Phil Mickelson while his team won the foursomes match to eliminate the HyFlyers.
The Crushers secured their advancement when Paul Casey and Charles Howell III delivered clutch performances, making two birdies over the final three holes for a 2-up victory in foursomes. Brooks Koepka managed the only point for Smash by defeating Anirban Lahiri, putting all the pressure on DeChambeau’s singles match. DeChambeau and Gooch were all square until Bryson’s winning birdie on the last hole.
It’s fitting that Legion XIII and Crushers advanced to the final, as they finished first and second in the regular-season team standings with four and three wins respectively.
The Stinger team is the surprise finalist. Despite entering the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, they’ve knocked off both Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs in the quarterfinals and Joaquin Niemann’s Torque team in the semifinals.
The format changes for Sunday’s final. Instead of match play with two singles and a foursomes match, the teams will compete in stroke play with all four players’ scores counting toward the team total. The remaining teams will play for position.
The Crushers are looking to reclaim the team title they won two years ago, while Legion XIII hopes to cap their impressive debut season with a championship.
