Outsiders Iron Heads dump 2023 champions Crushers out of LIV Dallas team finale

Danny Lee pulled off what could be the biggest result of his professional career when he beat US Open champion and top seeded Crushers captain Bryson DeChambeau to set the tone for yet another fighting display by the bottom-ranked Iron Heads in the semi-finals of the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship on Saturday.

The New Zealand golfer opened an early lead against Texas boy DeChambeau, who is a Dallas area native, and was never headed in  the course of their singles match at the Maridoe Golf Club before sealing the win by a 2 up margin. 

“I felt like I took down a Goliath today,” Lee said in Carrollton later. “It’s Bryson DeChambeau, the most popular golfer on the planet right now.” Lee also had to set aside the distraction of the hundreds of DeChambeau fans who followed their match right from the first hole.

Lee’s steely display was in keeping with the gutsy character displayed by Kavin Na’s unfancied team, who had taken out fourth seeds Smash GC in Friday’s quarter-finals for which the Crushers and two other seeded teams had received a bye.

Na was part of the foursomes with Japan’s Jinichiro Kozuma who beat Anirban Lahiri and Charkes Howell III 3&1 event as relegation-bound Zimbabwean Scott Vincent got the better of the vastly experienced Paul Casey in the other singles match. 

At no point during all three matches did the Crushers manage to get in front of their opponents, a testament to the grit displayed by the Iron Heads, who till Friday, had not won a single match at the team championships.

“I’m really proud of my boys,” Na said after his team had sealed the win. “It’s a great feeling, a confidence boost the last two days going into Sunday. I’m telling my boys, anything can happen.”

Added Casey, “Iron Heads are highlighting the underdog story. Everybody loves an underdog story. You've got a lot to cheer about them. … They are a great story. I mean, in a weird way, you always kind of root for the guy that beat you. So, I’m always a Crusher, but maybe, we’ll be secretly cheering for those guys.”

The Iron Heads were, however, not the only ones authoring a compelling run to Sunday’s championship round. 
The second seeded Legion XIII arrived in Dallas with a solid track record that included four event wins and the season’s individual championship honours for their inspirational captain Jon Rahm, but entered the fray without him. Rahm withdrew ahead of the semi-finals with flu-like symptoms but Tyrrell Hatton stepped into the breach for the newly-formed team in admirable fashion.

“It was apparent that he (Rahm) just wasn't going to be up to it, which was unfortunate,” Hatton said after Saturday’s 5&4 win over Andy Ogletree of the HyFlyers. “I think we all kind of wish him well and want him to get back healthy as soon as possible.”

Reserve player John Catlin took Rahm’s place in the opening singles match and pushed the experienced Cameron Tringale to 20 holes before losing. And even as Hatton came through easily after a slow start, youngsters Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent routed HyFlyers captain Phil Mickelson and Brendan Steele 4&3 in another upset result.
 
“It would have been nice to have him (Rahm) playing today,” Hatton said. “He's a pretty special player. But ultimately, we still have to go out there and give it our best, and thankfully we were able to advance to tomorrow.”

Also winning on Saturday were the all-Australian Ripper GC, captained by Cameron Smith, who won twice in the season including a playoff victory in Adelaide, and Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC, who won the inaugural team championship in 2022, and are out to wind up a disappointing season on a more positive note.

The Iron Heads have never won a tournament as a team and have just one podium finish in the 35 previous LIV Golf events. Until this week, they had never even won a single point at the team championship, and Lee’s individual title last year in Tucson remains the only trophy won by any Iron Heads player.

Matchplay golf, however, is fickle business and they are now one of four surviving squads with a chance to claim LIV Golf’s biggest team prize. Sunday’s championship round will be stroke play, with every score counting for each team’s total, a completely different challenge from the first two days in Dallas.
 
Both the Rippers and 4Aces had to rely on their singles players losing the foursomes to the Fireballs and Stingers respectively. Johnson outlasted Dean Burmester and Patrick Reed beat Branden Grace in matches that each went 18 holes while Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert rallied the Aussies.
 
“Obviously, we’ve got a chance to redeem ourselves tomorrow,” Johnson said. “If we all four play well and we win the whole title, then yeah, you kind of forget about the rest of the year.”
For Sunday’s competition, there will be no place to hide with every player’s score counting towards his team’s total especially on a Maridoe course that is one of the toughest faced by LIV Golf players this season.
 
“Anything under par out here is an amazing score,” said Ripper captain Smith. “You just have to treat it like another Sunday,” added Hatton, Legion’s second in command. “Yeah, just go out there and try your best. It's going to be quite an exciting finish with all four scores counting.
 
“I think the course will probably play a little bit different to how it did today. Being set up for match play, I think there was a few more tees forward than what we'll probably face tomorrow.”
 
The Irons Heads have momentum after their two rounds of match-play upsets, and they seem to have found a putting stroke that others have struggled to match. “I think our team is getting better,” Na said. “Some of the guys are a bit young players in the world stage, but they're only getting better every week we play in the experience they're building and the confidence they're building.”
 
Na has said this week that in match play, anything can happen. For his part, 4Aces captain Dustin Johnson said he could still see surprises happening on Sunday. “Especially one round of stroke play. Obviously over four days, stroke play is not really going to have too many surprises. Still, you do every once in a while. It’s golf.”

Semi-final results (seedings in parentheses)
Iron Heads GC (13) def. Crushers GC (1) 3-0
Singles 1: Scott Vincent (Iron Heads) def. Paul Casey (Crushers), 1 up; Singles 2: Danny Lee (Iron Heads) def. Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers), 2 up; Foursomes: Kevin Na/Jinichiro Kozuma (Iron Heads) def. Anirban Lahiri/Charles Howell III (Crushers), 3&1. 
Legion XIII (2) def. HyFlyers GC (12) 2-1
Singles 1: Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers) def. John Catlin (Legion XIII), 20 holes; Singles 2: Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII) def. Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers), 5&4; Foursomes: Caleb Surratt/Kieran Vincent (Legion XIII) def. Phil Mickelson/Brendan Steele (HyFlyers), 4&3. 
Ripper GC (3) def. Fireballs GC (6) 2-1
Singles 1: Marc Leishman (Ripper) def. Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs), 19 holes; Singles 2: Lucas Herbert (Ripper) def. David Puig (Fireballs), 1 up; Foursomes: Sergio Garcia/Abraham Ancer (Fireballs) def. Cameron Smith/Matt Jones (Ripper), 3&1.
4Aces GC (10) def. Stinger GC (7) 2-1
Singles 1: Dustin Johnson (4Aces) def. Dean Burmester (Stinger), 1 up; Singles 2: Patrick Reed (4Aces) def. Branden Grace (Stinger), 1 up; Foursomes: Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel (Stinger) def. Harold Varner III/Pat Perez (4Aces), 3&2.