Tag: RangeGoats

Dustin Johnson wins 2024 LIV Golf Las Vegas; Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC take team title

The win is the third of Johnson’s LIV Golf career.

LIV Golf made a bold decision to host an event in Las Vegas the same week as the Super Bowl.

While the league’s second start of 2024 was largely overshadowed by the big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, Saturday’s final round at Las Vegas Country Club was a tasty Super Bowl appetizer for sports fans with a knack for the chaotic.

Six players were tied for the lead at 10 under with three holes to play, but in the end it was Dustin Johnson who emerged victorious. The 39-year-old won 2024 LIV Golf Las Vegas at 12 under par following a 1-under 69 in the final round. The win is Johnson’s third since joining LIV Golf and is his third victory in as many years with the league. His first came at the LIV Golf Invitational Boston in 2022 and his last came at LIV Golf Tulsa in 2023.

“I knew it was going to be tough obviously with the conditions. But a lot of really good players were right around the lead,” Johnson said of his final round. “I knew I was going to have to play well if I wanted to win. Obviously making a clutch birdie there on 17 to give me a one-shot lead, then obviously did a great job at 18 and just had the two-putt for the victory.”

Talor Gooch (Smash GC) finished T-2 at 11 under alongside Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC), both of whom were previously traded by Johnson. Uihlein’s teammate Matthew Wolff finished fourth at 10 under, with three players tied for fifth: Graeme McDowell (Smash GC), Jason Kokrak (Smash GC) and Paul Casey (Crushers GC).

The team competition was close until the back nine, where Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC ran away with the trophy at 33 under, seven shots clear of runner-up 4Aces GC, captained by Johnson, at 26 under. Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats GC finished third at 24 under.

The league returns to action March 1-3 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club with 2024 LIV Golf Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

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LIV Golf captain claims ’10 to 20 people’ are interested in buying his team

One word keeps popping up this week at the LIV Golf Team Championship: Interest.

DORAL, Fla. — One word keeps popping up this week at the LIV Golf Team Championship: Interest.

Ahead of the $50 million finale at Trump National Doral, players like Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson have hinted at what may be a busy offseason full of player movement, though it should be noted the same things were said last year and just a few players changed teams. On top of that, the highest-profile player that was signed was Thomas Pieters. Not exactly a needle mover.

The teasing of what may come continued Thursday, as a trio of captains dished on the current state of investment in LIV Golf, which owns 75 percent of each of the 12 franchise teams. The other 25 percent is owned by principal players, which would include captains such as Watson, Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann.

“The evaluation, it’s not a small number,” said Watson, who most likely meant to say valuation. “But I think every team is going to be different. Some people want to know more. Some just people want to play golf. Just depends on which team you’re talking about and who it is. I want to know everything. I want to be part of it and move it forward and make the RangeGoats well-known.”

LIV Golf: Photos of 2023 Team Championship

Watson added that he has “had a few people” show interest in purchasing RangeGoats GC, who sit fourth and have a first-round bye for the Team Championship, and then clarified that “anywhere from 10 to 20 people have asked to buy the RangeGoats” and that he has “met with people this week.”

“There’s quite a bit of interest. Obviously like (Watson) said each team is going to differ. We have some interest,” added Johnson, whose defending champion 4Aces GC would undoubtedly be the most valuable franchise. “We’ll get more into that in the offseason once we are done after this week.”

“It is true there’s a lot of interest from individuals who want to buy into (the RangeGoats),” said Norman. It is the success of the product and the RangeGoats aren’t the only ones. There are other people interested in other teams as well too.”

“And remember,” he added, “our responsibility is to create as much value we can within each one of those franchises.”

Both Watson and Johnson discussed the challenge of taking on a new role and how they’re learning on the fly. For the two major winners, their careers have always been just about golf. Now they’re managing their teams and sponsors (though all 12 teams have general managers in some capacity).

“Right now, pretty focused on doing well on golf course,” said Torque GC’s Niemann, the league’s youngest captain by six years at 24 years old. “I think the better we do on the golf course, everything gets a little bit easier. But yeah, lucky to have a great team to support me in every aspect of how to run a business like Torque.”

While the team format still hasn’t fully caught on with golf fans, the players and LIV officials are all in (Brooks Koepka and Matthew Wolff aside). None of the 12 teams have been sold, but a few have inked partnership and sponsor deals over the last year. The timeframe for when franchises may be sold is up in the air, and the lagging framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV’s financial supporter, can’t be helping. Why would a company want to pony up money to own a team with an uncertain future?

The spin to the delay is teams have more time to find a proper fit for an owner, which the three captains agreed was more important than simply siding with the highest bidder.

“Yeah, like to have something that fits our team and something that fits our four players, what are our goals, and yeah, I mean, there’s all brands that we like to work with, something that is with our personality,” Niemann said before admitting, “there’s also a number, right.”

“All that’s out the window for the right number,” said a laughing Watson.

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Bubba Watson explains why he’s open to taking a non-playing role with LIV Golf

“It’s one of those things, that I want to play golf and I want to compete but at some point age is going to win.”

DORAL, Fla. — For most of LIV Golf’s inaugural season Bubba Watson was a non-playing captain.

The two-time Masters champion joined the upstart circuit as a non-playing captain during the third event of the inaugural season at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey as he continued to rehab a torn meniscus. Watson said he wanted to be 100 percent healthy before teeing it up for LIV in 2023, where he’s earned just three top-20 finishes in 13 starts. Don’t forget LIV events only feature 48 players.

Despite being just a year into his role as a playing captain, Watson is already contemplating the future and returning to a non-playing role for his RangeGoats GC.

“Truthfully at some point, down the road, I want to keep playing. But at some point, I’m going to back away,” said Watson ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump National Doral. “I’m going to be that owner shows up to the tournaments, cheers the guys on, get the younger crowd in, better golfers. I’ve told myself since the start, if you don’t think I’m good enough, then let’s get somebody better. Put them in there and I’ll just sit out. I’ll cheer you on from the other side of the ropes. I’ll sit in the air conditioned box and watch y’all play golf in the heat.

“It’s one of those things, that I want to play golf and I want to compete but at some point age is going to win. Age always wins,” he continued. “At that point, I’m hoping that my team comes to me with arms open and we hug it out and we find somebody younger and better, stronger, faster, all those things.”

Watson finished the season 36th on LIV’s points list, eight spots and eight points from the relegation zone (though as a captain Watson is guaranteed a spot for next season). He’s been open all season that he’s been the weakest link on his team that includes individual season-long champion Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III and Thomas Pieters. At the Team Championship, captains play captains in the match play quarterfinals and semifinals. Despite Watson claiming he still wants to play, that doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to play other captains.

“Right now, the league is dictating captains play against captains … Like I would rather we could pick and choose. Put Talor out first, right, he’s played pretty good this year. That’s the one thing in the League that I wish we could change just so that if DJ called us out, I could put him against Talor, you know what I’m saying,” he explained. “That’s the one thing I wish we could change. Just so we can make those kind of matchups, or kind of like the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, you pick your players where you want them to be and who you want them to play against and all that.”

As the fourth team in the season-long standings, Watson’s RangeGoats have a bye for Friday’s quarterfinal round and will get to choose their opponents for Saturday. Quarterfinal pairings and matches can be found here.

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2023 LIV Golf Singapore prize money payouts for each player and team

It pays to play well for LIV Golf.

Talor Gooch keeps on cashing in.

The 31-year-old Oklahoman guided his RangeGoats GC to a sweep this weekend at LIV Golf Singapore after winning his second consecutive event, this time via a playoff with Fireballs captain Sergio Garcia. The pair finished tied atop the leaderboard at 17 under at Sentosa Golf Club on Sentosa Island, Singapore, but it will be Gooch who leaves with the top prize of $4 million for his efforts. Over 13 LIV starts, Gooch has made $19,641,232.

Garcia will take home $2.25 million for his runner-up finish, while third-place Brooks Koepka, who finished one shot outside the playoff, earned $1.5  million.

Check out how much money each player and team earned at LIV Golf’s fifth event of its 2023 season.

LIV Golf Singapore: Photos | Leaderboard

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LIV Golf Singapore individual prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Talor Gooch -17 $4,000,000
2 Sergio Garcia -17 $2,250,000
3 Brooks Koepka -16 $1,500,000
4 Scott Vincent -15 $1,000,000
5 Mito Pereira -14 $800,000
T6 Jason Kokrak -12 $655,000
T6 Cameron Smith -12 $655,000
T8 Joaquin Niemann -11 $468,333
T8 Charles Howell III -11 $468,333
T8 Harold Varner III -11 $468,333
T11 Peter Uihlein -10 $380,000
T11 Cameron Tringale -10 $380,000
T13 Phil Mickelson -9 $330,000
T13 Eugenio Chacarra -9 $330,000
T13 Patrick Reed -9 $330,000
T16 Louis Oosthuizen -8 $280,000
T16 Marc Leishman -8 $280,000
T16 Jediah Morgan -8 $280,000
T19 Bryson DeChambeau -7 $245,000
T19 Kevin Na -7 $245,000
T19 Anirban Lahiri -7 $245,000
T19 Carlos Ortiz -7 $245,000
T23 Dustin Johnson -6 $208,750
T23 Danny Lee -6 $208,750
T23 Bubba Watson -6 $208,750
T23 Thomas Pieters -6 $208,750
T27 Brendan Steele -5 $190,000
T27 Laurie Canter -5 $190,000
T27 Ian Poulter -5 $190,000
T30 Matt Jones -4 $175,000
T30 Henrik Stenson -4 $175,000
T30 Paul Casey -4 $175,000
T33 Sebastián Muñoz -3 $160,000
T33 Charl Schwartzel -3 $160,000
T33 David Puig -3 $160,000
T36 Richard Bland -2 $145,000
T36 Graeme McDowell -2 $145,000
T36 Bernd Wiesberger -2 $145,000
T36 Lee Westwood -2 $145,000
T36 Pat Perez -2 $145,000
T41 Martin Kaymer -1 $133,750
T41 Branden Grace -1 $133,750
T41 Matthew Wolff -1 $133,750
T41 Dean Burmester -1 $133,750
45 Sihwan Kim 1 $127,500
46 Chase Koepka 2 $125,000
47 Abraham Ancer 4 $122,500
48 James Piot 8 $120,000

LIV Golf Singapore team prize money

Place Team Score Earnings
1 RangeGoats GC -37 $3 million
2 Fireballs GC -34 $1.5 million
3 Crushers GC -32 $500,000

LIV owns a 75 percent stake in each franchise and provided teams with an undisclosed amount of operating capital for the year. The teams are expected to largely run on their own dime this season, with team prize earnings going directly towards its day-to-day costs.

The upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its controversial human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. Members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.

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Talor Gooch wins LIV Golf Singapore in playoff, RangeGoats claim team title

Gooch is LIV Golf’s first back-to-back winner and second two-time champion.

Talor Gooch is LIV Golf’s first back-to-back winner.

After nearly blowing a 10-shot lead last week in Australia, Gooch and Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia finished tied at 17 under after 54 holes, but it was the 31-year-old American who came out on top in the playoff for his second consecutive win on Sunday at Sentosa Golf Club on Sentosa Island. Brooks Koepka finished one shot outside the playoff in third at 16 under.

“I know that I’m not going to continue playing this level of golf forever. So you just enjoy it while it comes and try to make it last as long as you can,” said Gooch. “So you try to savor these moments and try to feel these feelings and emotions and try to remember ’em so that when they go away you can really get back as quickly as possible.”

LIV Golf Singapore: Photos | Leaderboard

“We all believed that he could do this. We knew he could do this. And this is just the start of it,” said Gooch’s RangeGoats captain, Bubba Watson. “When you get a taste of it, you want more of it.”

It was a RangeGoats GC sweep in Singapore as the squad won their first team title at 37 under, three shots clear of Fireballs GC (-34) and five clear of third place Crushers GC (-32).

This week’s event, the fifth of LIV’s 14-event league season, was the first that Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC did not finish on the podium inside the top three. The 4Aces won the inaugural team title last year.

Laurie Canter made the third hole-in-one in LIV’s short history and second in as many weeks, this time on the par-3 17th.

“We couldn’t see it go in because the, it was just the way the light was on the green at the time. So kind of saw it bounce and heard like a sort of murmur that it was going to be a half-decent shot,” said Canter. “And then everyone up at the green went mental at it.”

After consecutive international tournaments LIV Golf will return to the United States in two weeks with back-to-back stateside events, first with LIV Golf Tulsa, May 12-14, at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and then with LIV Golf D.C., May 26-28, at Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia.

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