Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers will be in contention for the team championship this weekend after pulling off an improbable victory against Joaquin Niemann’s Torque.
Mickelson took advantage of the format change this year that allows captains to compete in either singles or foursomes. He had lost all three singles against LIV Golf captains in the first two years.
Mickelson, who was paired with LIV Adalaide winner Brendan Steele, defeated Torque’s Carlos Ortiz and Mito Pereira, winning 5-3 on Quarterfinal Friday. The unlikely foursome victory included an eagle on the Par 5 13th hole.
“That flexibility can make a difference in getting your team the best dynamics, the best chance to win,” Mickelson said. “You saw a lot of mix-ups today, and I think we’ll probably see the same going into tomorrow as teams try to find their best format.”
Cameron Tringale continued his dominance of the Team Championship series, defeating Sebastian Munoz 5-2. Tringale remains perfect in his Team Championship head-to-head matchups.
Torque’s lone win was Joaquin Niemann easily defeating Andy Ogletree 6-2.
Elsewhere, Kevin Na’s 13th-seeded Iron Heads pulled off the biggest upset of the day, defeating Brooks Koepka’s 4th-seeded Smash.
“We’ve shown that in match play, anything can happen,” said the Iron Heads Captain, whose club was 0-6 in quarterfinal matches the first two seasons.
The Iron Heads duo of Jinichiro Kozuma and Scott Vincent took Smash’s Jason Kokrak and Graeme McDowell to a single-hole playoff on the Par 4 3rd hole, scoring birdie to seal the deal.
“That was unbelievable, very exciting,” Vincent said. “This is exactly what the match play brings; there are just a lot of unknowns and amazing opportunities. To bounce back from being four shots down at one stage, that was just incredible.”
Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs swept the Majesticks in a very close matchup.
“We’re trying to make the strongest team we can have to have a chance at winning all three games,” Garcia explained. “I think that’s the spirit that you want. That’s the idea that you want to have.”
Louis Oosthuizen’s Stinger finished off the Cleeks in another nail bitter.
The Semifinals start tomorrow at the LIV Team Championship in Dallas at 12:15 ET.
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
IRONHEADS GC def. SMASH GC, 2-1
Singles 1: Brooks Koepka (Smash) def. Kevin Na (Iron Heads), 6 & 5. Koepka won the first hole with a birdie and never trailed, making three consecutive birdies down the stretch.
Singles 2: Danny Lee (Iron Heads) def. Talor Gooch (Smash), 1 up. Lee won the first three holes and matched Gooch down the stretch to give the Iron Heads their first-ever match win.
Foursomes: Jinichiro Kozuma-Scott Vincent (Iron Heads) def. Jason Kokrak-Graeme McDowell, 19 holes. Smash were 4 up through 11 holes, but Vincent’s ace sparked the Iron Heads’ rally; Kozuma then made two clutch putts down the stretch, including the winning birdie for the upset team win.
HYFLYERS GC def. TORQUE GC, 2-1
Singles 1: Joaquin Niemann (Torque) def. Andy Ogletree (HyFlyers), 4 & 3. Niemann took control in the middle portion of the round, then pulled away in the final six holes.
Singles 2: Cameron Tringale (HyFlyers) def. Sebastián Muñoz (Torque), 3 & 2. Tringale kept his LIV Golf match play record perfect (4-0), winning four of seven holes during one stretch.
Foursomes: Phil Mickelson-Brendan Steele (HyFlyers) def. Mito Pereira-Carlos Ortiz (Torque), 2 & 1. Torque was 3-up through seven before the HyFlyers won five of the next nine holes for the comeback victory and the team win.
FIREBALLS GC def. MAJESTICKS GC, 3-0
Singles 1: Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs) def. Henrik Stenson (Majesticks), 19 holes. Stenson won the last two holes in regulation to tie, but Chacarra won the first extra hole with a par.
Singles 2: David Puig (Fireballs) def. Ian Poulter (Majesticks), 3 & 2. Puig won the first two holes, then took control in the middle of the round with three straight winning holes.
Foursomes: Sergio Garcia-Abraham Ancer (Fireballs) def. Lee Westwood-Sam Horsfield (Majesticks), 2 & 1. The Fireballs were down early before rallying to take the lead, then held off the Majesticks down the stretch.
STINGER GC def. CLEEKS GC, 3-0
Singles 1: Branden Grace (Stinger) def. Adrian Meronk (Cleeks), 19 holes. Grace, who’ll be relegated after the season, earned a hard-fought victory with a birdie on the first extra hole.
Singles 2: Dean Burmester (Stinger) def. Kalle Samooja (Cleeks), 4 & 3. Burmester’s three-hole stretch of birdie-eagle-birdie gave him the lead and he never let up in his round that included six birdies.
Foursomes: Louis Oosthuizen-Charl Schwartzel (Stinger) def. Martin Kaymer-Richard Bland, 4&2. The Stinger duo won four of the first seven holes and responded whenever the Cleeks threatened to rally.
4ACES GC def. RANGEGOATS GC, 2-1
Singles 1: Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats) def. Dustin Johnson (4Aces), 3&1. Uihlein kept his match play record perfect (4-0) with a six-hole stretch of one eagle and four birdies against his former captain.
Singles 2: Patrick Reed (4Aces) def. Thomas Pieters (RangeGoats), 5 & 4. Reed won for the first time in his LIV Golf match play career, making birdie on the opening hole and never losing a hole.
Foursomes: Harold Varner III-Pat Perez (4Aces) def. Bubba Watson-Matthew Wolff, 2&1. The Aces were 4-up through 11 before the RangeGoats won three of the next four holes to make it close.
