LIV Golf Team Championship Day 2 semi-final matchups explored

The LIV Golf Team Championship held its first round on Friday with several surprises. The four winning teams advanced to Saturday's semi-finals, and the pairings for the stage have been set.

The four top-ranked teams in the regular stage, 4Aces GC, Crushers GC, Torque GC and RangeGoats GC, chose their respective opponents from among Friday's winners, Stinger GC, Fireballs GC, HyFlyers GC and Cleeks GC.

After the first round of the LIV Golf Team Championship, the pairings are as follows:

• 4Aces GC vs. HyFlyers GC
• Crushers GC vs. Cleeks GC
• Torque GC vs. Stinger GC
• RangeGoats GC vs. Fireballs GC

These pairings make for some very interesting matches. Dustin Johnson (4Aces GC) will face Phil Mickelson (HyFlyers GC), while Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers GC) will take on Martin Kaymer (Cleeks GC).

Joaquin Niemann (Torque GC) will play Louis Oosthuizen (Stinger GC), while Bubba Watson (RangeGoats GC) and Sergio Garcia (Fireballs GC) will close out the captains' duels.

The other four individual and four team matches will depend on how the captains decide to approach the round. However, the four quarter-finalists can be expected to repeat their winning formula, while the four semi-finalists are likely to field their top-ranked players in addition to the captain.

If that happens, the 2023 LIV Golf season's individual champion, Talor Gooch (RangerGoats GC), would face Eugenio Chacarra (Fireballs GC), ranked 32nd in the final standings.

The other singles matches are expected to be Patrick Reed (6th, 4Aces GC) vs. Cameron Tringale (16th, HyFlyers), Mito Pereira (8th, Torque GC) vs. Branden Grace (9th, Stinger GC), and Charles Howell III (10th, Crushers GC) vs. Richard Bland (20th, Cleeks GC).

The four foursomes in the LIV Golf Team Championship might be Pat Perez and Peter Uihlein (4Aces GC) vs. Janes Piot and Brendan Steele (HyFlyers GC), Paul Casey and Anirban Lahiri (Crushers GC) vs. Graeme McDowell and Bernd Wiesberger (Cleeks GC), Sebastian Munoz and David Puig (Torque GC) vs. Dean Burmester and Charl Schwartzel (Stinger GC), and Thomas Pieters and Harold Varner III (RangeGoats GC) vs. Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz (Fireballs GC).

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How did the quarter-finals of the LIV Golf Team Championship go?

There were several surprises in the quarter-finals of the LIV Golf Team Championship, both in individual and team play. Two fan-favorite teams lost their matches and will not be playing in Saturday's semi-finals.

Smash GC's Brooks Koepka easily defeated HyFlyers' Phil Mickelson in the captain's duel. Jason Kokrak was unable to do the same against Cameron Tringale. The duo of Chase Koepka and Matt Wolff also fell short against James Piott and Brendan Steele, handing the victory to Mickelson's team.

Something similar happened to Ripper GC, the favorites to beat Cleeks GC. Cameron Smith, captain of the former, got the job done by beating Martin Kaymer, but his team could not match him, and Cleeks easily qualified.

Stinger GC and Fireballs GC left no doubt, winning their matches, including a sweep for the former over IronHeads GC.