Danny Lee provided one of the upsets of the season at LIV Golf Dallas on Saturday, with the Iron Heads player beating Bryson DeChambeau as Crushers GC were knocked out in their semi-final.
Iron Heads will be in the final of the team championship at LIV Golf Dallas after springing another surprise following their quarter-final win over Smash on Friday. Despite that victory, it was no surprise when Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau picked to face Kevin Na’s side in the semi-final.
DeChambeau spoke about how LIV showed how much depth it truly has, with Iron Heads and HyFlyers turning the form book on its head in the quarter-final. Nevertheless, few would have believed that Danny Lee had any chance up against the US Open champion.
However, not only were the Crushers knocked out, they were beaten 3-0 by Iron Heads, with Danny Lee winning 2 up. The writing appeared to be on the wall for DeChambeau when he found the water off the tee on the last. And when his chip did not go in, it was confirmed that Crushers had been beaten.
What fans kept telling Danny Lee during his match with Bryson DeChambeau
Whatever you think of LIV, you have to admit that it was remarkable from Lee to beat DeChambeau. The New Zealander finished the regular season 38th in the individual standings – and it seems that the crowd were desperate to see the two-time major champion get the job done.
Speaking on LIV’s broadcast after his victory, Lee suggested that he tried to use the fans’ comments as fuel.
“Yeah I was a little sad, I didn’t have a lot of fans out here today, but he’s such a popular guy. What a player,” he said, when asked about the support for his opponent.
“Whenever they say, ‘you’re going to lose to Bryson’, I just tried to think of an opposite and tried to somehow make it into positive momentum, and I did. I played well today.”
A Crushing defeat
Matchplay can simply throw up all kinds of results. Day one in Dallas did not necessarily provide many shocks, despite some big names seeing their teams knocked out. But certainly, LIV will be delighted to see a result as seismic as Lee beating DeChambeau.
The 34-year-old did not fall behind once throughout the day. While DeChambeau has had an underwhelming year on LIV, he is still one of the world’s best players.
Ultimately, Crushers were nowhere near good enough, meaning that the best that they can now do is end the season in fifth place.
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