With Jon Rahm wrapping up the individual title last week, LIV Golf is now focused on the team championship in the coming days, with the quarter-finals being played on Friday.
There is some pressure on LIV Golf to deliver an exciting finale to the season, with the league making a big deal about the team dynamic. And the team championship gets underway on Friday at LIV Golf Dallas, with one of the quarter-finals pitting Torque against HyFlyers.
Torque had the option to pick their opponents second, so it was not entirely surprising that they opted for the team which sits second bottom – Phil Mickelson‘s HyFlyers.
The two teams will meet in two singles matches, while the remaining two players from each side will face off in a foursomes match. Each match is worth one point, with the team who gets two points getting through to the semi-final on Saturday.
Phil Mickelson explains why he won’t be playing in the singles in the quarter-final at LIV Golf Dallas
Unsurprisingly, Joaquin Niemann put himself in the opening match, but he will not face Mickelson, with Lefty instead putting himself in the foursomes alongside Brendan Steele, with Mito Pereira and Carlos Ortiz their opponents. Niemann will actually face Andy Ogletree, while Sebastian Munoz will take on Cameron Tringale.
Niemann was surprised to see Mickelson opt to put himself in the foursomes. And the six-time major champion was asked about the thinking behind that decision.
“Andy Ogletree won the ’21 Amateur, he’s a very tough matchplay competitor. Cam Tringale won all of his matches last year, I wanted them both in singles,” he said.
“And Steeley and I are really annoying to play against, like I’m annoying, but with me and Steeley, it goes to another level, and I feel like that could be a challenge, just dealing with that.”
Why Mickelson probably needed to put himself against Joaquin Niemann
In fairness to Mickelson, the form book this season suggests that he has made the right decision in not being in one of the singles matches. He has had a poor year, only finishing in the top 20 on one occasion and ending the season down in 46th – three places above the relegation zone.
What is perhaps more surprising is the decision to play alongside Steele, who has been HyFlyers’ most successful player this year, finishing 24th in the standings – with the high point coming when he won in Adelaide.
Perhaps the smart decision would have been for Mickelson to almost sacrifice himself and face Niemann as the Chilean was going to be the overwhelming favourite whoever he faced. You would imagine that Torque are on course to secure that point.
So putting Ogletree, Tringale and Steele in the other two matches may have potentially represented HyFlyers’ best chance of springing a surprise and going through.
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