Fantasy Preview and Picks for LIV Golf Miami
The 2024 LIV Golf season resumes in Miami this week, one month after the field competed at Hong Kong Golf Club. Players like Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann -- the season-long Individual Championship points leader after winning Mayakoba and Jeddah -- will look to continue their momentum into this week's tournament, while others will hope that the physical and mental break will provide them a fresh start on the circuit.
LIV Golf makes its return to Trump National Doral, but this year's event in Miami will look different. Doral has been host to the Team Championship for the first two years of the League, but this year's tournament will take place during the regular season and players will compete for an individual trophy for the first time. In last year's event, Crushers GC took home the title thanks to a dramatic birdie from captain Bryson DeChambeau on the par-4 16th hole, while 4Aces GC captured the inaugural trophy in 2022.
The Blue Monster, a par-72 course at 7,701 yards, will provide first-time goers like Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm with plenty of challenges, including water hazards on nearly every hole as well as long, narrow fairways and greens surrounded by bunkers. The par-4 18th is recognized as one of the toughest finishing holes in golf, with its slim fairway surrounded by water on the left and bunkers on the right, and the front of the green protected by the lake. Previous winners at the Doral course include HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson, 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson and teammate Patrick Reed.
This week's tournament in Miami will also serve as a momentum-builder for the Masters, which starts April 11. Rahm, who won the Masters in 2023, is one of 13 LIV Golf players to enter the field at Augusta National Golf Club. Rahm is one of seven Masters champions playing in Miami this week, which includes three-time winner Mickelson, two-time champion and RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson, Johnson, Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia. DeChambeau, Niemann, Crushers GC Captain Brooks Koepka, Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk round out the LIV Golf representation at the Masters.
With the Masters in mind, below are my picks for this week's event at Doral.
Key Stats
Fairway Percentage
Greens in Regulation
Scrambling
Captains (2)
Niemann is the only player this season to capture two individual trophies, and the Torque GC captain has finished in the top five in three of the four LIV Golf tournaments. Thanks to his play, he earned an invitation to this year's Masters, and the Chilean superstar will have plenty of motivation to take his game to yet another level this weekend. He finished T4 in Hong Kong, thanks to a 7-under 63 in the final round that included an ace on the par-3 eighth hole. He ranks T2 in GIR (75.0%) and T8 in putting average (1.56)
Rahm is the only player on the LIV Golf circuit to finish top-10 in each of the first four events of the season. While he will be playing at Doral for the first time in his career, Rahm will be motivated as he returns to competition ahead of his Masters title defense at Augusta. He ranks T2 in GIR (75.0%), sixth in scrambling (70.37%) and T15 in fairway percentage (56.55%).
Others to consider: Kevin Na (T5 in scrambling, T1 in fairway percentage), Sergio Garcia (T9 in scrambling, T10 in both fairway percentage and GIR), Dustin Johnson (won in Doral in 2015, ranks eighth in GIR and T8 in putting average).
Non-Captains (5)
Casey has been finishing tournaments strong lately. He surged in Hong Kong to reach a three-way playoff against Abraham Ancer and Smith, and Casey scored rounds of 64-63 to surge to a fourth-place finish at International Series Macau. He ranks first in GIR (77.31%), third in scrambling (73.47%) and fourth in fairway percentage (64.29%).
Gooch saw his streak of top-15 finishes end in Hong Kong when he finished T21. Still, he ranks sixth in the Individual Championship standings with 42.4 points, and he'll look to make his climb in Miami. Gooch ranks second in scrambling (75.0%), T6 in putting average (1.55), T7 in fairway percentage (61.31%) and 17th in GIR (70.37%).
Ancer has been ramping up this season, which culminated in his first-career LIV Golf individual trophy in Hong Kong when he fended off Smith and Casey on the playoff hole. Ancer now sits in fifth in the Individual Championship standings with 47.3 points, and he is T1 in fairway percentage (64.88 percent) and T10 in GIR (71.76 percent).
Howell has three top-10 finishes this season and is 10th in the individual championship standings with 34.08 points. He ranks T4 with Anthony Kim in putting average (1.53), eighth in scrambling (69.12%) and T13 in fairway percentage (57.14%).
Stenson is coming off his best performance of the season with an eighth-place finish at LIV Golf Hong Kong -- tied with Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter. Stenson ranks sixth in fairway accuracy (62.5%) and T10 in GIR (71.76%) this season.
Others to consider: Pat Perez (T6 and T9 in putting average and fairway percentage respectively), Sebastian Munoz (ninth in GIR, 12th in fairway percentage).
Teams (2)
Crushers GC
Crushers GC have won each of the last two LIV Golf events, surging in the final round in both days. Three of the team are in the top 10 in individual points -- Casey (fourth), DeChambeau (seventh) and Howell (10th) -- and the team will look to defend its title from last season's Team Championship in Miami.
Torque GC
Torque GC joined Crushers GC as the only team to finish in the top five in each of the first four tournaments of the LIV Golf season. Captain Niemann has been a big reason for that success, but Carlos Ortiz has played a large role in their fourth- and second-place finishes over the last two events. They'll look to capture their first team event of the season this weekend.
Others to consider: Stinger GC (finished second in Jeddah and were leading in Hong Kong heading into the final day), Majesticks GC (coming off a fourth-place finish in Hong Kong).
Sleepers (4)
Bland has finished in the top-15 in three of the first four LIV Golf events this season, including his best performance of T8 in Hong Kong.
While Torque GC captain Niemann has garnered most of the attention this season, Ortiz has put together finishes of T15 and T4 over the last two LIV Golf tournaments.
Puig lost out to John Catlin on a two-hole playoff at International Series Macau, but his second-place finish raised him to first in the Asian Tour standings.
Kim stroked his first under-par score of the season with a 5-under 65 in the final round at Hong Kong, and he ranks T4 in average putts per hole (1.53).
Pick to Win
Casey responds to his T2 finish in Hong Kong to capture his first LIV Golf individual trophy in Miami while helping Crushers GC to a third-straight team event win. Rounding out the top five at Doral are Rahm, Gooch, Howell and Garcia.
