Fantasy Preview and Picks for LIV Golf Singapore
We are officially halfway through the 2024 LIV Golf season and are coming off one of the biggest events of the year. More than 94,000 fans made their way to The Grange Golf Course in Adelaide, South Australia, and a lucky few were witness to the first team playoff in League history. The all-Australian Ripper GC, led by captain Cameron Smith, rode the home-course advantage to outlast the Stinger GC and capture the team trophy on the second playoff hole. Shortly before that, HyFlyers GC's Brendan Steele won his first LIV Golf individual trophy, finishing the tournament at 18-under par to outlast last-ditch pushes from Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Jon Rahm. With six of the 12 LIV Golf tournaments in the books following Adelaide, the individual and team standings have started to take shape.
It just so happens that the top three in the individual standings all finished in a share of third place in Adelaide. Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann continues to lead the way thanks to victories in Mayakoba and Jeddah, as well as top-10 finishes in each of the last three events. Legion XIII captain Rahm continued his streak of top-10 finishes in Adelaide, but the 2023 Masters champion has yet to capture an individual trophy in his first season with LIV Golf. Rounding out the top three is Dean Burmester of Stinger GC, with the South African capturing his first LIV Golf trophy in Miami. Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Smith round out the seven captains who sit top-12 in the individual standings, and each has contributed to the success of their respective teams.
Despite finishing just sixth and T7 over the last two events, Crushers GC continue to sit atop the team standings thanks to back-to-back victories in Jeddah and Hong Kong. Their cushion has significantly shrunk, however, with Legion XIII occupying second place with victories in Mayakoba and Miami. Despite not winning an event this season, Torque GC are in third place and are the only team to finish top-5 in every LIV Golf tournament this year, while Stinger GC are lingering behind in fourth place thanks to top-3 finishes in three of the last four events.
As we enter the second half of the 2024 season, LIV Golf returns to Asia at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. Sentosa made its debut appearance in 2023, and the tournament had plenty of drama, with Talor Gooch winning his second straight individual trophy after outlasting Garcia in a playoff. Gooch's performance helped RangeGoats GC capture their first team trophy, beating Fireballs GC by three strokes. The par-71 course measures at 7,406 yards and is littered with lakes, trees and other hazards, leaving little room for error. Those in the field who can scramble their way out of tough situations will find themselves in contention in Singapore. You can read more about the course and its history here from LIV Golf's Mike McAllister.
With all that in mind, below are my picks for LIV Golf Singapore.
Captains (2)
Oosthuizen has played more consistent golf since his disastrous 50th-place finish in Las Vegas. He's coming off another second-place finish after settling in one stroke behind Steele in Adelaide. He nearly led Stinger GC to its first win of the season but was unable to get past the all-Australian Ripper GC. Oosthuizen was the best off the tee in Adelaide, leading the field in driving accuracy (80.95%) and finishing third in GIR (85.19%). For the season, Oosthuizen leads LIV in scrambling (73.15%), is T1 with 1.51 putts per hole and T3 in both driving accuracy (63.1%) and GIR (74.69%).
Smith was in contention in Adelaide after carding a seven-under 65 in the second round. His scrambling game and ability to get out of tough situations were on full display in front of the Australian crowd, but he wasn't able to capitalize on those opportunities and settled for a T14 finish. Smith was shaky at times in the final round, but outlasting Stinger GC in the playoffs and hoisting the team trophy in his home country had to be worth something for the Ripper GC captain. Smith was the second best scrambler behind Oosthuizen in Adelaide, and that should help the former get out of tough situations in Singapore.
Honorable mentions: Jon Rahm (continued his streak of top-10 finishes with a T3 finish in Adelaide, and he ranks second in GIR (75.00%) and 10th in scrambling (66.67%), Joaquin Niemann (also finished T3 in Adelaide, finished the event with the best putting average (1.46 putts per hole) and was third in scrambling (86.67%).
Non-Captains (4)
Hatton surged into contention in Adelaide on the final day, notching six birdies over the first 11 holes of the final round, but he scored one bogey and six pars over his final seven holes to finish in a share of 14th place. The Englishman finished sixth last weekend in scrambling (78.57%) and T6 in putting average (1.52 putts per hole), and he ranks fifth in scrambling (68.32%) for the season. Hatton has scored individual points in every event this season, and he's a frontrunner to grab his first LIV Golf trophy in Singapore.
Burmester has been one of the most consistent performers in the league of late. He finished top-15 in five of six events, top-10 in four tournaments and followed up his win in Miami with a T3 in Adelaide. Burmester ranks T3 in the field in GIR (74.69 percent) and sixth in scrambling (68.29%). The South African is playing some of the best golf of his career and should be able to carry that momentum into Singapore.
Gooch had a disappointing finish in Adelaide, carding a two-under 70 in the final round to finish the event in a share of 26th place. He's still one of the elite ball strikers in the field, ranking third in scrambling (70.00%) and sixth in driving accuracy (62.30%) for the season. Gooch won LIV Golf Singapore in 2023 after outlasting Garcia in a playoff round, which marked back-to-back individual titles for the former.
Leishman followed up a T4 finish in Miami with a T14 placement in Adelaide. He saved his best round for last, scoring a 7-under 65 in the final round and playing a pivotal role in keeping Ripper GC alive in the team playoff against Stinger GC. Leishman finished LIV Golf Adelaide T9 in scrambling (75.00 percent), and he ranks seventh overall in that category for the season at 67.71 percent. The Australian finished T16 in Singapore last season with an 8-under final score.
Honorable mentions: Charl Schwartzel (scored eight-under in the final round at Adelaide to finish T3, ended with the best scrambling rate of 92.86%), Carlos Ortiz (was part of the feature group in the final round at Adelaide, finished T5 in scrambling (81.48%) for the tournament). Paul Casey (coming off a disappointing T31 finish in Adelaide, but he leads the league in GIR (75.31%) and is second in scrambling (72.50%).
Teams (2)
Stinger GC
Burmester, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel are all ranked top-11 in the individual standings. Each of them finished top-3 on the individual leaderboard in Adelaide, and Mike McAllister of LIV Golf notes that is the first time that has occurred in league history. Over the last four events, Stinger GC finished second twice and third once.
Torque GC
Torque GC led over the first two rounds in Adelaide thanks to the performances of Ortiz, Mito Pereira and captain Niemann. They weren't able to keep up on the final day and ultimately settled for fourth place, but they remain the only team in LIV Golf to finish top-5 in every event this season.
Honorable mentions: HyFlyers GC (coming off their first podium finish of the season, placing third in Adelaide), Ripper GC (the all-Australian squad captured their first team victory of the season in Adelaide in nail-biting fashion), Legion XIII (have finished in the top five in all but one event this season, and they will always be in the mix with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton).
Sleepers (5)
Pereira is coming off his best performance of the LIV Golf season, finishing eighth in Adelaide for his first individual points of the year. He finished fifth in Singapore in 2023 thanks to back-to-back 5-under 66 scores over the final two rounds of the tournament.
Jones had his best performance in Adelaide, cracking the top 10 for the first time this season with a T9 finish. He was the fifth best scrambler in Adelaide (81.82%) and ranks 11th for the year in that category (66.38%).
Perez has finished top-5 just once this season, but Singapore could be a different story for the American. He finished T7 in scrambling (76.92%) and T14 in driving accuracy (66.67%) in Adelaide.
Lahiri got off to a strong start in Adelaide with a 7-under 65 in the first round, and he finished with a 5-under 67 in the final round. He finished the event second in driving accuracy (78.57%) and T5 in GIR (81.48%).
Kozuma got off to a hot start in Adelaide with an opening-round 63 -- the best round of the tournament. He ultimately settled for a T9 finish for his first points of the season, and he finished the event T2 in putting average (1.48 putts per hole) and 16th in scrambling (64.71%).
Prediction
With the second half of the LIV Golf season set to begin, Rahm finally breaks through to capture his first individual trophy of the season, followed by Gooch, Casey, Oosthuizen and Hatton. Rahm's performance helps Legion XIII reach the podium, but it will be the all-South African Stinger GC that captures its first team trophy of the season, with Torque GC rounding out the top three.
