The field and teams have been announced for the LIV Golf Team Championship finale at Trump National Doral in Florida. However, while there have been two personnel changes, with Valderrama winner Adrian Otaegeui replacing Hideto Tanihara on Torque GC and Hennie Du Plessis returning to Stinger GC in place of Shaun Norris, another change involves a team captaincy.
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Throughout the inaugural season, Lee Westwood has been the captain of Majesticks GC, with Ian Poulter one of its regular players. For the season’s final tournament, though, Poulter is stepping into the leadership role. While it has not been confirmed why the two Englishmen have switched responsibilities, a look at Poulter’s Ryder Cup history may offer the greatest clue.
During this week’s tournament, as well as foursomes match play, there are also singles matches where the team captains will compete. In the Ryder Cup, Poulter remains undefeated in seven singles matches, winning six, suggesting the move is being made to play to his strengths. Not only that, but history tells us that Westwood is well-suited to foursomes matches with a Ryder Cup record of 11 points in 20 matches.
Majesticks GC is seeded sixth going into the tournament. Because the team is seeded outside the top four, it will need to play in the opening round’s quarter-finals. If Majesticks GC progresses, it will face one of the top four seeds in the semi-final. With the highest-ranked teams choosing their opponents, that could even leave Majesticks GC facing Dustin Johnson’s dominant 4 Aces GC on the second day before the remaining four teams compete in a stroke play competition in the final round.
Majesticks GC will certainly fancy its chances of pulling off a shock and winning the tournament. As well as Poulter and Westwood, the team also has Henrik Stenson in its ranks. A veteran of five Ryder Cups, Stenson who was also previously named the 2023 European Ryder Cup captain before he was stripped of the role after defecting to LIV Golf.
Certainly, the stakes are high. The purse is double what has been…
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