What Went Down at the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship

The 2024 LIV Golf season has come to a close, but not without a sky-diving entrance, a hole-in-one and an unlikely Iron Heads run that ended in a podium champagne shower. With all of the hype and noise the LIV league is associated with, this year’s Team Championship lived up to the expectations as Ripper GC claimed the $14 million USD prize.

What sets the Team Championship apart is the unique format, which brings a new layer of strategy and excitement to the game. With a bracket-style structure that combines stroke play and match play, any team has a real shot at making a run for the trophy. This year’s championship at Maridoe Golf Club showcased how thrilling those final sprints can be.

To set the stage, the top-ranked teams—Smash GC, Torque GC, Fireballs GC, and Stinger GC—entered the weekend with the advantage of selecting their semi-final opponents during Thursday’s pre-tournament briefing. The 13th-seeded Iron Heads and 12th-seeded HyFlyers were quickly chosen, with Smash GC Brooks Koepka openly stating he was picking from the bottom up. That left his team to face the Iron Heads, and there was no doubt who the underdogs were. Once set, team captains selected players for both individual and team matches.

Upset was the theme of the semi-finals though, which were filled with some of the most exciting moments from the weekend. Hypegolf followed both Brooks Koepka and Iron Heads captain Kevin Na and an air of rivalry was very apparent throughout the round. With the “Shark” Greg Norman in company, Koepka turned back to Norman on the second tee box and mentioned “It would all be over if I could just drive the ball.” Koepka did end up beating Na in the match play round but it wasn't enough to turn the Iron Heads tide.

The Iron Heads behind Kevin Na were able to keep the team in the picture and ended up defeating the 4th-seeded Smash GC with a singles win by Danny Lee over Talor Gooch and a team win by Scott Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma. Vincent gave the crowd a hole-in-one, which jump-started the team's comeback and garnered a whole new level of respect for the underdogs. A par putt by Kozuma sealed the win on the final hole.

“We’ve shown that in match play, anything can happen,” said Iron Heads’ Captain Kevin Na, whose club was 0-6 in quarterfinal matches the first two seasons. The Iron Heads would upset Bryson Dechambeau’s Crushers in the Semi-Finals and then put on a solid fight in the finals against the 4Aces GC, Ripper GC, and Legion XIII before claiming second place when the dust was settled.

In the finals, the format shifted from match play to stroke play, with The Aces, Ripper GC, Iron Heads, and LegionXIII competing for the title. The leaderboard shifted throughout the round as the 4Aces, Iron Heads, and LegionXIII each made strong runs, but the Rippers held the lead for most of the day. Ultimately, Cam Smith and the Ripper crew delivered clutch performances on the back nine, with Smith sealing the win on the final hole. When asked what made his team such strong closers, Smith simply replied, "We're Rippers."

The Dallas Team Championship was everything it promised to be. It was competitive and loud, offering the type of high level performance the core golf community craves and appreciates. There’s an energy with LIV Golf that’s clearly growing and here to stay, and in 2025 the league will introduce all-new players and cities while maintaining continuity with the same teams and format. You can check out the schedule for 2025 here.

But now it's time for the champions to enjoy some well deserved rest before kicking off the new season in February in Riyadh. Before the tournament started, Hypegolf had the pleasure of playing the pro-am with Cam Smith who mentioned that when all was said and done, he had a Great Barrier Reef fishing trip waiting for him. We’re expecting those pictures soon Cam.

Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast

What Went Down at the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship

What Went Down at the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship

What Went Down at the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship

What Went Down at the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship

What Went Down at the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship