Dallas preview: Smash GC to face Iron Heads GC Team Championship
Team: Smash Golf Club
Season-long team standings: 4th
Friday opponent: No. 13 seed Iron Heads GC
Fun team stat: Smash GC is second on the LIV Golf League in Fairway Hit Percentage (61.55%) and third in Greens in Regulation (70.65%)
Preview
When the regular season concluded last week in Chicago, Smash Golf Club wasn’t one of the three teams that secured a bye for this week’s LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship. But that doesn’t mean the team can’t end on a high note in 2024.
Smash GC had the first pick during Thursday’s selection show and opted to face Iron Heads GC in Friday’s quarterfinals at Maridoe Golf Club. The Iron Heads finished last in the season-long team standings.
Captain Brooks Koepka said he had a simple approach when deciding which team to pick.
“Just went from the bottom up,” said Koepka, referring to the team standings. “I think that’s the way we did it. I just felt like we’ve got a good chance. We’ll see what happens.”
Here’s how Friday’s quarterfinals will work: The 10 teams that didn’t earn a bye will compete in a shotgun start, and it will consist of 40 players. For each head-to-head team matchup, three matches (two singles, one foursomes/alternate shot) will take place. Matches will be played until a winner is determined and each match winner will receive one point.
In singles, Koepka will face Kevin Na while Talor Gooch will face Danny Lee. In foursomes/alternate shot, it will be Jason Kokrak/Graeme McDowell vs. Jinichiro Kozuma/Scott Vincent. The team earning two points will advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
“I just thought Gooch has had a good season again,” Koepka said. “He’s played well. He likes match play. I thought it was pretty simple just to put him out there. And I think this board kind of came up exactly how probably myself and Kevin (Na) kind of thought it was going to go.”
The first goal for Smash GC will be to survive and advance. And the team might lean on Gooch and McDowell at some crucial times. McDowell is 3-1 in match play on the LIV Golf League while Gooch is 2-0. Koepka and Kokrak are both 2-1.
As for the venue, Maridoe GC should be a good fit. It measures 7,438 yards and plays as a par 72, so while not overly long, it has enough distance to challenge average-length players who will have to rely on a deft short game. The routing takes players through soft, billowing grasses to lower forested areas and across a prairie. Shot-makers tend to find success here, and Smash GC is known as one of the best ball-striking teams on the LIV Golf League.