HOWELL AND DECHAMBEAU BRING CRUSHERS CLOSER TO DOUBLE CELEBRATION
KING ABDULLA ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia: Crushers GC are the trending team in LIV Golf League, and a sensational Saturday at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club took them closer to a second double celebration in back-to-back tournaments.
With Captain Bryson DeChambeau (63) shrugging off an early bogey and going deep once again and Charles Howell III being both solid and spectacular in his 64, Crushers are right up there in both individual and team leaderboard of LIV Golf Jeddah presented by ROSHN.
Howell holed out twice – once for an eagle with a 52-degree wedge on the fifth hole for an eagle two and then on the 11th hole for a birdie. The Mayakoba champion then almost holed out his second shot on the par-4 first hole (his last of the day), but settled for a birdie from less than a foot.
The 64 took Howell to tied second place at nine-under total alongside Sergio Garcia, three shots behind leader Brooks Koepka (12-under).
DeChambeau, who is currently third in the season-long standings, dropped outside the projected top-three with his bogey on the par-4 17th after starting on the 16th hole. But the champion in Greenbrier and Chicago went on a tear after that, making eight birdies in the next 12 holes.
Anirban Lahiri (67) was the third contributing member of the team, while Paul Casey shot a 70.
The team combined for 16-under for the day and reached 22-under total. That gives them a three-shot cushion against Smash and Fireballs at 19-under.
In LIV Golf Chicago, DeChambeau had won the individual title with Lahiri second and the team secured its second title of the season.
Crushers are 10 points behind current table-toppers 4Aces, with the all-American team dropping to ninth place at 11-under. A win is sure to make DeChambeau and his men the top seeds in the Team Championship next week in Miami.
“It was about shooting low today, as low as I could. I knew Brooks and a few others were going to play well, and I needed to get it deep,” said DeChambeau.
“I did that, but I would have liked to have finish off with a birdie or two coming in, have a better chance. But being four back as it is, this golf course, you can definitely do it.
“All I’m focused on tomorrow is winning this tournament, and the rest will take care of itself. The job is not even close to being done. We’ve got 18 more holes.”
DeChambeau said while he’d try his best to win the individual championhip, Sunday will be more about the team.
“It’s about the team. We definitely want to win the team championship and be first in the points list going to Miami,” said the 2020 US Open champion.
“We’re that good of a team, and my boys have worked really hard this year. If we play well tomorrow, we definitely deserve to be up in that No. 1 spot. I’m definitely focused on that, focused on playing well tomorrow individually for the Crushers, and just going to give it my all.”