LIV Golf Mayakoba: Team Power Rankings
The 2024 LIV Golf season kicks off Friday at El Camaleon Golf Club in Mayakoba, Mexico. In this new article, I'll provide team power rankings, a brief breakdown of each team and predicted order of finish for the individuals in each team.
1. Torque GC
Torque is coming off a third-place finish last season (as well as in this event), but their four wins were two more than any other team, showing the upside this group is capable of. The South American quartet is led by Joaquin Niemann and the entire team is 32 years old or younger with a lot of quality golf still in front of them. Mito Pereira, Sebastian Munoz and new acquisition Carlos Ortiz (formerly with the Fireballs) all finished top-15 of the individual standings last year.
Prediction: Niemann, Pereira, Ortiz, Munoz
2. 4Aces GC
4Aces have one of the largest targets on their backs after capturing the top seed in each of the first two seasons and winning the Team Championship in 2022. Captain Dustin Johnson brings back Patrick Reed and Pat Perez, while Harold Varner III joins from the RangeGoats to complete the squad. The 4Aces finished runner-up here a year ago and will look to improve on their seven top-3 finishes last year.
Prediction: Johnson, Reed, Varner, Perez
3. Smash GC
Smash will again be led by Brooks Koepka, who finished third in the individual standings and ended the regular season last year by repeating in Jeddah. The addition of 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch should make this team much more of a contender after an eighth-place overall team finish last year. Jason Kokrak also returns to the team, while newcomer Graeme McDowell will hope to improve on his 2023 season.
Prediction: Gooch, Koepka, Kokrak, McDowell
4. Stinger GC
The South African lineupremains unchanged, with Louis Oosthuizen as team captain. Branden Grace led the squad with three top-3 finishes (one of those came at Mayakoba) and a ninth-place finish in the individual standings. Charl Schwartzel adds to the experience on the team, and Dean Burmester is one of the longest drivers on LIV.
Prediction: Burmester, Oosthuizen, Grace, Schwartzel
5. Crushers GC
The Crushers cruised to a nine-stroke victory at Mayakoba a year ago on the heels of Charles Howell III's four-shot win in the individual portion of the event. The team remains fully intact and is led by major champion Bryson DeChambeau. Veterans Paul Casey and Anirban Lahiri bring plenty of experience as well.
Prediction: DeChambeau, Howell, Lahiri, Casey
6. Ripper GC
Cameron Smith returns to captain the all-Australian team. Newcomer Lucas Herbert takes the place of Jediah Morgan and should add some needed consistency to a squad that racked up just a pair of top-4 finishes. Marc Leishman had a solid finish to last season, while Matt Jones will look to bounce back from a disappointing campaign.
Prediction: Smith, Herbert, Leishman, Jones
7. Legion XIII
Expansion team Legion XIII will have a lot of hype around them with four newcomers that are led by captain and two-time major winner Jon Rahm. Newly signed Tyrrell Hatton will give the team a dangerous duo at the top. Caleb Surratt, the 19-year-old University of Tennessee All-American, is the youngest player in the league, while Kieran Vincent joins from the Asian Tour after qualifying via LIV Golf Promotions in December.
Prediction: Rahm, Hatton, Surratt, Vincent
8. Fireballs GC
Led by captain Sergio Garcia, the Fireballs won a pair of events last year, including the regular-season finale in Jeddah. Abraham Ancer and Eugenio Chacarra also return to the squad, while the team is rounded out by David Puig, who joined from Torque GC. Garcia led the team with three top-10s last year.
Prediction: Ancer, Garcia, Puig, Chacarra
9. HyFlyers GC
Captain Phil Mickelson's HyFlyers will look to improve on a season in which they were unable to post a top-3 finish. Former U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree joins the team after winning twice on the Asian Tour last season and claiming the International Series championship. Veterans Cameron Tringale and Brendan Steele return after each finishing in the top 20 of the individual standings last year.
Prediction: Tringale, Steele, Ogletree, Mickelson
10. Cleeks GC
Coming off a 10th place overall finish last season, the Cleeks will have a bit of a different look with the additions of Adrian Meronk and Kalle Samooja. Meronk won twice on the DP World Tour last year while Samooja qualified via the LIV Golf Promotions qualifying event. Martin Kaymer returns to captain and will be healthier than a year ago when he was coming off wrist surgery, with veteran Richard Bland, Cleeks' top player last year, rounds out the team.
Prediction: Meronk, Bland, Samooja, Kaymer
11. RangeGoats GC
After starting slow with three straight eighth place finishes, the RangeGoats came to life with six top-3 finishes over their final 10 regular-season events. The team will look different without Gooch and Varner, however, and Peter Uihlein and Matthew Wolff will have big shoes to fill. Captain Bubba Watson and Thomas Pieters return to a team that has a lot of length off the tee. Uihlein was the runner-up at Mayakoba last year.
Prediction: Uihlein, Watson, Pieters, Wolff
12. Majesticks GC
The Majesticks were the only team that didn't record a top-4 team finish last year but remain fully intact heading into this season. Veterans Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood serve as co-captains. Sam Horsfield will look to provide more stability to the team after missing six events due to hip surgery last summer.
Prediction: Stenson, Poulter, Horsfield, Westwood
13. Iron Heads GC
The Iron Heads finished in the cellar last season and with three of their four players returning, they will have their work cut out for them. The new addition is Jinichiro Kozuma, who played in three LIV events in 2022 with a best finish of sixth in Portland. The team is captained by Kevin Na, while Tucson winner Danny Lee and top-24 player Scott Vincent round it out.
Prediction: Vincent, Na, Kozuma, Lee
