Dustin Johnson Recovers From Errant Shank to Advance at LIV Team Championship

Johnson and the 4Aces survived on Saturday to contend for the top prize in Miami.

Dustin Johnson shanked an iron shot on Saturday afternoon and it seemed that all in attendance knew about it—including his teammates and competitors—who had no trouble giving him grief about following the second day of the $50 million LIV Golf Miami Team Championship.

When it occurred on the 15th hole of the Blue Monster course at Doral, Johnson fell into a tie with Phil Mickelson, and his 4Aces match against Mickelson’s HyFlyers was suddenly in peril.

But Johnson got his game on track, birdieing the 16th and 17th holes to close out Mickelson, 2 and 1, and give his team a 2–1 victory to assure the 4Aces a chance to defend their team title on Sunday.

“It was solid. Right square on the hosel,’’ Johnson said of his shank that led him to hit a provisional and then concede the hole to Mickelson. “Right square on the hosel. I actually played pretty well. Phil played really nice. I gave him [holes] 14 and 15. That's kind of how we were even standing on the 16th tee. But birdied 16 and 17 to finish it off

“It was a really good match. I've played a lot of golf with Phil and I knew it was going to be a good match. And it always is. Other than the shot on 15 … wasn't really what I was envisioning but other than that, the rest of the day was pretty good.’’

The top four teams in LIV’s season-long standings ended up making it to the final day with a chance to win the overall team title and its $14 million first prize.

Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers defeated the Cleeks, captained by Martin Kaymer, 2–1. Joaquin Niemann’s Torque defeated the Stinger, captained by Louis Oosthuizen, 3–0. And Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats defeated the Fireballs, captained by Sergio Garcia, 2–1.

Like the first day, matches consisted of two singles and one foursomes per team, with two points needed to advance. The 4Aces, Crushers, Torque and RangeGoats got first-day byes and did not play on Friday.

Under the Team Championship format, all 48 players will play Sunday. But the format is stroke play, with each player playing his own ball. Only the top four teams can win the team title. All four scores count toward the team total.

The four teams that lost on Saturday—the HyFlers, Cleeks, Stinger and Fireballs—will play for spots five through eight. The first-day losers (Smash, Majesticks, Ripper and Iron Heads) will be playing for spots nine through 12

There is a significant difference in prize money on Sunday. After the winner’s share of $14 million, the second-place team gets $8 million, followed by $6 million and $4 million. The last place team will get $1.25 million.

The teams get 60 percent of the money, with 10 percent going to each player. So, for the winning team, it means $8.4 million goes to the players.

Soon, the teams will use what they’ve accrued through team purses and sponsorships to possibly sign other players. Within the teams, there are contracts, salaries and incentives to pay.

“Any time you can create value for the team, it's huge,’’ DeChambeau said. “We've done well this year. We've all done well this year. But I think having that capital can allow us to do things a little differently.

“For my team, I know it’s probably not going to change. So that actually gives us more flexibility in knowing what we all want to do for next year. And also, it just gives us a nice little cushion, you could say, for being comfortable with where all the finances are and moving the Crushers in the right direction.’’