The field and teams have been announced for the LIV Golf Team Championship finale at Trump National Doral in Florida. However, while there have been two personnel changes, with Valderrama winner Adrian Otaegeui replacing Hideto Tanihara on Torque GC and Hennie Du Plessis returning to Stinger GC in place of Shaun Norris, another change involves a team captaincy.
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Lee Westwood has been the captain of Majesticks GC since the second tournament, when he replaced Ian Poulter. For the season’s final tournament, though, Poulter is stepping back into the leadership role. While it has not been confirmed why the two Englishmen have switched responsibilities, a look at Poulter’s Ryder Cup history may offer the greatest clue.
During this week’s tournament, as well as foursomes match play, there are also singles matches where the team captains will compete. In the Ryder Cup, Poulter remains undefeated in seven singles matches, winning six, suggesting the move is being made to play to his strengths. Not only that, but history tells us that Westwood is well-suited to foursomes matches with a Ryder Cup record of 11 points in 20 matches.
3 changes for team champs at Doral...Hennie DuPlessis returns to Stinger lineup (for Norris) - that will get him into 2023 LIV lineup. Adrian Otaegui (2 weeks removed from DP Tour win) replaces Tanihara for Torque squad. And Poulter will serve as captain for Majesticks 1/2October 24, 2022
The Poulter/Westwood change is interesting. Why would the Majesticks do it, you might ask? Well, the captains play singles matches at Doral, and Ian Poulter is undefeated in singles play in his Ryder Cup history (and Westwood has 11 4some points in 18 matches). 2/2October 24, 2022
Majesticks GC is seeded sixth going into the tournament. Because the team is seeded outside the top four, it will need to play in the opening round's quarter-finals. If Majesticks GC progresses, it will face one of the top four seeds in the semi-final. With the highest-ranked teams choosing their opponents, that could even leave Majesticks GC facing Dustin Johnson’s dominant 4 Aces GC on the second day before the remaining four teams compete in a stroke play competition in the final round.
Majesticks GC will certainly fancy its chances of pulling off a shock and winning the tournament. As well as Poulter and Westwood, the team also has Henrik Stenson in its ranks. A veteran of five Ryder Cups, Stenson was also previously named the 2023 European Ryder Cup captain before he was stripped of the role after defecting to LIV Golf.
Certainly, the stakes are high. The purse is double what has been on offer in each of the previous seven tournaments, at $50m. Of that, the winning team will share $16m between its four players, the second-placed team will win $8m, with $6m awarded to the team finishing third and $4m to the team in fourth. With a comparatively small $1m handed to each of the bottom four teams, Poulter and Westwood will hope the switch proves to be a lucrative decision as the inaugural season concludes.
