Ian Poulter toppled by Brooks Koepka as Majesticks crash out of LIV Golf Team Championship to Smash
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Updated 29/10/2022 at 21:29 GMT
The semi-finals of LIV Golf's Team Championship saw Punch, Smash, Stinger and 4 Aces advance to the final at Trump Doral. Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood arrived at the course in positive mood after wins on Friday, but they with their tails between their legs as they were beaten by Brooks Koepka and Peter Uihlein respectively.
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Ian Poulter’s first season with LIV Golf came to a close on Saturday, as he and his Majesticks team were beaten by Team Smash in the semi-finals of the Team Championship.
Poulter’s love for match play is well documented and after inspiring his side into the semi-finals on Friday he threw down the gauntlet to whoever they were scheduled to play on Saturday.
“I don’t care [who I play],” Poulter said following his impressive win over Kevin Na. “The reason I don’t care is I am going to knock them down one by one. It is the only way in match play. It gets me fired up and I love this format.”
It turned out he would be matched against Smash captain Brooks Koepka, and it proved too big an obstacle to overcome
Poulter made similar statements on a regular basis at Ryder Cups, saying he would deliver points for the team. He often walked the walk, but was found wanting against Koepka.
Koepka won the opening two holes of the match, and against a player of such standing it was too big a hole for Poulter to dig himself out of.
An excellent tee shot on the par-three 15th, the seventh hole of the match*, helped Poulter cut the gap - but Koepka made birdies on the 16th and 17th to take a stranglehold on the contest.
Poulter won a couple of holes when Koepka was four to the good, but the American closed out a 2&1 win.
“I just played my own ball,” Koepka said. “Poults is never going to give up, he is too competitive, too gritty, and he showed that the last five or six holes.
“He gave me a run coming down here at the end.”
There was still a chance for Majesticks to turn the contest around, but Henrik Stenson and Sam Horsfield were taken down by Chase Koepka and Jason Kokrak in the foursomes.
Lee Westwood is another Ryder Cup veteran of some repute, but he too went the same way as Poulter - with Peter Uihlein claiming a 4&2 win to wrap up the 3-0 victory for Smash.
Laurie Canter delivered a brilliant display to beat Patrick Reed, but his Cleeks team were taken down by the top seeds, the 4 Aces.
4 Aces captain Dustin Johnson cruised to a 5&3 win over Shergo Al Kurdi, and Pat Perez and Talor Gooch beat Richard Bland and Graeme McDowell in an arm-wrestle to claim a 2-1 win.
Sergio Garcia produced one of the performances of the day to beat Cameron Smith, , but it proved in vain as his Fireballs were toppled 2-1 by Team Punch.
Bryson DeChambeau’s first season of LIV Golf is over following a defeat to Louis Oosthuizen at the 23rd hole.
The other two matches involving Crushers and Stinger were split, meaning the contest went down to the battle of the two captains.
DeChambeau got ahead early, but Oosthuizen pegged him back and they produced brilliant golf in the extra holes.
The 23rd looked set to favour DeChambeau, being a monster par five, but his tee shot went way left into the water.
He was unable to extricate himself from trouble, and Oosthuizen plotted his way down the hole to seal the win for Stinger.
*LIV Golf is a shotgun start with all players starting at the same time on different holes, so not all players finish their rounds on the 18th.
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