Crushers GC was victorious in the team portion of LIV Golf New York this weekend at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Captain Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, and Anirban Lahiri got the team’s 11th win in league history.
It was certainly a come from behind win for a team that really wasn’t in it. Torque GC was leading the whole weekend with teams Legion XIII and Majesticks GC close behind. It was almost certain one of them was going to win it. But in the final round, Torque GC’s +9, Legion XIII’s +7, and Majestick GC’s +5 made Crusher GC’s -1 score good enough for the win at +6.
“I don’t think we’ve ever discussed strategy. I think that’s why this team works because the four of us know what each of us needs to do to get the result that we need,” Crushers GC member Anirban Lahiri said in a post tournament press conference. “And to your point, I remember looking at the leaderboard on Thursday and it was an unfamiliar position. And I said, you know what? We’ve got our bad rounds out of the way, and this golf course is only going to get tougher, and I know we’re all going to hunker down and fight tooth and nails I said, it might look like we’re out of position, but any tough golf course, I don’t think we’re ever out of position. I think if we have one good day as a team, we could go out and shoot 10, 12 under, even on a golf course like this, and we can catch anybody out there. So I personally believed that we were in with as good a chance as any, even after that disastrous first day.”
They didn’t have the start they wanted on Thursday to say the least. Their captain Bryson DeChambeau played the worst among the four with a score of 76 and they combined for +11 as a whole. After day one, they were tied for 11th and second to last on the leaderboard.
Round two was much better than the first as they combined for a -7 score. Led by Paul Casey and Anirban Lahiri who both had a score of 67, they made it all the way into the top five. Despite being 13 strokes behind the leader and five behind fourth place, all that matters was that Crushers GC showed they had a pulse.
While it wasn’t their best, it was good enough on Saturday to keep them in the top five. They were +3 on the day led by the captain Bryson DeChambeau, who went from playing the two days in a row to leading the team in the third round with a score of 70. That +3 score wasn’t so bad after all because Crushers GC gained a position and were up to fourth as teams in front went down in strokes like it was a free fall. It was still a long shot to win but they were still in the top five.
In the final round they played the best between the top six. Teams continued to plummet while Crushers GC’s consistency came at the perfect time. DeChambeau and Lahiri put up even scores that led their team to victory. In a tournament that was not going their way, they rallied at the end and were able to steal one.
This team has been together for the past five seasons. The 11 wins they’ve achieved over the years makes up 20% of total LIV Golf events played. Their chemistry and urge to play for each other has generated into success:
These guys are some of the most world class players I’ve ever seen,” captain Bryson DeChambeau said. “When we built this team back in Boston, 2022, I said to numerous people, I was like, We legit could win every week if we just have our B plus to A games. And we’re not always going to, but I felt like if we had a few A games in there and a B game, like we would win quite a bit. It’s just the truth when the golf courses get tougher, it seems like we shine more for some reason. It’s just the wisdom that these guys have and the experience that they have and the capabilities they have is what sets our team apart.”
“We’ve also worn on all types of golf courses,” Crusher GC’s Paul Casey said. “Whether it’s a Hong Kong or a Bedminister, so I think it’s, you know, our games are, pliable, you know, we don’t we don’t pigeonhole ourselves. We just play hard every single week, and we always give 100%.”
The Crushers will look to add to that 20% win percentage and get their 12th team victory in Indianapolis later this month. They still have a chance at the team championship and won’t go down without a fight:
“That’s the biggest part,” DeChambeau said. “We give 100%, and I know everybody out there all the teams give 100% as well in their own ways and whatnot, but I feel like we dig for every single shot. There’s not one shot we go up there and one just hit it. We give it 100% every single time.”
