Stinger’s Charl Schwartzel was mad at himself following a double-bogey midway through Sunday’s final round at LIV Golf Greenbrier.

So he did what many golfers of all levels have done out of frustration through the years. He kicked his bag. Unfortunately this time, the bag won.

Schwartzel broke the big toe on his right foot, forcing him to withdraw one hole later. Left with just three active players in the line-up, the Stingers held on for third place — the fifth podium finish for the South African team in the last seven tournaments. It was a result worth celebrating, but Schwartzel was hardly in the mood as he struggled to climb the stairs at Greenbrier that evening after receiving treatment. “Not a good moment,” he recalled on Thursday.

There is good news, though. Schwartzel will be in the line-up this week, teeing off on Friday with the other Stingers at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. Although still painful to walk, Schwartzel said there’s almost no pain when he swings a club. That was the deciding factor when he told Stinger captain Louis Oosthuizen he was ready to go.

“He played nine [holes] yesterday,” Oosthuizen said. “He’s a lot better. He strapped it up. He’s fine.”

“No restriction in my golf swing,” Schwartzel added. “Walking is the hard part but we can suffer through that.”

Welcome back to Bedminster ?#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/hQqndUz6Ol

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) August 9, 2023

There will be one significant change for Schwartzel this week. He’ll be wearing different shoes. More to the point — sturdier golf shoes. Schwartzel has worn FootJoy shoes for years but about five months ago, he switched to Nike Air Jordans. He was happy with them … until the realisation on Sunday that they weren’t made for kicking a golf bag.

“Those Nike Jordan shoes, the real soft ones, are almost like slippers,” he said. “That thing’s got nothing on the toe. When I kicked it, I realszed that was a mistake. One hole later, I couldn’t walk. Couldn’t swing. Something was seriously wrong. I’m not proud of kicking the bag. Just frustration, which I’ve done many times at the bottom. But there’s just no support on the shoes. It’s like kicking barefoot.”

Oosthuizen added: “We’ve all been there, done that. He was just wearing the wrong shoes to do that.”

Schwartzel, who won LIV Golf’s inaugural tournament last year in London, will return to his FootJoys this week. He said they offer more support and protection on his toe when he swings. He tried wearing the Air Jordans but his toe is too sore. “The FootJoys with the support takes all the pressure away from the toe,” he said.

But at some point when his toe is fully healed, Schwartzel will return to the Air Jordans. “Oh, I’ll go back to my other shoes, the slippers,” he said. “But I won’t kick the bag again.”

The post Charl Schwartzel to tee it up at LIV Golf Bedminster after freak ‘slipper’ incident results in broken toe! appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As ever there are some intriguing pairings on LIV Golf this week, as the 48 players go in hunt for the 10th event in the 14-tournament 2023 season.

Triumphant last time out in London, Cameron Smith has been matched up with three-time 2023 individual winner Talor Gooch and big-hitting beast Bryson DeChambeau, while Brooks Koepka will be going head to head with his old pal Patrick Reed and Graeme McDowell in a major-winning trio.

There is an all captains (and major-winning) affair beginning on hole 3 as Louis Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia get going in the shotgun start on Friday.

Here is the full list of pairings for the showdown on the Old White course at the Greenbrier.

Groups set for Friday's Rd. 1 #LIVGolf Greenbrier

Shotgun start: 1:15 pm ET pic.twitter.com/N35mtnzmrz

— LIVGolfComms (@LIVGolfComms) August 2, 2023

The post LOOK: Your LIV Golf Greenbrier tee times appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Here is a  quick look at each of the 12 LIV Golf League teams going into the first round of LIV Golf Greenbrier.

4 ACES

• Current individual points standings: Patrick Reed (4), Dustin Johnson (5), Peter Uihlein (9), Pat Perez (19)
• With win in London, team posted their  sixth podium finish of season
• Team have ranked No. 1 in standings after eight consecutive tournaments
• Only team with all four players inside Lock Zone (top 24 in points)
• Scoring averages in 2023: Reed (68.8), Johnson (68.8), Uihlein (68.9), Perez (69.3)

TORQUE

• Current individual points standings: Sebastián Muñoz (8), Mito Pereira (10), Joaquin Niemann (24), David Puig (30)
• Team suffered their first non-points finish of season in London (10th place)
• Team lead League in par-4 scoring (29-under)
• Niemann’s win at Greenbrier in 2019 was his eighth career professional win
• Scoring averages in 2023: Pereira (68.9), Muñoz (69.0), Niemann (69.4), Puig (70.1)

RANGEGOATS

Talor Gooch. LIV Golf

• Current individual points standings: Talor Gooch (1), Harold Varner III (7), Thomas Pieters (34), Bubba Watson (36)
• Only team this season with points finishes (top 8) in first nine tournaments
• Gooch’s three individual wins are the most in LIV Golf history
• Pieter’s 10th place points finish in London is his best LIV Golf result
• Scoring averages in 2023: Gooch (68.2), Varner (69.0), Pieters (69.7), Watson (70.3)

STINGER

• Current individual points standings: Branden Grace (6), Dean Burmester (15), Louis Oosthuizen (17), Charl Schwartzel (38)
• Team’s 3rd place in London is third podium finish in last four tournaments
• Schwartzel’s 395-yard drive in Tucson is longest by any LIV golfer this season
• Oosthuizen’s active streak of 191 holes without a three-putt is fourth longest in LIV history
• Scoring averages in 2023: Grace (69.1), Burmester (69.3), Oosthuizen (69.5), Schwartzel (70.6)

CRUSHERS

Bryson DeChambeau. LIV Golf

• Current individual points standings: Charles Howell III (11), Bryson DeChambeau (13), Anirban Lahiri (21), Paul Casey (33)
• Team lead League in scrambling this season at 65 per cent (395 of 609)
• DeChambeau’s active streak of 17 consecutive rounds under par is longest in LIV history
• Casey expected to return after WD (injury) during final round in London
• Scoring averages in 2023: DeChambeau (69.1), Howell (69.4), Lahiri (69.8), Casey (70.0)

FIREBALLS

• Current individual points standings: Carlos Ortiz (14), Sergio Garcia (16), Eugenio Chacarra (29), Abraham Ancer (41)
• Team have finished with points (top 8) in seven of first nine events
• Ancer’s 16th place points finish in London is his best result of season
• Garcia is 20 under in par-4 scoring, tied for third best in League
• Scoring averages in 2023: Ortiz (69.3), Garcia (69.3), Chacarra (70.1), Ancer (70.2)

SMASH

• Current individual points standings: Brooks Koepka (3), Jason Kokrak (18), Matthew Wolff (27), Chase Koepka (47)
• Brooks Koepka has finished in points (top 24) in seven consecutive tournaments
• Brooks leads League in par-5 scoring (54-under)
• Kokrak is 20-under in par-4 scoring, tied for third best in League
• Scoring averages in 2023: B Koepka (68.3), Kokrak (69.0), Wolff (71.0), C Koepka (72.0)

RIPPER

Cameron Smith. LIV Golf

• Current individual points standings: Cameron Smith (2), Marc Leishman (26), Matt Jones (35), Jediah Morgan (44)
• Smith’s win in London is his second career LIV victory and sixth consecutive top-12 LIV finish
• Team’s runner-up finish in London is their best LIV result
• Leishman’s third-place points finish in London is his best LIV result
• Scoring averages in 2023: Smith (68.2), Leishman (69.4), Jones (70.4), Morgan (72.0)

MAJESTICKS

• Current individual points standings: Henrik Stenson (23), Ian Poulter (31), *Sam Horsfield (39), Laurie Canter (40), Lee Westwood (45) (*-injured)
• Poulter’s active streak of 112 consecutive par 5s at par or better is LIV Golf record
• Poulter’s 11th place in London is best result this season among the four active members
• Canter led field in fairways hit in London
• Scoring averages in 2023: Stenson (69.6), Poulter (69.8), Canter (70.2), Westwood (71.2)

HYFLYERS

Phil Mickelson. Andrew Redington

• Current individual points standings: Cameron Tringale (12), Brendan Steele (20), Phil Mickelson (43), James Piot (49)
• Tringale’s 8th place in London is his third consecutive top-10 points finish
• Tringale has finished with individual points (top 24) in all nine starts in 2023
• Piot has team’s longest drive this season (355 yards, Orlando, Rd. 2)
• Scoring averages in 2023: Tringale (68.7), Steele (69.4), Mickelson (70.8), Piot (71.7)

IRON HEADS

• Current individual points standings: Danny Lee (22), Kevin Na (25), Scott Vincent (28), Sihwan Kim (50)
• Lee (2015), Na (2018) have won professional events at Greenbrier
• Na’s 15th place in London is his seventh points finish of season
• Lee has finished in points once in seven starts since winning in Tucson
• Scoring averages in 2023: Na (69.4), Vincent (69.6), Lee (70.1), Kim (75.0)

CLEEKS

• Current individual points standings: Richard Bland (32), Graeme McDowell (42), Bernd Wiesberger (46), Martin Kaymer (48)
• Team’s 6th place in London is best finish in last six tournaments
• Bland’s 6th in London is best individual result by any team member in 2023
• Team is 3rd in fairways hit but 12th in greens in regulation this season
• Scoring averages in 2023: Bland (69.9), McDowell 70.6), Wiesberger (70.9), Kaymer (71.7)

The post Team updates ahead of LIV Golf Greenbrier appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Joaquin Niemann is not supposed to be on the PGA Tour, not at this age. He’s also not leaving anytime soon.

Thanks to a final-round 64 at the Greenbrier, Niemann grabbed a T-5 finish at the West Virginia event. It wasn’t enough to earn an invitation to next week’s Open Championship, but he didn’t leave empty-handed. Thanks to his Sunday push, Niemann, with his fourth top 10 in just eight professional events, now has 414 FedEx Cup points. A total well above the projected amount needed for the 125th player in the FEC standings by the end of the Wyndham Championship, meaning, at 19 years old, Niemann has secured his tour card for next season.

“Maybe the best day of my life!” Niemann wrote on Twitter. “@PGATOUR MEMBER.”

Niemann already attained special temporary membership with a T-6 at the Memorial—his third T-8 or better in five outings—to earn unlimited sponsor invites until the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin. (Niemann’s expected to play at this week’s John Deere Classic.) By earning his card, Niemann joins a group featuring Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth that was able to bypass the Web.com Finals.

“Playing on the PGA Tour with these guys is awesome,” Niemann said earlier in the week at the Greenbrier. “I thought I was going to be in college this year.”

Which is perhaps the most fascinating part of Niemann’s run: he’s only on tour by accident. The former World No. 1 amateur was slatted to play in college for the University of South Florida. However, there was a snafu with Niemann’s TOEFL exam, an English-language test required by USF. Niemann, who hails from Chile, is still learning the language and didn’t gain entrance.

Thanks to winning the 2018 Latin America Amateur Championship, Niemann has bestowed an invitation to this year’s Masters. Following his first foray at Augusta National (he missed the cut with rounds of 76-77), Niemann turned pro at the Valero Texas Open, which meant losing exemptions into the U.S. and British Opens. Still, Niemann proved it was the right call. He finished sixth at TPC San Antonio, adding a T-8 at the Colonial before earning temporary status at Muirfield Village.

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