LIV Golf will be visiting the Chicago planes for the final showdown of the 2024 season. After 12 intense events, the race for the individual championship is closer between only two pros, Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann. And only one of these two golfers will gain the 2024 Individual Championship title. However, there will still be a team championship in Dallas, where the players will have another chance to earn the lucrative check and the coveted black trophy.
Among the 12 teams on the breakaway circuit, only one will take the best team of 2024 title and LIV Golf Chicago will be the perfect momentum booster for all those. Here are top 5 teams who may win in Chicago and catapult themselves to a better winning trajectory moving into Texas!
1. Smash GC
Brooks Koepka will not be winning the individual championship at the LIV Golf Chicago, but his team, Smash GC can very well do. The man in white and blue started their season with a win at LIV Golf Las Vegas in February. And after three top 3 finishes, Koepka’s team doubled that up 3 weeks ago in Greenbrier.
Smash GC won at The Old White with a three stroke lead over the Rippers, and 5-time major champion also took home individual title, with his comrade, Jason Korak finishing T3, while Lucas Herbert and Talor Gooch, posting T6 and T11, respectively. Smash GC is coming off hot from Greenbrier as they rank 4th on the standings and will be harder to stop in Chicago.
2. Ripper GC
Although Cameron Smith’s all Australian team stands at third on the 2024 team standings, Ripper GC has most players who are currently in their best form. The captain Smith himself is 6th in individual standings and was a runner-up three times this season in Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and Singapore.
Furthermore, the team from the Land Down Under has won two team events in Adelaide and Singapore, while they were runner-ups in the last two starts in Greenbrier and the United Kingdom. Overall, it looks like Smith’s team has been moving into a perfect direction, and after two close finishes, they might hammer it down in Chicago and make it three!
3. Legion XII
It was the debut season for Jon Rahm’s Spanish and they started it with bang! The Spaniards are the only team on LIV Golf to win four team events, starting with their maiden victory in Mayakoba. They followed the similar winning trend in Miami, Nashville, and the United Kingdom. Rahm’s team is currently 2nd in the 2024 team standings and had a better chance of winning in Chicago.
However, what should be noted is that except Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, the other members, Caleb Surratt and Kieran Vincent are not in form. While the 2023 Masters winner is potentially the Individual Champion, and Hatton is third on players standings, Surratt and Vincent have had ordinary seasons. The former is 39th with zero top 10s, the latter is in the drop zone with a risk of relegation. If Rahm or Hatton stumble, it would not be wrong to assume that Legion will not win in Chicago.
4. Crushers GC
Bryson DeChambeau’s team is the defending champion and no doubt they have it in them to win it again. After all, the Crushers GC has won two team events (Jeddah and Hong Kong) and were runner-ups at three more with a T3 in the United Kingdom. But you’d be wondering, why are they 4th in the power rankings?
It is because, individually Crushers members have not been playing that well in the season. The 2-time US Open winner did not win any event this year nor did any other of his teammates. Moreover, Charles Howells III returned to the league in Greenbrier after missing four events because of his tibia injury and was T37. It has been five months since their last win together, so they’ll have to give their best for a win, as many are in the way to the podium.
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5. Fireball GC
Another Spanish team has made it to the power rankings for LIV Golf Chicago. Sergio Garcia’s Fireball GC is sixth in the team standings but their last three starts shows what they are capable of. From Andalucia, through the United Kingdom and then at Greenbrier, their results look like this: Win, T5 and 4th.
Captain Garcia is also 4th on the Individual standings, while his team member Abraham Ancer is 11th. Although the team has won only one event this year, they can surely built on their past performance and win for the second time in Chicago.
Although the odds are in favor of these five teams to win at LIV Golf Chicago, the tides can turn at any moment. Who do you think will come out victorious from Bolingbrook Golf Club?
