Fueled by one of Charles Howell III’s most
impressive rounds in his 23 years as a professional golfer, Crushers GC
captured both the individual and team trophies in resounding fashion
Sunday at LIV Golf Mayakoba, the season opener of the new LIV Golf
League.
Howell’s bogey-free 8-under 63 was the lowest score of any player this
week, and his first eight holes were even more impressive, as he
produced six birdies to overtake 36-hole co-leaders Peter Uihlein
(Smash GC) and Talor Gooch (RangeGoats GC). He eventually finished at
16 under, four strokes better than Uihlein, who shot a 68. Stinger GC’s
Branden Grace was third at 10 under after shooting 67.
It’s Howell’s fourth worldwide victory of his career, and his first at
El Camaleon, a course he first competed on in 2007 and was playing for
the 14th time this week.
“Obviously, I don’t think you ever see a win coming,” said the
43-year-old Howell. “I’ve played in a lot of golf tournaments in my
life, and I haven’t won a lot of them, and you have the doubts and the
feelings, will you ever win again?
“To do it against this competition with these guys standing up here is
more than I could ever dream of. I’m extremely thankful.”
Certainly his fellow Crushers teammates were thankful to have Howell
going so low. Last season during the beta-test LIV Golf Invitational
Series, the Crushers finished second twice and also had a third-place
finish in the five regular-season events after Bryson DeChambeau became
captain and stabilized his roster with veterans Howell, Paul Casey and
Anirban Lahiri.
That consistency led to a No. 2 seed at the Miami Team Championship,
but the Crushers did not make it to the final day. Now they’ve started
the new season with a huge breakthrough victory, nine shots ahead of
last year’s dominant team and defending champs 4Aces GC (17 under).
Torque GC finished third at 13 under.
“I knew it would happen,” DeChambeau said of his team winning. “I just
didn’t know when it would happen. To start off the year with a crushing
victory … How much more can you ask for a statement piece? The 4Aces,
OK, yeah, great, they won a lot last year. But it’s a different year.
It’s 2023.”
To support Howell’s low round, DeChambeau contributed a 3-under 68
while Casey – the first-round co-leader – added a 70. For the captain,
it was the first round this week that counted. Lahiri had contributed
in the first two rounds.
“Not counting the first few days for me, it was pretty rough last
night, so I gave myself a kick in the butt and played a little better
today,” DeChambeau said.
In the end, Howell’s 16 under score was almost enough to beat the 4Aces
by himself. Casey, who didn’t look at a leaderboard until he reached
the final green, was shocked to see the wide margin in which his team
was leading. He then asked his caddie about Howell. The response: “He’s
crushing it.”
Added Lahiri: “There will be days like this where you kind of ride the
hot round, and Charles pulled it through for us.”
Howell had started the final round one stroke off the lead, but while
he was producing birdies, the co-leaders kept finding trouble.
Uihlein’s errant approach shot at the third hole led to bogey, although
he bounced back with a birdie and eagle. Gooch had two bogeys on the
front, and then struggled down the stretch. When Uihlein triple-bogeyed
the 12th, the tournament was essentially in Howell’s hands.
“He won it on the front,” Uihlein said. “He did a heck of a job. …
There wasn’t any pressure on him, and he did exactly what he needed to
do, and he executed. He’s a worthy champion.”
Howell knows how El Camaleon can offer plenty of birdies and plenty of
trouble. His experience paid off this week.
“I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen on every hole out here,” Howell
said. “… On the 12th tee today, we had our group of three hit seven tee
balls off that tee. Talor hit three drives and Peter hit three drives.
I mean, that shows you how crazy it is.”
There was nothing crazy for Howell and the Crushers, though, except for
their jubilant champagne celebration on the podium. They now lead the
team standings going into the LIV Golf League’s next event, LIV Golf
Tucson on March 17-19.

TEAM COUNTING SCORES
Here are the standings and counting scores for Rd. 3 of the team
competition at LIV Golf Mayakoba. The three best scores from each team
count in every round for their total team score. The top three teams
receive prize earnings from the $5 million team purse.
1. CRUSHERS GC (-26):
Charles Howell III 63, Bryson DeChambeau 68, Paul Casey 70 (Rd3: 12
under)
2. 4ACES GC (-17):
Pat Perez 66, Peter Uihlein 68, Patrick Reed 74 (Rd3: 5 under)
3. TORQUE GC (-13):
Joaquin Niemann 68, Sebastian Munoz 68, Mito Pereira 68 (Rd3: 9 under)
4. STINGER GC (-12):
Branden Grace 67, Charl Schwartzel 69, Dean Burmester 70 (Rd3: 7 under)
5. RIPPER GC (-12):
Cameron Smith 67, Matt Jones 68, Marc Leishman 72 (Rd3: 6 under)
6. FIREBALLS GC
(-11): Eugenio Chacarra 70, Abraham Ancer 71, Carlos
Ortiz 71 (Rd3: 1 under)
7. HYFLYERS GC (-10):
Brendan Steele 65, Phil Mickelson 67, Cameron Tringale (Rd3: 11 under)
8. RANGEGOATS GC
(-10): Harold Varner III 68, Bubba Watson 71, Thomas
Pieters 71 (Rd3: 3 under)
9. SMASH GC (-6):
Brooks Koepka 71, Matthew Wolff 71, Jason Kokrak 71 (Rd3: Even)
10. IRON HEADS GC
(-1): Scott Vincent 68, Kevin Na 69, Danny Lee 74 (Rd3:
2 under)
11. MAJESTICKS GC
(-1): Henrik Stenson 69, Ian Poulter 70, Lee Westwood
74 (Rd3: Even)
12. CLEEKS GC (+4):
Richard Bland 71, Bernd Wiesberger 71, Graeme McDowell 72 (Rd3: 1 over)

STAT LEADERS
Driving distance – Bryson DeChambeau, 345.9-yard average
Driving accuracy – Abraham Ancer, Henrik Stenson, 78.57% (11 of 14
fairways hit)
Greens in regulation – Sebastian Munoz, Joaquin Niemann, 83.33% (15 of
18)
Scrambling – Charles Howell III (6 of 6), 100%
Fewest putts – Charles Howell III, 22 putts
Most birdies – Charles Howell III, 8
Bogey-free rounds – Charles Howell III (63)
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