The Gallery, Tucson. LIV Golf

Here is a quick look at each of the 12 LIV Golf League teams going into Friday’s first round of LIV Golf Tucson at The Gallery’s South Course. (Teams listed in order of their finish at the previous event, LIV Golf Mayakoba.)

CRUSHERS

LINE-UP: Bryson DeChambeau (captain), Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri
DeChambeau’s boys hope to make it two straight team wins after claiming the team title in Mayakoba by nine strokes
The Crushers were deadly accurate in Mexico, ranking first in both fairways hit and greens in regulation
Individually, tournament winner Howell ranked first in GIR, Casey was second and DeChambeau tied for fourth
Howell and Casey are familiar with the South Course, as both players appeared in matchplay events here in 2007-08.

4 ACES

LINE-UP: Dustin Johnson (captain), Pat Perez, Patrick Reed, Peter Uihlein
The newest Ace, Uihlein, finished second in Mayakoba, his third runner-up finish in his last four LIV Golf regular season starts
Johnson, last year’s Individual Champion, hopes to rebound from a rare off-day, shooting 78 in the final round of Mexico
Meanwhile, Perez hope to ride the momentum of his best LIV finish (7th)
Perez has plenty of experience with desert golf as an Arizona native and current resident
The 4 Aces have yet to lose on US soil. They won all five played in America last season, including the Miami Team Championship.

TORQUE

LINE-UP: Joaquin Niemann (captain), Sebastian Munoz, Mito Pereira, David Puig
Niemann’s revamped roster paid immediate dividends with its first-ever podium finish, a third in Mayakoba thanks to a final-round collective nine-under
No team had more players inside the top 20 in Mexico, with Munoz (8th), Niemann (11th) and Pereira (16th)
Munoz and Pereira were top five in GIR.

STINGER

LINE-UP: Louis Oosthuizen (captain), Dean Burmester, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel
The all-South African team made a final-round push but came up one shot short of the podium at Mayakoba
Grace, last year’s second-place finisher in the Individual Championship race, continues to be the team’s most consistent performer, as he finished third individually in Mexico
Newcomer Burmester also finished in the points in his LIV Golf debut.

RIPPER

LINE-UP: Cameron Smith (captain), Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, Jediah Morgan
The all-Australian foursome had the best putting week of any team at Mayakoba, leading in overall putting average at 1.39
Smith tied for fewest putts with 77, while the other three team members each ranked inside the top 20 in that category
Rippers also finished just one stroke off the podium, with Smith finishing sixth individually
Jones played collegiately at Arizona State.

FIREBALLS

LINE-UP: Sergio Garcia (captain), Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Chacarra, Carlos Ortiz
The Spanish-speaking foursome finished two strokes off the podium
Ortiz was the team’s top player with a tie for 7th. Ortiz has since posted his sixth career win with a victory on the GGPM Tour in his native Mexico
Garcia has prior experience at the South Course, having played the match play events in 2007-08.

HYFLYERS

LINE-UP: Phil Mickelson (captain), James Piot, Brendan Steele, Cameron Tringale
Thanks in large part to newcomer Steele, the Flyers had the second-best score in the final round at Mayakoba at 11-under
Steele, in his first LIV Golf start, had a six-under 65 to claim fifth place individually, while Mickelson comes off a 67
Since Mexico, Piot and Tringale have been working together in Florida on their short games, while Mickelson and Steele have practised together in California
Mickelson has three pro wins in Tucson (and four more in Phoenix), so expect him to share the winning strategy on desert courses.

RANGEGOATS

LINE-UP: Bubba Watson (captain), Talor Gooch, Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III
With Watson making his LIV Golf active debut after performing non-playing captain duties last season due to injury, the rebranded RangeGoats finished in eighth place in Mexico
Transfer Gooch was in the final group for the last round but fell off the pace and finished outside the top 10
New LIV member Pieters tied for 32nd
Varner has LIV Golf’s longest active streak for counting scores with 15.

SMASH

LINE-UP: Brooks Koepka (captain), Chase Koepka, Jason Kokrak, Matthew Wolff
Wolff, making his first start for Koepka’s team after his off-season transfer, had the team’s lone top-10 finish
Kokrak was the first-round co-leader with a 64 before dropping back
Brooks Koepka is accustomed to success in the desert, having won two pro events in Phoenix and the LIV Golf regular-season finale last year in Jeddah

IRON HEADS

LINE-UP: Kevin Na (captain), Sihwan Kim, Danny Lee, Scott Vincent
Vincent was the top point-getter while Na also finished inside the top 24 as the Iron Heads finished 10th in Mayakoba
New LIV member Lee was solo 34th but Vincent thinks Lee is in for a big week at Tucson. “He’s been striping it on the range,” Vincent said. “Expect him to do some big things.”
Na, a Las Vegas resident, should feel quite comfortable on the desert course.

MAJESTICKS

LINE-UP: Ian Poulter (co-captain), Henrik Stenson (co-captain), Lee Westwood (co-captain), Sam Horsfield
Stenson, Poulter and Westwood have experience on the South course, having competed in the matchplay events in 2007-08
Stenson won the event in 2007 and finished third the next year, losing to Tiger Woods in the semi-finals
Poulter was the only Majestick to take individual points from Mayakoba, finishing 12th
Stenson ranked first in the field in fairways hit, missing just five on the week.

CLEEKS

LINE-UP: Martin Kaymer (non-playing captain), Richard Bland, Laurie Canter*, Graeme McDowell, Bernd Wiesberger
Canter will once again replace injured captain Martin Kaymer (wrist) in the starting line-up and hopes to improve on his 46th place finish in Mexico
McDowell was the only Cleeks player to earn individual points in Mexico, finishing 13th
Wiesberger, in his first appearance with the team, finished 44th
Cleeks were the only team to finish over par for the week in Mexico.