LIV Golf rebel RETURNS for season-ending Team Championship in Miami
Adrian Otaegui, who recently won on the DP World Tour, is making a return for the LIV Golf finale in Miami.
Adrian Otaegui, who recently became the first LIV Golf player to win a DP World Tour event, has been recalled into Joaquin Niemann's Torque GC side for the season-ending Team Championship in Miami this week.
Otaegui, who clinched his fourth DP World Tour title with a runaway victory on home soil at the Andalucia Masters just two weeks ago, will now make his fourth appearance in a LIV Golf tournament at Trump National Doral this Friday.
The Spaniard will now replace Japan's Hideto Tanihara (who becomes first alternate) in Niemann's Torque GC side. Scott Vincent and Jediah Morgan are also in the four-man side.
A staggering $50 million is up for grabs for the 12 teams in the LIV Golf Team Championship this week, with $16 million going to the winning team.
Otaegui will earn at least $250,000 this week because the bottom four teams in the tournament are all guaranteed $1 million.
Related: So the PGA Tour DID threaten to ban Japanese players who play in LIV Golf events!
The DP World Tour has tried to prevent its members who have played in LIV Golf tournaments this season from returning to the circuit, but that move has been blocked by a UK court that will rule further on the matter in February 2022.
Other LIV Golf players who have continued to take part in DP World Tour events recently include the likes of Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia, the latter whom was fined for walking out of the BMW PGA Championship.
It is also understood that Garcia, a winner of 16 tournaments on the DP World Tour, has now played in his last event on the former European Tour circuit.
Garcia's Fireballs GC team, which also comprises Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz and Eugenio Chacarra, will also bid for team honours this week.
Dustin Johnson's red-hot 4 Aces team, also featuring Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch and Pat Perez, will start as warm tournament favourites.
The 4 Aces have won four of the seven team events on LIV Golf so far this season.
Here's all you need to know about the 4 Aces GC.
LIV Golf Miami: Full Field
Related: LIV Golf Miami - How It Works
Team Championship Format
Friday, October 28 – Quarter Finals
- Teams seeded 1-4 will receive a bye
- Teams seeded 5-12 will compete in head-to-head match-play competitions
- Highest-ranked teams select their opponents
- All 32 players amongst those eight teams will compete simultaneously in a shotgun start
- For each head-to-head team match-up, three matches will take place: two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match
- Matches will be played until a winner is determined; there will be no ties. Each match winner receives one point
- Teams earning two points will advance to Saturday’s Semifinals
Saturday, October 29 – Semi Finals
- Teams seeded 1-4 will join the winning four teams from Friday for another day of head-to-head team match play
- Highest-ranked teams select their opponents
- All 32 players amongst those eight teams will compete simultaneously in a shotgun start
- Teams compete in the same format as Friday: two singles matches and one alternate-shot (foursomes) match, with each match winner receiving one point
- Matches will be played until a winner is determined; there will be no ties
- The four teams earning two points will advance to the Team Championship
Sunday, October 30 – Team Championship
- The four winning teams will compete in a shotgun-start round of stroke play
- All 16 players will compete in twosomes, with Team Captains playing together
- All four scores count towards the team’s score
- At the end of Sunday’s round, the squad with the lowest team score is the LIV Golf Invitational Series Team Champion
