Cameron Smith defeats Phil Mickelson in match play as LIV Golf's Team Championship kicks off

By Sports Desk October 28, 2022

In the headline matchup from the first day of the LIV Golf Team Championship, Cameron Smith finished 1up against Phil Mickelson to help Punch GC advance past Hy Flyers GC in Friday's quarter-finals.

The format for the Team Championship has the top-four teams automatically advancing to Saturday's semi-finals, while teams five-through-12 battled it out on the opening day.

With teams of four, it meant there would be two one-on-one match play rounds, as well as a two-on-two foursomes played with alternate shot rules, with the team who wins two-out-of-three getting to advance.

For Punch GC, Smith was matched up with Mickelson, and they went onto the 18th hole tied, before Mickelson left the door open with a bogey to finish his round, allowing Smith to secure one win for his team with a par.

Smith's Australian teammate Marc Leishman enjoyed a much more dominant victory, working his way to a 4up lead through seven holes on his way to a 4 and 2 win against J.J. Wolf. Hy Flyers did salvage one point despite getting eliminated, with the duo of Bernd Wiesberger and Cameron Tringale beating Wade Ormsby and Matt Jones 3 and 2.

It was a three-to-zero clean sweep for Majesticks GC, with Ian Poulter beating Kevin Na 4 and 2, Lee Westwood defeating Sihwan Kim 4 and 3, and the team of Sam Horsfield with Henrik Stenson collecting a 4 and 2 victory over Sadom Kaewkanjana and Phachara Khongwatmai.

For Smash GC it was Chase pulling through for the Koepka clan as Brooks Koepka fell convincingly in a 4 and 3 loss to Niblicks GC's Harold Varner III.

But Smash GC will move on to the semi-finals after Chase Koepka and Jason Kokrak beat Turk Petit and Hudson Swafford 2 and 1, while Peter Uihlein hammered James Piot 5 and 3.

In the last quarter-final, Cleeks GC booked their semi-final matchup against Dustin Johnson and the top-seeded 4 Aces GC after winning two-out-of-three against Torque GC.

Joaquinn Niemann did all he could for Torque GC, cruising past Shergo Al Kurdi 5 and 3 after Al Kurdi stepped in for Cleeks GC captain Martin Kaymer, who was a late withdrawal.

But Laurie Canter kept his team in it with a narrow 1up win over Jediah Morgan, before Graeme McDowell and Richard Bland put Torque GC through to the next round with a 2up victory against Scott Vincent and Adrian Otaegui.

The eight remaining teams will compete in the same format in the semi-finals, with Cameron Smith against Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia shaping up as the main event.

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