2024 Second-half preview: Outlooks for all 13 teams | LIV Golf

TORQUE GC

Second-half outlook: At the halfway point last season, Torque already had two wins. They’ve yet to reach the top of the podium this year, but the team’s consistency has actually improved. If they can start the second half in 2024 like they did in 2023, with wins in two of the next three events, they’ll be right in the mix for the top seed.

Watch out for: Mito Pereira and Sebastián Muñoz getting untracked. Each player managed just one top-10 finish in the first half. Pereira, in particular, just needs to start finding fairways. Last season, he ranked eighth in the league with a 65% clip. This year, he ranks T48 at 49%. 

STINGER GC

Second-half outlook: The Stingers should be feeling confident, with three players (LIV Golf Miami winner Dean Burmester, captain Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel) in the top 15 of the individual standings. No other team can match that. On the flip side, the South Africans are still looking for their first team win. Flashes of brilliance (re: final round in Adelaide) have been negated by surprising inconsistency (re: 12th place cold-weather finish in Las Vegas). Oosthuizen is the only current Stinger without an individual LIV Golf career win, but his current form should rectify that issue.

Watch out for: The return of the real Branden Grace. We’re not really sure who that imposter was in the first half. It certainly wasn’t the Grace who’s been one of LIV Golf’s top players in the first two years. Currently sitting 50th in points and without a top-10 finish, Grace will be the key to any second-half Stinger surge. If he can find his form – and his teammates maintain theirs – the South Africans could very well be the league’s best second-half team.

SMASH GC

Second-half outlook: Captain Brooks Koepka has one individual title this season. Talor Gooch has been shut out thus far. Between the two of them, they should be able to claim at least one more individual win. But the new-look Smash wasn’t able to build on its early success, an indication that some things still need to be addressed. Even with Koepka winning Singapore, the team finished off the podium. Surprising, given the depth and experience now in place.

Watch out for: Better starts. Smash is the league’s top performer in the second round (cumulative counting score of 71 under), and they rank third best in the final round (48 under). But their slow starts have been killers. Nine teams have better first-round counting scores than Smash’s 49 under total. Come out of the gate a little hotter, and Smash should be just fine.

RANGEGOATS GC

Second-half outlook: Biggest reason for optimism for the RangeGoats resides in the form of big-hitting Belgian Thomas Pieters. He seems to have found his groove, finishing the first half with two top 10s and another top 15, easily his best stretch of play since joining LIV Golf. The Goats have the firepower to be lethal, especially on long courses, and the trio of Pieters, Matthew Wolff and Peter Uihlein each start the second half inside the Lock Zone, waiting for captain Bubba Watson to join the party.

Watch out for: Uihlein’s balancing act. A year ago, Uihlein led the league in driving distance with a 322.5-yard average but ranked last in fairways hit at 49%. This year, in an apparent attempt to sacrifice distance for more fairways, he’s 21st at 303.1 yards – and yet he still ranks last in fairways hit with an even worse percentage (36%). If he’s not going to find more fairways, Uihlein might as well return to bashing it off the tee. Right, Pete?