LIV stars DeChambeau and Oosthuizen love the team rivalry

Whatever one thinks of the LIV tour, the team competition it offers has found a place in the hearts of its players, from American star Bryson DeChambeau to South African Louis Oosthuizen.

From Oosthuizen’s Southern Guards to DeChambeau’s Crushers, the team competition is more than just an add-on to the individual competition.

“I’m more invested in that the team does really well every week and that we play well,” the Guards captain said at Steyn City on Tuesday ahead of the LIV South Africa tournament, which starts on Thursday.

“It has changed my mentality about what LIV is all about. For all the years being programmed [as an] individual and now being part of a team with three good friends is more important than the individual for me.”

Teammate Charl Schwartzel believes the partisan local crowds could elevate the team element of the competition.

“When you’re playing in other places, you look at the team, but you also look at where you’re standing individually. But I’ve got a feeling this week you’re going to be looking at the team score a bit more than we normally do,” the 2011 Masters champion said.

DeChambeau was also enthusiastic about the team aspect of LIV.

“I do think there’s an opportunity in the future for team golf to be next to the forefront of the game … It’ll never be a major, obviously, but having golf team rivalries, whether it’s just the Crushers versus Southern Guards, is great,“ he said.

“But imagine a scenario where we’re going up against Jupiter Links on an 18-hole showcase,” he added, referring to the team of Tiger Woods, Max Homa, Kevin Kisner and Tom Kim who are part of Tomorrow’s Golf League.

That kind of contest could be streamed on a major platform and could be a way to help grow the sport’s viewership, DeChambeau said.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for teams to go up against each other in the future. “There’s an opportunity for the world to see the game for what it could be, which is rivalries and teams against teams.

“We have players against players, we’ve done showcases … but imagine creating a culture like NFL, like the NBA.

“I get that we’re an individual sport, I understand that, but we do play team events. We’ve got the Ryder Cup, we’ve got the Presidents Cup. There should be something else. Why not?”

Until less than a decade ago there used to be a World Cup tournament where countries fielded two-player teams competing in a strokeplay format.

And now we get an opportunity to do it at home and represent South Africa and get that kind of team environment for us.

—  Southern Guards' Dean Burmester

The last edition, in 2018, was won by Belgium, which featured Thomas Detry, part of the 4Aces team in LIV.

South Africa won it five times between 1965 and 2003, placing them second alongside Australia and behind the US.

The Australians on the LIV tour are represented by the Rippers, who beat the South African outfit — then the Stingers — in a playoff for the team prize in Adelaide in 2024.

“Being part of that playoff was probably one of the best things I’ve ever done in the game of golf,” said Southern Guards player Dean Burmester.

“We had our chances, we didn’t take it, but it was an amazing stadium-kind-of-atmosphere. It was like any other sport you’d ever play anywhere in the world. I think rugby, for us, and cricket. And such a rivalry against the Australians for so long has been something that’s come through generations and then for us to be able to be part of it there was really cool.

“And now we get an opportunity to do it at home and represent South Africa and get that kind of team environment for us.”