MIAMI – The stage was set and 4Aces Golf Club was in prime position. But in the end, the team was left feeling blue on the Blue Monster.
The reigning season-long team champion couldn’t quite get going Sunday during LIV Golf’s Team Championship in Miami at Trump National Doral. Inconsistent play coupled with three teams seemingly firing on all cylinders was too much for 4Aces GC to overcome.
4Aces GC entered Miami as the team favorite. It had secured the No. 1 seed following the regular season finale last week at LIV Golf Jeddah and won the inaugural season-long team title in 2022 at this course. But with the slow start putting the team in a big hole, all it could do was watch Crushers Golf Club walk away with the hardware.
Competing in the top tier where only one of four teams could win the trophy, 4Aces GC finished fourth and shot even par as a team. Crushers GC won the team title at 11 under, with RangeGoats Golf Club (9 under) taking second place and Torque Golf Club (6 under) finishing third.
With its fourth-place finish, 4Aces GC earned $4 million in prize money, with $2.4 million going into the team’s account and each player receiving $400,000.
Johnson’s start was promising after picking up a birdie on the second hole, but shortly after followed it with bogeys on three of six holes, including a bogey on the par-5 10th when he hit his drive in the water. He went on to shoot 3-over 75.
Teammate Patrick Reed bounced back nicely after losing in Saturday’s semifinals. The 2018 Masters champion was 2 under on the front nine, but disaster struck his team once again on the par-5 10th when he made double bogey. Reed still battled hard and finished with a 1-under 71.
Peter Uihlein, who has been a spark for the team on multiple occasions, led the team Sunday with a 3-under 69, which included five birdies.
Pat Perez, who had a stellar final round to help lift 4Aces GC to the team title last season, finished with a 1-over 73.