LIV Golf Releases 2023 Team Names, Including Ripper and Rangegoats

The Saudi-backed league will have the same 12 team captains, but team names Niblicks GC and Punch GC have been retired.
LIV Golf Releases 2023 Team Names, Including Ripper and Rangegoats
LIV Golf Releases 2023 Team Names, Including Ripper and Rangegoats /

Two of the team names for LIV Golf have been changed for the coming season, with the same 12 captains returning for 2023.

LIV Golf sent out a promotional video with the 12 captains, two of whom—Cam Smith and Bubba Watson—will be leading teams that have different names.

Smith’s team, comprised of Australian players, is now called Ripper GC. Watson’s team that includes Harold Varner is now called Rangegoats GC.

Two team names from last year, Niblicks GC and Punch GC, have been retired.

The full 48-player field has yet to be announced, thus not all of the four-man teams are official.

The LIV Golf League—which has transitioned from an invitational series of eight events in 2022 to a 14-tournament league this year—begins play Feb. 24 in Mexico.

The controversial circuit is banking on the team concept as its business model going forward.

The other captains are Dustin Johnson, 4 Aces; Martin Kaymer, Cleeks; Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers; Sergio Garcia, Fireballs; Phil Mickelson, Hy Flyers; Kevin Na, Iron Heads; Ian Poulter & Henrik Stenson, Majesticks; Brooks Koepka, Smash; Louis Oosthuizen, Stinger; Joaquin Niemann, Torque.


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Bob Harig
BOB HARIG

Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.