For the first time in over four years, Charles Howell III has notched a professional victory. Getting the better of his fellow Oklahoma State Cowboys Peter Uihlein and Talor Gooch in addition to a charging Branden Grace, Howell cruised into the winner's circle at 2023 LIV Golf Mayakoba on Sunday.
Beginning the third round a bit of a forgotten man in the final group, Howell put his foot on the gas from the very beginning. While waves were made of Gooch's offseason departure from the 4 Aces and the subsequent addition of Uihlein, the stage belonged to Howell.
"Yeah [I thought I had a good chance to win]," Howell said. "I've played here many times before and had an idea of what to expect coming in, but around this place there are double bogeys everywhere so you never know."
Playing his first 10 holes on Sunday in 7 under, the 43-year-old quickly flipped an overnight one-stroke deficit into a four-stroke advantage. From there, Uihlein and Gooch were no bother to Howell as a stress-free stroll to 16 under.
Howell was victorious not only as an individual but also as a member of Crushers GC. The Bryson DeChambeau-led team boat raced the field at El Camaleon Golf Club beating second-place 4 Aces by nine strokes. Finishing the week at 26 under, Crushers GC claimed its first title together after experiencing a number of close calls in 2022.
"It was big we got the team win. We were close last year and obviously you're feeling it on that side of things," Howell said. "To all the fans, to everyone that came out, it was a great week."
Rick Gehman is joined by Greg DuCharme, Mark Immelman and Patrick McDonald to recap the 2023 Honda Classic at PGA National and take a look at what happened at LIV Mayakoba. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Team leaderboard
| Place | Team | Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Crushers | Bryson DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri, Paul Casey | -26 |
2 | 4 Aces | Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed, Peter Uihlein | -17 |
3 | Torque | Joaquin Niemann, Sebastian Munoz, Mito Pereira, David Puig | -13 |
T4 | Stinger | Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, Dean Burmester | -12 |
T4 | Ripper | Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Jediah Morgan | -12 |
6 | Fireballs | Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Eugenio Chacarra, Carlos Ortiz | -11 |
T7 | HyFlyers | Phil Mickelson, Brendan Steele, Cameron Tringale, James Piot | -10 |
T7 | Range Goats | Bubba Watson, Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III, Thomas Pieters | -10 |
9 | Smash | Brooks Koepka, Chase Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Jason Kokrak | -6 |
T10 | Iron Heads | Kevin Na, Sihwan Kim, Scott Vincent, Danny Lee | -1 |
T10 | Majesticks | Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Sam Horsfield | -1 |
12 | Cleeks | Graeme McDowell, Laurie Canter, Richard Bland, Bernd Wiesberger | +4 |
What's next for LIV Golf?
LIV Golf will embark on its first event of 2023 in the United States from Mar. 17-19. Traveling to Tucson, Arizona, LIV Golf will step foot on the grounds of The Gallery Club for the first time in league history. Crushers GC will take its early lead into the second tournament of the season and aim to build the gap between them and the rest of the circuit.
