LIV Golf Greenbrier Preview: RangeGoats GC looks to make move in mountains of West Virginia
Team: RangeGoats Golf Club
Previous event team finish: T7
Season-long team standings: 9th
Top finisher from previous event: Matthew Wolff, T6
Fun stat: RangeGoats GC keeps going longer and longer, extending its lead after each event in Driving Distance Average. The team averages 312.4 yards per drive in 2024, nearly three yards longer than the second-place team.
Preview
RangeGoats Golf Club is experiencing a middle-of-the-road situation. The team is coming off a T7 finish in the United Kingdom, sits ninth in the season-long team standings and finished sixth a season ago here at LIV Golf Greenbrier.
So, there’s no better time to find some positives this week at The Old White course with only three events remaining before a team champion is crowned. Captain Bubba Watson and his team has seen success at this layout, where the key is going super low.
“The greens are always running really nice,” Watson said. “They’re smooth so that gives you confidence there. Then if you’re hitting your driver well ... It starts with the confidence of the golf course and then it builds from there.”
The team is mathematically eliminated from challenging for a top-3 seed and earning a bye. That means it will be among the 10 teams that must play in the Day 1 quarterfinals at the season-ending Team Championship in Dallas.
RangeGoats GC finished a solid sixth place at Greenbrier in 2023 and was tied for second after Round 1 with a team total of 15-under. The team was only four shots out of third place, and Matthew Wolff finished in fifth place playing for his previous team.
Wolff continues to shine and he returns to a venue where he’s seen success. The 25-year-old is 16th in the season-long individual standings and is coming off his third top-six finish of the season.
Arguably just as important this week will be Peter Uihlein’s play. He’s looking to ride a winning wave from last week on the Asian Tour’s International Series England where he won by a remarkable seven shots. He obliterated the course record at Foxhills Club & Resort with a 61 in Round 2.
“I kind of had some things going my way, no doubt about it,” Uihlein said Sunday after the win. “So just kind of one of those days where things were going my way, and I took advantage of it. I’m happy to be here.”
Uihlein has been the glue at crucial times, and LIV Golf UK was a perfect example. Uihlein started hot, finished T14 and helped keep his team from dropping down the team leaderboard. Uihlein enters this week just outside the Lock Zone at No. 26 and will have plenty to play for. He has finished in the Lock Zone in each of the first two LIV Golf seasons, including a bonus-paying third place in 2022.
Teammate Thomas Pieters, who is 33rd in the individual standings, might be the one to watch for the RangeGoats this week in West Virginia. He’s been showing signs of breaking through and is coming off his best finish in his last three LIV Golf League starts when he finished T29 in the UK. Pieters has two top-10 finishes, and he might add another if he keeps his form from last week at the International Series England, where he co-led after Round 1 before finishing T17.
And thankfully for the RangeGoats, Pieters will be healthy at Greenbrier.
“Thomas Pieters went on a buggy ride yesterday,” Watson said with a laugh, referring to the experience Greenbrier has among its activities. “He went a little fast, I heard, but he survived it.”
Perhaps no other week to this point will be more important for Watson’s leadership, and he’s shown over and over the ability to get his players ready and focused. The course isn’t a perfect fit for RangeGoats GC, but as noted above, every player on the team has seen success here and have the abilities to go low. The captain himself was under par here all week last season and finished T30 with a 7-under total.
“It’s always in great shape,” Watson said. “When you’re in the fairway, you know you can flush it out of the fairway. You’re going to have a lot of wedges.”
The Old White’s course characteristics and weather conditions typically have more of a say during tournament week than other event’s host venues. It is a short-ish course at 7,299 yards with only two par 5s, and players must rely on driving accuracy and a sharp short game.
The par-70 layout ends on a par 3, which provides plenty of drama. And keep an eye on the weather as rainy conditions can (and seemingly always does) pop up during competition, forcing players to lock in and refocus on answering questions the famed course asks.