Joaquin Niemann, Talor Gooch Tied For Lead After Round 3 Of LIV Golf Korea

3 hours ago 2

NEWYou tin present perceive to Fox News articles!

Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch person combined to triumph 11 LIV Golf idiosyncratic titles. They participate Sunday’s last circular of LIV Golf Korea successful the champion presumption to pursuit different trophy.

Niemann, the Torque GC captain, and Gooch, successful his archetypal play arsenic the OKGC captain, stock the 54-hole pb astatine 9 nether astatine the challenging Asiad Country Club. One changeable backmost is HyFlyers GC’s Scott Vincent, with Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith and Crushers GC’s Charles Howell III tied for 4th astatine 7 under.

Crushers Captain Bryson DeChambeau, victor of past year’s LIV Golf Korea erstwhile it was held extracurricular Seoul, suffered 2 precocious bogeys to driblet into a stock of sixth with 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson and RangeGoats GC’s Ben Campbell. Johnson produced the lowest circular of the day, a 6-under 64.

On the squad leaderboard, the Crushers – winners past play successful Korea– are astatine 16 under, 1 changeable up of OKGC, which is playing conscionable its 2nd tourney since rebranding from their erstwhile Smash GC name. Ripper GC is solo 3rd astatine 12 under.

The idiosyncratic leaderboard is stacked with winners, arsenic 8 of the apical 10 person won astatine slightest 1 LIV Golf title. Niemann is the league’s all-time idiosyncratic wins person with seven, including 5 past season. He’s yet to triumph this season, though, but that mightiness alteration if his putter remains arsenic blistery arsenic it was connected the backmost 9 Saturday erstwhile helium rolled successful 3 agelong birdie putts, including a large breaker from 34 feet astatine the 14th hole, to sprout a 4-under 66.

"Putter did behave a batch amended contiguous than the archetypal 2 days, truthful beauteous blessed astir that," said the 27-year-old Niemann, the league’s youngest captain. "It did emotion maine a lot. I did emotion it a lot, too."

Gooch has 4 vocation LIV Golf wins, including 2 astatine LIV Golf Andalucia, the adjacent tourney connected the 2026 docket acceptable for adjacent week successful Spain erstwhile helium volition support his rubric from past year. He entered Saturday arsenic the solo person aft a second-round 63 successful which helium produced 8 birdies, but helium started his 3rd circular with 14 consecutive pars earlier posting his lone birdie astatine the par-5 15th for a bogey-free 69.

"You've got to enactment diligent and conscionable hold for your clip and anticipation that it comes, and it unluckily didn't travel overmuch today," Gooch said. "But that's wherefore we enactment patient. Maybe time it'll come."

Although some Niemann and Gooch person extended past playing successful the last radical successful a LIV Golf last circular – this volition beryllium Gooch’s 16th clip and Niemann’s 14th – Sunday volition beryllium the archetypal clip they’ve been successful the aforesaid last radical successful astir 4 years, since LIV Golf Boston successful the inaugural play successful 2022.

Vincent is the 3rd subordinate of the last group, and helium continues to thrive since joining HyFlyers GC arsenic a reserve filling successful for skipper Phil Mickelson. The Zimbabwean changeable a 3-under 67 and is present successful presumption to pursuit his archetypal idiosyncratic title.

"Winning retired present is not easy," said Vincent, who has finished apical 10 successful each of his archetypal 2 starts with the HyFlyers aft starting the play arsenic a Wild Card player. "I deliberation conscionable large picture-wise, conscionable putting myself successful this presumption is conscionable large for me, effort and get amended and make arsenic a player."

Howell was the runner-up to DeChambeau past year, and he’s fixed himself different accidental successful Korea, thriving connected this shot-maker’s course. He was a bogey-free 4 nether done his archetypal 13 holes earlier suffering a double-bogey successful which helium four-putted from 35 feet.

"Man, this spot is tricky," Howell said. "If you miss the fairway, it is truly hard astir here. Hole locations are rather hard present connected these corners. It's pugnacious to marque birdies."

Johnson had six of them successful his bogey-free round. LIV Golf’s archetypal season-long Individual Champion successful 2022 posted astatine slightest 1 triumph successful each of the league’s archetypal 3 seasons earlier going winless past year. He’s anxious to get backmost into the winner’s circle.

So is Niemann, contempt each the occurrence helium had past season.

"Last twelvemonth was an exceptional year. Winning 5 times, it was beauteous cool," helium said. "… It's evidently a bully feeling to win, and we're retired present for that. But I'm conscionable much focused connected what I'm doing present and the mode I'm hitting the ball, conscionable trying to support chasing that trajectory that I'm seeing successful my head, truthful that's what I request to do."

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

T1 (-9) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (66-69-66); Talor Gooch, OKGC (69-63-69)

3 (-8) – Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (65-70-67)

T4 (-7) – Charles Howell III, Crushers (65-70-68); Cameron Smith, Ripper (67-68-68)

T6 (-6) – Ben Campbell, RangeGoats (69-69-66); Dustin Johnson, 4Aces (70-70-64); Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65-68-71)

T9 (-5) – Harold Varner III, OKGC (68-69-68); Marc Leishman, Ripper (69-68-68)

Team Top 3

1 (-16) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 65-68-71, Howell III 65-70-68, Lahiri 68-73-70, Smyth 72-66-68; Rd. 3 total: -3)

2 (-15) – OKGC (Gooch 69-63-69, Kokrak 68-70-69, McDowell 68-71-73, Varner III 68-69-68; Rd. 3 total: -1)

3 (-12) – Ripper GC (Smith 67-68-68, Leishman 69-68-68, Herbert 71-66-69; Smylie 71-69-74; Rd. 3 total: -1)

ROUND 3 NOTES

TOP-HEAVY WINNERS’ LEADERBOARD: Of the apical 10 players aft 54 holes astatine Asiad Country Club, 8 person won a cumulative 25 LIV Golf idiosyncratic tourney titles – Joaquin Niemann (T1) with seven; Bryson DeChambeau (T6) with five; Talor Gooch (T1) with four; Cameron Smith (T4) and Dustin Johnson (T6) with 3 each; and Charles Howell III (T4), Harold Varner III (T9) and Marc Leishman (T9) with 1 triumph each.

The lone 2 players wrong the apical 10 without a LIV Golf triumph are Scott Vincent (solo 3rd) and Ben Campbell (T6).

Although Asiad Country Club has not been an casual people to people on, it whitethorn instrumentality an assertive mindset Sunday to triumph the title. "You've got to support making birdies," Howell said. "You've got to support pushing forward. There are excessively galore bully players up there."

Gooch has ever leaned connected the "rule of 67" erstwhile it comes to play occurrence – sprout 67 each circular and bully things happen. But volition 67 beryllium capable connected Sunday? "When you spot a leaderboard with guys similar this," Gooch said, "you consciousness similar you've got to bash much than 67."

NIEMANN’S BIG BREAKER: Joaquin Niemann rolled successful a birdie putt astatine the 14th spread from 34 feet that had astatine slightest 10 feet of right-to-left break. Even helium knew it was a peculiar putt.

"14 was a beauteous putt," helium said. "As soon arsenic I deed it, I benignant of knew. Every clip you've got that feeling of hitting a large stroke, you tin perceive the sound, and instantly you cognize it's going to beryllium a large accidental to spell in, and it was 1 of those that I was truthful into it, and I deed a bully putt. It was close connected my line, and I saw it perfectly, I was conscionable walking it in. There was obscurity other to go."

GOOCH TO WATCH THUNDER: Talor Gooch’s hometown NBA team, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, are acceptable for an epic Game 7 successful the Western Conference finals against San Antonio, with the victor moving connected to the NBA Finals.

Thanks to the clip portion differences, Gooch volition beryllium capable to ticker the crippled successful its entirety connected TV, since it begins astatine 9 a.m. Sunday successful Korea. The last circular of LIV Golf Korea does not statesman until 1:05 p.m. locally.

"I decidedly get much tense for Thunder games, important Thunder games, than astir thing else," Gooch said. "Ironically time mightiness beryllium a bully happening to ticker the Thunder and benignant of get immoderate of my nerves retired of my strategy earlier we tee it off. But I volition beryllium watching each of it."

RAHM’S STREAK ENDS: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, the reigning two-time Individual Champion and existent points leader, saw his streak of consecutive rounds nether par extremity astatine 40 aft shooting a 1-over 71 connected Saturday.

Rahm suffered a bogey connected his last hole, the par-5 fourth, to interruption the streak. He enters the last circular tied for 25th astatine 1 under; helium has ne'er finished little than 11th successful immoderate LIV Golf tourney that he’s completed.

SMITH’S DRIVING ACCURACY: Cameron Smith deed 12 of 14 fairways connected Saturday, tying with Ian Poulter for the champion percent successful the tract astatine 85.71%. It’s the archetypal clip the Ripper GC skipper has ever ranked archetypal successful driving accuracy aft immoderate LIV Golf circular and is different motion that his crippled is headed successful the close absorption aft his caller power to Claude Harmon III arsenic his plaything coach.

CONVERTING LEADS: Co-leader Joaquin Niemann volition instrumentality the pb into the last circular of a LIV Golf tourney for the sixth time; helium has converted 4 of the erstwhile 5 into wins. His chap co-leader Talor Gooch enters the last circular with the pb for the seventh time; he’s converted 3 of the erstwhile six into wins.

DECHAMBEAU LEVELS OFF: Bryson DeChambeau opened the tourney connected Thursday by playing the archetypal 10 holes successful 6 under. He has since played the past 44 holes astatine adjacent par. He has recovered conscionable 50% of fairways and 61% of greens successful regularisation done the archetypal 3 rounds.