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Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch have combined to win 11 LIV Golf individual titles. They enter the final round of LIV Golf Korea on Sunday in the best position to win another trophy.
Niemann, the Torque GC captain, and Gooch, in his first season as OKGC captain, share the 54-hole lead at 9 under tough Asiad Country Club. One shot back is Scott Vincent of HyFlyers GC, with captain Cameron Smith of Ripper GC and Charles Howell III of Crushers GC tied for fourth at 7 under.
Crushers captain Bryson DeChambeau, winner of last year’s LIV Golf Korea when it was held outside Seoul, suffered two late bogeys to find himself sixth with captain Dustin Johnson of 4Aces GC and Ben Campbell of RangeGoats GC. Johnson produced the lowest round of the day, a 6-under 64.
In the team standings, the Crushers – last season’s winners in Korea – are at 16 under, one shot ahead of OKGC, which is playing only its second tournament since rebranding from its former Smash GC name. Ripper GC is third solo at 12 under.
The individual rankings are full of winners, as eight of the top 10 have won at least one LIV Golf title. Niemann is the league’s all-time leader in individual wins with seven, including five last season. He hasn’t won yet this season, but that could change if his putter stays as hot as it was the past nine Saturday when he made three long birdie putts, including a big break from 34 feet on the 14th hole, to shoot a 4-under 66.
“Putter performed much better today than the first two days, so I’m pretty happy,” said Niemann, 27, the league’s youngest captain. “He loved me very much. I loved him very much too.”
Gooch has four career victories at LIV Golf, including two at LIV Golf Andalucia, the next tournament on the 2026 calendar scheduled for next week in Spain where he will defend his title from last year. He entered Saturday as the solo leader after a second-round 63 in which he produced eight birdies, but he began his third round with 14 straight pars before posting his only birdie at the par-5 15th for a bogey-free 69.
“You have to stay patient and bide your time and hope it comes, and unfortunately that didn’t happen much today,” Gooch said. “But that’s why we remain patient. Maybe it will come tomorrow.”
Although Niemann and Gooch both have a long history of playing in the final group in an LIV Golf final round – this will be Gooch’s 16th time and Niemann’s 14th – Sunday will be the first time they have been in the same final group in nearly four years, since LIV Golf Boston during the inaugural season in 2022.
Vincent is the third member of the final squad, and he continues to thrive since joining HyFlyers GC as a reserve replacing captain Phil Mickelson. The Zimbabwean shot a 3-under 67 and is now in position to aim for his first individual title.
“Winning here is not easy,” said Vincent, who finished in the top 10 in each of his first two starts with the HyFlyers after starting the season as a Wild Card player. “I think from an overall standpoint, putting myself in this position is just great for me, trying to improve and develop as a player.”
Howell was runner-up to DeChambeau last year, and he gave himself another chance in Korea, thriving in that shooter’s course. He was bogey-free at 4 under through his first 13 holes before suffering a double bogey in which he holed four putts from 35 feet.
“Man, this place is tricky,” Howell said. “If you miss the fairway, it’s really tough here. The hole locations are pretty tough here on these turns. It’s tough to make birdies.”
Johnson had six during his bogey-free round. LIV Golf’s first individual single-season champion in 2022 had at least one victory in each of the league’s first three seasons before going winless last year. He can’t wait to get back into the winner’s circle.
Niemann too, despite all his success last season.
“Last year was an exceptional year. To win five times was pretty cool,” he said. “…It’s obviously a good feeling to win, and that’s what we’re here for. But I’m just more focused on what I’m doing now and how I’m hitting the ball, just trying to continue to follow that trajectory that I see in my head, so that’s what I need to do.”
TOP OF RANKINGS
Individual top 10
T1 (-9) – Joaquín Niemann, Couple (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, Range Goats (69-69-66); Dustin Johnson, 4A (70-70-64); Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65-68-71)
T9 (-5) – Harold Varner III, OKGC (68-69-68); Marc Leishman, Ripper (69-68-68)
Top 3 by team
1 (-16) – GC crushers (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
RANKING OF THE BIG WINNERS: Among the top 10 players after 54 holes at Asiad Country Club, eight have won a total of 25 LIV Golf individual tournament titles – Joaquin Niemann (T1) with seven; Bryson DeChambeau (T6) with five; Talor Gooch (T1) with four; Cameron Smith (T4) and Dustin Johnson (T6) with three each; and Charles Howell III (T4), Harold Varner III (T9) and Marc Leishman (T9) with one win each.
The only two players in the top 10 without a LIV Golf win are Scott Vincent (solo 3) and Ben Campbell (T6).
Although Asiad Country Club has not been an easy course to score on, it may take an aggressive mindset on Sunday to win the title. “You have to keep making birdies,” Howell said. “We have to keep moving forward. There are too many good players there.”
Gooch has always relied on the “rule of 67” when it comes to success in golf: shoot 67 every round and good things happen. But will 67 be enough on Sunday? “When you see a leaderboard with guys like that,” Gooch said, “you feel like you have to do more than 67.”
THE LARGE NIEMANN CIRCUIT BREAKER: Joaquin Niemann holed a birdie putt on the 14th hole from 34 feet with at least a 10-foot break from right to left. Even he knew it was a special putt.
“The 14th was a beautiful putt,” he said. “As soon as I hit it, I kind of knew it. Every time you get that feeling of hitting a good shot, you can hear the sound, and immediately you know it’s going to be a great chance to go in, and it was one of those I was so interested in, and I made a good putt. It was right on my line, and I saw it perfectly, I just walked it. There was nowhere else to go.”
GOOCH TO WATCH THE THUNDER: Talor Gooch’s hometown NBA team, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, is set to play an epic Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals against San Antonio, with the winner advancing to the NBA Finals.
Thanks to the time difference, Gooch will be able to watch the match in its entirety on television, since it begins at 9 a.m. Sunday in Korea. The final round of LIV Golf Korea will not start until 1:05 p.m. locally.
“I’m definitely more nervous for Thunder games, big Thunder games, than anything else,” Gooch said. “Ironically, tomorrow it might be a good thing to watch the Thunder and get some of my nerves out of the way before we start. But I’ll watch all of that.”
END OF THE RAHM SERIES: Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm, the two-time defending individual champion and current points leader, saw his streak of consecutive under-par rounds end at 40 after shooting a 1-over 71 on Saturday.
Rahm suffered a bogey on his final hole, the par-5 fourth, to end the streak. He enters the final round tied for 25th at 1 under; he has never finished lower than 11th in any LIV golf tournament he has entered.
SMITH DRIVING PRECISION: Cameron Smith hit 12 of 14 fairways Saturday, tied with Ian Poulter for the best field goal percentage at 85.71 percent. This is the first time the Ripper GC captain has ranked first in driving accuracy after a round of LIV golf and is another sign that his game is heading in the right direction following his recent move to Claude Harmon III as swing coach.
TRACK CONVERSION: Co-leader Joaquin Niemann will lead the final round of a LIV golf tournament for the sixth time; he converted four of the previous five into victories. His co-leader Talor Gooch enters the final round with the lead for the seventh time; he converted three of the previous six into victories.
DECHAMBEAU PLATINUMS: Bryson DeChambeau opened the tournament Thursday by playing the first 10 holes in 6 under. Since then, he has played the last 44 holes evenly matched. He found only 50% of the fairways and 61% of the greens in regulation over the first three rounds.
LEADERS IN STATISTICS
Round 3
Driving distance: Jon Rahm, averaged 339.4 yards.
Longest drive: Jon Rahm, 379.1 yards (11th hole). Officially measured drives made only on holes 11 and 12.
Driving precision: Cameron Smith, Ian Poulter, 85.71% (12 out of 14)
Greens in the regulations: Cameron Smith, Laurie Canter, Bubba Watson, 88.89% (16 of 18)
Jamming: Nine players tied at 100%, led by Ian Poulter (8 out of 8)
Fewest putts: Danny Lee, 23 years old
Bogey-free rounds: Dustin Johnson (64), Ben Campbell (66), Abraham Ancer (66), Bubba Watson (67), Cameron Smith (68), Talor Gooch (69)
Cumulative
Driving distance: David Puig, average of 311.8 yards.
Driving precision: Ben Campbell, 80.95% (34 of 42)
Greens in the regulations: Joaquín Niemann, Laurie Canter, 79.63% (43 out of 54)
Jamming: Charl Schwartzel (15 of 18), 83.33%
Fewest putts: Bryson DeChambeau, Thomas Pieters, Ian Poulter, Yosuke Asaji, Danny Lee, 80
Lowest rounds: Path. 1 – Bryson DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, Scott Vincent (65 years old); Path 2 – Talor Gooch (63); Path. 3 – Dustin Johnson (64)
This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIVGolf.
