From a Correspondent
Sotogrande, Spain: Bryson DeChambeau’s results since joining LIV Golf have not met his lofty standards, but he has a chance to change that at LIV Golf Andalucía.
Riding a brilliant bogey-free, 8 under 63 that ended with an eagle on his final hole, DeChambeau takes a one-shot lead into the final round as he seeks his first LIV Golf title and an 11th worldwide professional win.
Overnight tied for third, Anirban Lahiri had a day to forget on the challenging layout at Valderrama. After a first round that had just one dropped shot, his second round contained four bogeys and two doubles, and just one birdie.
On 4 over 146, the Crushers star dropped 29 places on the day and out of the counting scores, losing eight shots in all over the 18 holes.
Captain of Crushers GC, DeChambeau came within one shot of tying the course record on Saturday while shooting his lowest round in LIV Golf.
“It was a fantastic round,” the 2020 US Open winner said. “I had a lot of great things happen to me, but I also struck it really like I’ve been wanting to, and whenever I got nervous,
“I as able to stripe it down the middle or hit a shot that was in the right position on the golf course. I was pretty excited about the way I played today.”
The bogey-free round was the first one over the first two days. At 9 under after two rounds, DeChambeau leads overall leader Talor Gooch by one stroke and reigning PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka by three.
Motivating factor
Gooch and Koepka each have won two LIV Golf tournaments and will be in the final group with DeChambeau, who is playing in the lead group for the first time in a LIV Golf final round.
“They’re playing incredible,” DeChambeau said. “You’ve got a major champion and then a guy that’s won two LIV events in a row. They’re going to be biting at the heels, and I’ve just got to be steadfast and in my own little zone and get after it.”
DeChambeau’s Crushers and Gooch’s RangeGoats GC are also tied on the team leaderboard at 10 under, with Torque GC two strokes back in third.
The Crushers and RangeGoats each have one team victory this season, while Torque claimed its second win of the season at LIV Golf’s previous event in DC.
Gooch reeled off three consecutive birdies early in his round and assumed the lead in the afternoon after a string of five birdies in six holes.
But a late bogey and DeChambeau’s eagle flipped the individual leaderboard late in the day.
Gooch, whose previous wins this season came in Adelaide and Singapore, will be looking for his third victory outside the US this season.
High praise
“It’s been so cool to see Bryson trending and how well he’s been playing here the last few months,” Gooch said.
“We were halfway through the round and of course we’re paired with him tomorrow, and we’re like, oh, now I kind of don’t want him to play well tomorrow.
“We played the final round together in Singapore, me and Brooks did, and he’s one of the greatest of our generation. It’s going to be another great challenge and experience to go and try to beat him tomorrow.”
Koepka opened his round with a bogey on the 16th hole but bounced back with eagle at the par-5 17th and played bogey-free golf for the remainder of his round.
“Made bogey there at the first but then kind of rebounded and built off that,” said the Smash GC captain. “It could have been a lot lower. I played really well.”
DeChambeau’s best LIV Golf result is a tie for fifth earlier this season in Tulsa, a reflection of his upward trend in recent months that also includes a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship won by Koepka.
“Moving in the right direction, and I’ve got a lot of golf years left, a lot of major championships, a lot of LIV events,” DeChambeau said. “It’s only hopefully up and up.” (courtesy livgolf.com)
Team counting scores
T1 RangeGoats GC (-10): Talor Gooch 65, Thomas Pieters 67, Bubba Watson 70 (Rd. 2 score: -11)
T1 Crushers GC (-10): Bryson DeChambeau 63, Paul Casey 71, Charles Howell III 73 (Rd. 2 score: -6)
3. Torque GC (-8): David Puig 66, Sebastián Muñoz 68, Mito Pereira 72 (Rd. 2 score: -7)
4. 4Aces GC (-5): Pat Perez 66, Patrick Reed 71, Dustin Johnson 71 (Rd. 2 score: -5)
T5. Majesticks GC (-3): Ian Poulter 70, Lee Westwood 70, Henrik Stenson 72 (Rd. 2 score: -1)
T5: Ripper GC (-3): Matt Jones 70, Marc Leishman 71, Cameron Smith 72 (Rd. 2 score: E)
7. Smash GC (-2): Brooks Koepka 65, Matthew Wolff 72, Jason Kokrak 74 (Rd. 2 score: -2)
8. Fireballs GC (E): Carlos Ortiz 69, Sergio Garcia 71, Abraham Ancer 71 (Rd. 2 score: -2)
9. HyFLyers GC (+3): Cameron Tringale 70, Phil Mickelson 70, James Piot 71 (Rd. 2 score: -2)
10. Stinger GC (+6): Louis Oosthuizen 72, Branden Grace 72, Charl Schwartzel 73 (Rd. 2 score: +4)
11. Iron Heads GC (+7): Scott Vincent 70, Kevin Na 72, Sihwan Kim 73 (Rd. 2 score: +2)
12. Cleeks GC (+11): Richard Bland 73, Martin Kaymer 74, Bernd Wiesberger 76 (Rd. 2 score: +10)
Also read: Lahiri fires Crushers into LIV Andalusia lead as course tests field
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