SouthernWorldwide.com – Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch, both decorated winners on the LIV Golf circuit, are locked in a tie for the lead heading into the final round of LIV Golf Korea. The duo, who have amassed 11 individual LIV Golf titles between them, are in prime position to contend for another trophy on Sunday.
Niemann, the captain of Torque GC, and Gooch, in his inaugural season as the captain of OKGC, share the 54-hole lead at 9 under par at the demanding Asiad Country Club. Trailing by one stroke is Scott Vincent of HyFlyers GC, while Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith and Charles Howell III of Crushers GC are tied for fourth place at 7 under par.
Bryson DeChambeau, captain of Crushers GC and the winner of last year’s LIV Golf Korea event held near Seoul, experienced a setback with two late bogeys. This dropped him into a tie for sixth place alongside Dustin Johnson, captain of 4Aces GC, and Ben Campbell of RangeGoats GC. Johnson recorded the day’s lowest score, a 6-under par 64.
On the team leaderboard, the Crushers, who were victorious in Korea last season, are at 16 under par. They hold a one-shot lead over OKGC, a team competing in only its second tournament since rebranding from its former name, Smash GC. Ripper GC sits in solo third place at 12 under par.
The individual leaderboard is a testament to the caliber of players in the field, with eight of the top 10 having secured at least one LIV Golf title. Niemann leads the league in all-time individual wins with seven, including five from the previous season. While he is yet to claim a victory this season, his putting performance on the back nine on Saturday, where he sank three long birdie putts, including a significant 34-foot breaker on the 14th hole, suggests that could change. He finished the round with a 4-under par 66.
“My putter behaved a lot better today than the first two days, so I’m pretty happy about that,” commented the 27-year-old Niemann, who is the youngest captain in the league. “It really liked me a lot. I liked it a lot, too.”
Gooch boasts four career LIV Golf wins, including two at LIV Golf Andalucia, the next event on the 2026 schedule set to take place next week in Spain, where he will be defending his title from last year. He entered Saturday as the sole leader after a second-round 63 that featured eight birdies. However, he began his third round with 14 consecutive pars before carding his lone birdie of the day on the par-5 15th, resulting in a bogey-free 69.
“You have to stay patient and just wait for your time and hope that it comes, and it unfortunately didn’t come much today,” Gooch stated. “But that’s why we stay patient. Maybe tomorrow it’ll come.”
While both Niemann and Gooch have extensive experience playing in the final group of a LIV Golf final round – this will be Gooch’s 16th appearance and Niemann’s 14th – Sunday will mark the first time they have been paired together in the same final group in nearly four years. Their last shared final group was at LIV Golf Boston during the inaugural season in 2022.
Vincent, the third player in the final group, continues to impress since joining HyFlyers GC as a reserve player filling in for captain Phil Mickelson. The Zimbabwean golfer shot a 3-under par 67 and is now in contention for his first individual title.
“Winning out here is not easy,” said Vincent, who has achieved top-10 finishes in each of his first two starts with the HyFlyers after beginning the season as a Wild Card player. “I think just big picture-wise, just putting myself in this position is just great for me, try and get better and develop as a player.”
Howell was the runner-up to DeChambeau last year and has once again positioned himself for a strong finish in Korea, demonstrating his skill on this challenging course. He was playing bogey-free golf through his first 13 holes, with a 4-under score, before encountering a double-bogey after a four-putt from 35 feet.
“Man, this place is tricky,” Howell remarked. “If you miss the fairway, it is really hard around here. Hole locations are quite difficult here on these corners. It’s tough to make birdies.”
Johnson managed to make six birdies in his bogey-free round. As the inaugural LIV Golf Individual Champion in 2022, he secured at least one win in each of the league’s first three seasons, but experienced a winless season last year. He is eager to return to the winner’s circle.
Niemann shares this sentiment, despite his considerable success last season.
“Last year was an exceptional year. Winning five times, it was pretty cool,” he reflected. “… It’s obviously a nice feeling to win, and we’re out here for that. But I’m just more focused on what I’m doing now and the way I’m hitting the ball, just trying to keep chasing that trajectory that I’m seeing in my head, so that’s what I need to do.”
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)
TOP-HEAVY WINNERS’ LEADERBOARD: Of the top 10 players after 54 holes at Asiad Country Club, eight have won a cumulative 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 inside the top 10 without a LIV Golf win are Scott Vincent (solo 3rd) and Ben Campbell (T6).
Although Asiad Country Club has not been an easy course to score on, it may take an aggressive mindset Sunday to win the title. “You’ve got to keep making birdies,” Howell said. “You’ve got to keep pushing forward. There are too many good players up there.”
Gooch has always leaned on the “rule of 67” when it comes to golf success – shoot 67 each round and good things happen. But will 67 be enough on Sunday? “When you see a leaderboard with guys like this,” Gooch said, “you feel like you’ve got to do more than 67.”
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NIEMANN’S BIG BREAKER: Joaquin Niemann rolled in a birdie putt at the 14th hole from 34 feet that had at least 10 feet of right-to-left break. Even he knew it was a special putt.
“14 was a beautiful putt,” he said. “As soon as I hit it, I kind of knew. Every time you’ve got that feeling of hitting a great stroke, you can hear the sound, and immediately you know it’s going to be a big chance to go in, and it was one of those that I was so into it, and I hit a good putt. It was right on my line, and I saw it perfectly, I was just walking it in. There was nowhere else to go.”
GOOCH TO WATCH THUNDER: Talor Gooch’s hometown NBA team, the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, are set for an epic Game 7 in the Western Conference finals against San Antonio, with the winner moving on to the NBA Finals.
Thanks to the time zone differences, Gooch will be able to watch the game in its entirety on TV, since it begins at 9 a.m. Sunday in Korea. The final round of LIV Golf Korea does not begin until 1:05 p.m. locally.
“I definitely get more nervous for Thunder games, important Thunder games, than about anything else,” Gooch said. “Ironically tomorrow might be a good thing to watch the Thunder and kind of get some of my nerves out of my system before we tee it off. But I will be watching all of it.”
RAHM’S STREAK ENDS: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, the reigning two-time Individual Champion and current points leader, saw his streak of consecutive rounds under par end at 40 after shooting a 1-over 71 on Saturday.
Rahm suffered a bogey on his final hole, the par-5 fourth, to break 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 that he’s completed.
SMITH’S DRIVING ACCURACY: Cameron Smith hit 12 of 14 fairways on Saturday, tying with Ian Poulter for the best percentage in the field at 85.71%. It’s the first time the Ripper GC captain has ever ranked first in driving accuracy after any LIV Golf round and is another sign that his game is headed in the right direction after his recent switch to Claude Harmon III as his swing coach.
CONVERTING LEADS: Co-leader Joaquin Niemann will take the lead into the final round of a LIV Golf tournament for the sixth time; he has converted four of the previous five into wins. His fellow co-leader Talor Gooch enters the final round with the lead for the seventh time; he’s converted three of the previous six into wins.
DECHAMBEAU LEVELS OFF: Bryson DeChambeau opened the tournament on Thursday by playing the first 10 holes in 6 under. He has since played the last 44 holes at even par. He has found just 50% of fairways and 61% of greens in regulation through the first three rounds.
Round 3 Statistics
Driving Distance: Jon Rahm, 339.4-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Jon Rahm, 379.1 yards (11th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 11 and 12.
Driving Accuracy: Cameron Smith, Ian Poulter, 85.71% (12 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Cameron Smith, Laurie Canter, Bubba Watson, 88.89% (16 of 18)
Scrambling: Nine players tied at 100%, led by Ian Poulter (8 of 8)
Fewest Putts: Danny Lee, 23
Bogey-free rounds: Dustin Johnson (64), Ben Campbell (66), Abraham Ancer (66), Bubba Watson (67), Cameron Smith (68), Talor Gooch (69)
Cumulative Statistics
Driving Distance: David Puig, 311.8-yard avg.
Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, 80.95% (34 of 42)
Greens in Regulation: Joaquin Niemann, Laurie Canter, 79.63% (43 of 54)
Scrambling: Charl Schwartzel (15 of 18), 83.33%
Fewest Putts: Bryson DeChambeau, Thomas Pieters, Ian Poulter, Yosuke Asaji, Danny Lee, 80
Lowest Rounds: Rd. 1 – Bryson DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, Scott Vincent (65); Rd 2 – Talor Gooch (63); Rd. 3 – Dustin Johnson (64)
This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.
