Rival captains Bryson DeChambeau of the Crushers and Jon Rahm of Legion XIII share the LIV Golf Adelaide lead headed into Sunday’s final round at the Grange Golf Club. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Corres[ondent
Adelaide, Australia: Two of golf’s biggest names are five shots clear of the field and will go toe-to-toe in the final round of LIV Golf’s Adelaide event.
The Grange has produced many electric moments in its previous three years, but a Bryson DeChambeau versus Jon Rahm showdown before a packed house on Sunday has the potential to be the tournament’s most epic 18 holes.
“Going to be a good battle tomorrow,” DeChambeau said. “We’re going to have some fun.”
“I hope it’s a banger,” Rahm said. “I hope we both have a good day, and may the best player win.”
Crushers GC captain DeChambeau and Rahm, the Legion XIII captain, share the 54-hole lead at 19 under, five shots ahead of Anthony, the newest 4Aces player who is writing his own dramatic storyline in a week that’s offered plenty of them.
Two members of the Rippers, captain Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert, are tied with RangeGoats’ Peter Uihlein for fourth, six shots back.
While the two Ripper players face long odds to capture the individual title in front of their home fans, the team trophy remains a distinct possibility.
Local heroes
The Rippers will start Sunday in second place, five shots behind Legion XIII, and will have the benefit of the huge local support, which they leaned on two years ago to win LIV Golf Adelaide in the league’s first-ever playoff.
“It’ll be awesome,” said Smith, who posted an 8 under 64, tying for the lowest score of the day, to move to 13 under. “I think given that the team is up there, the energy will be high again.”
DeChambeau and Rahm, playing in the final group with Ben Campbell, separated themselves, albeit in different manner, from the field.
Rahm opened with consecutive bogeys while DeChambeau reeled off five consecutive pars. He then birdied the par-3 sixth, the start of eight birdies in a nine-hole stretch.
Rahm could not keep up, and when he bogeyed the par-5 13th – the third easiest hole Saturday – he found himself four shots behind DeChambeau.
At that point, DeChambeau was threatening to run away with the tournament.
But Rahm immediately bounced back from his bogey, producing three consecutive birdies. When DeChambeau bogeyed the par-4 17th, his lead was down to two going into the final hole of the day.
Huge break
Rahm’s tee shot at the par-4 18th was way left for the second straight round and ended up on the 10th teeing area.
With the grandstands in his direct line to the hole, he was afforded TIO (temporary immovable obstruction) relief.
Remarkably, he followed by holing his shot from 75 yards for eagle, his 5 under stretch in the final five holes giving him a 6-under 66 and moving him to the top of the leaderboard with DeChambeau.
“Obviously executed it pretty well, and the rest is what you all saw,” Rahm said.
“I’m not really expecting to make it. I’m hoping to hit it close but obviously ended up with the grand prize on that one.”
DeChambeau, who had control of the tournament just an hour earlier, parred the hole for a 64, tying for the lowest score of the day. It was not enough to give him the outright lead.
“Eight under is nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “I played great today. I’m pretty proud of the way I handled myself.
“That was pretty sick seeing what Jon did on 18. I didn’t know you could go that far left and still have a clean lie and angle after that.”
Repeat round
Rahm and DeChambeau will be in the final group of the final round for just the second time in LIV Golf history.
The first time came two years ago at LIV Golf Las Vegas when they played with eventual winner, 4Aces skipper Dustin Johnson.
Johnson’s newest teammate is Kim, who joined the club this week after playing as a Wild Card since returning to professional golf after a 12-year absence to join LIV Golf in 2024.
He was not even in the league at the Vegas tournament, but now he’s in the final group on the final day with the two big stars, a huge step in his progress back as a world-class golfer.
“It’s been a helluva week,” Kim said, who struggled to get into Australia after not having the proper paperwork when he left last week’s season-opener in Saudi Arabia.
“Obviously not having a visa to get into this country was a start. I’ve worked hard and I knew this day would come at some point.”
Sunday in Australia could be one of the country’s biggest days in terms of professional golf.
The individual leaderboard is star-studded at the top and the team leaderboard has the local heroes chasing the reigning Team Champions.
“Hopefully we can give them a good show tomorrow,” DeChambeau said. “We’ll see how the cookie crumbles.” (courtesy LIV Golf)
Leaderboards: Individual Top 10
T1 (-19) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (68-63-66); Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (66-67-64)
3. (-14) – Anthony Kim, 4Aces (67-67-68)
T4 (-13) – Peter Uihlein, RangeGoats (69-67-67); Lucas Herbert, Ripper (71-65-67); Cameron Smith, Ripper (72-67-64)
T7 (-12) – Jason Kokrak, Smash (69-70-65); Branden Grace, Southern Guards (71-64-69); Tyrrell Hatton (69-69-66); Ben Campbell, RangeGoats (69-63-72)
T10 (-11) – Sebastián Muñoz, Torque (69-67-69), Scott Vincent, Wild Card (73-65-67)
Team Top 3
1. (-45) – Legion XIII (Surratt 64, Hatton 66, Rahm 66, McKibbin 69; Rd. 3 score: -23)
2. (-40) – Ripper GC (Smith 64, Herbert 67, Smylie 69, Leishman 70; Rd. 3 score: -18)
3. (-38) – 4Aces GC (Detry 68, Kim 68, Pieters 68, Johnson 69; Rd. 3 score: -15)
Also read: Rahm grabs Adelaide lead ahead of Campbell, DeChambeau
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