Event leader Bryson DeChambeau of Crushers GC tees off during the third round of LIV Golf South Africa at The Club at Steyn City on Saturday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Johannesburg, South Africa: Home favourites Southern Guards GC on Saturday rallied to take a two-stroke lead over Fireballs GC and Torque GC into championship day at LIV Golf South Africa.
The all-South African team combined for a score of 26 under after beginning the round facing a two-shot deficit.
They received a strong effort from all four players through the first 54 holes, but Branden Grace and Dean Burmester lifted the team to the top spot with a chance to finish off a storybook result at The Club at Steyn City.
Grace got up-and-down for birdie on the 18th hole to move within two shots of Bryson DeChambeau, the individual leader and Crushers GC captain who shot a 7 under 64 to total 21 under.
DeChambeau and Grace will be in the final group off hole no. 1 on Sunday with Torque GC’s Abraham Ancer, who is tied for third with Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm.
“I think I have to be a little bit of a rhino tomorrow,” Grace said. “I have to be tough tomorrow. This is going to be a battle. Listen, (DeChambeau) is playing phenomenal golf.
“I feel that I’m also playing phenomenal golf. You just need a couple of things to go your way … it can change quickly.”
Burmester, who will tee off in the penultimate group with Rahm and 4Aces GC’s Thomas Detry, shot a bogey-free 6 under 65 to move to 17 under, four shots behind DeChambeau.
“I think we’ve got a real drive to win this thing,” Burmester said. “… It’s not every day that you shoot 6 under and you’re the worst round in your four-ball and in your team. Hats off to the guys.
Birdie blast
“We know that we’re going to do more of the same tomorrow. There’s going to be a ton of birdies. A lot of teams are going to be gunning for that top spot.”
Captain Louis Oosthuizen shot a 7 under 64, while Charl Schwartzel carded a 65, helping to spur the Southern Guards to the top of the leaderboard.
“We’re feeding off the energy at the moment,” Oosthuizen said. “Me and Charl were playing so-so, and today we really felt the energy, and obviously Dean and Branden are playing well, so I think we can just go tomorrow and pull this thing through.”
DeChambeau began the day with a two-shot lead and maintained that advantage with a flawless bogey-free round.
The Crushers GC captain, while warmly embraced this week in his first visit to South Africa, will have to contend with the raucous home crowd presumably backing Grace on Sunday.
“Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Gracey is playing some incredible golf, and it’s fun to be alongside him playing some good golf, as well,” DeChambeau said.
“He’s got huge hometown support, and it’s cool to feed off of that energy, so hopefully there’s a little bit more energy, and I can kind of feed off of that.”
Ancer, who leads the field in driving accuracy this week, shot a bogey-free 64 and has improved his score by one shot each round.
He’ll be seeking his second individual title of his LIV Golf career while also hoping to help Torque spoil the local party on the team leaderboard.
Keep focus
“We just need to stay focused, do the same thing, shoot low numbers, make some putts, and hopefully we’ll be in a good spot,” Ancer said.
Rahm will be trying to wrestle the individual trophy away from the leaders to earn his second win in three weeks.
The Legion XIII captain has only made one bogey through his first 54 holes but knows he will need to make plenty of birdies in order to come from behind.
“With the golf course being soft and at altitude, it still plays quite short,” Rahm said. “I think you’ve seen this course; you have to go make as many birdies as possible.
“You can come out there tomorrow, shoot 7 under, it very well may not be enough because of how gettable it can be.”
David Puig and Thomas Detry are four shots back as well, with both players aiming for their first LIV Golf individual title.
“The energy was great,” Puig said. “Obviously Southern Guards and Bryson, right, it was crazy the entire round. I had a lot of fun.”
For the local crowd, however, the fun will be seeing their hometown heroes celebrate atop the podium on Sunday. The Southern Guards are desperate to reward their support.
“You want to do well for everybody, for the crowd, for yourself. You just want to do yourself proud,” Burmester said. “… We just said, boys, let’s just go and effing win this thing. Let’s just do it.
“It doesn’t matter what it takes; we’re just going to stand up and man up and will it into existence. That’s our goal. We want to get out here, win this team thing, and make this the greatest golf event South Africa has ever seen.”
Masters prep
This week is also DeChambeau and Rahm’s final event before April’s Masters at Augusta National, in which 11 LIV Golf players are invited.
Although the course doesn’t fully replicate Augusta National’s conditions, both players are using the event to prepare for their quest for a green jacket, which would be a first for DeChambeau or a second for Rahm.
“I’m just going to focus on myself, man,” DeChambeau said.
“I know it’s so cliche to say, but the more I focus on myself, the better I usually perform. I just want to get in my own bubble and focus on executing the best shots I can to prepare for Augusta.”
While DeChambeau is preparing his golf swing for the Masters, Rahm is using this week to prepare mentally.
“There’s no golf course on the planet that can be comparable to Augusta National,” Rahm said.
“You can do a good job mentally to try to prepare for it, but playing-wise, nothing plays like it. The crowd does help, though, in that sense.
“If you’re playing the weekend at Augusta, you’re going to have a lot of people following you. It’s going to be a great atmosphere.” (Courtesy LIV Golf)
Leaderboards
Individual Top 10
1. (-21) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (63-65-64)
2. (-19) – Branden Grace, Southern Guards (64-66-64)
T3 (-18) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (65-66-64); Abraham Ancer, Torque (66-65-64)
T5 (-17) – Dean Burmester, Southern Guards (67-64-65); Thomas Detry, 4Aces (66-67-63); David Puig, Fireballs (66-64-66)
T8 (-16) – Charles Howell III, Crushers (63-68-66); Carlos Ortiz, Torque (67-65-65)
T10 (-15) – Richard Bland, Cleeks (66-66-66); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (64-70-64)
Team Top 3
1. (-60) – Southern Guards GC (Grace 64-66-64, Burmester 67-64-65, Oosthuizen 69-68-64, Schwartzel 66-70-65; Rd. 3 score: -26)
T2 (-58) – Fireballs GC (Puig 66-64-66, Garcia 64-70-64, Ballester 69-65-65, Masaveu 70-67-64); Torque GC (Ancer 66-65-64, Ortiz 67-65-65, Niemann 67-65-67, Muñoz 70-67-66; Rd. 3 score: -22)
Day 3 stats
Driving Distance: Jon Rahm, 347.0-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Joaquin Niemann, 355.0 yards (15th hole)
Driving Accuracy: Thomas Detry, 92.86% (13 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Josele Ballester 100% (18 of 18)
Scrambling: 17 players tied at 100%, led by Bryson DeChambeau, Tom McKibbin, Ben Campbell and Phil Mickelson (5 of 5)
Fewest Putts: Tom McKibbin, 23
Bogey-free rounds: Tom McKibbin (62), Thomas Detry (63), Anirban Lahiri (63), Bryson DeChambeau (64), Abraham Ancer (64), Phil Mickelson (64), Peter Uihlein (64), Louis Oosthuizen (64), Dean Burmester (65), Josele Ballester (65), Brendan Steele (65), Dustin Johnson (65), Cameron Smith (66), Sebastián Muñoz (66), Younghan Song (66), Ben Campbell (66), Adrian Meronk (67)
Also read: DeChambeau heads a packed leaderboard at LIV Golf SA
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