Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann in action during the third round of Aramco LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club on Saturday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Singapore: Lee Westwood has 44 professional wins across 20 different countries in his storied career.
Now at age 52, six years removed from his last victory and having just returned from a wrist injury, the Majesticks co-captain is in position to finish off arguably his most impressive performance.
Westwood enters Sunday’s final round at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore as co-leader at 10 under with Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann.
The Englishman will play in the last group of the final round for the first time in his LIV Golf career and seeks to become the oldest player to win a league individual title.
“I’m 53 on April 24, so at that stage, it would probably be the best win of my career,” Westwood said after making birdies on three of his final four holes to shoot a 3 under par 68 in difficult conditions at Sentosa Golf Club.
“All of my wins have special memories. But to still be competitive at my age and up there and having chances to win tournaments like this is validation for driving myself on and doing all the hard work and practice that nobody sees and still being competitive and having a good enough game to compete against them.”
Westwood, however, isn’t the only player entering Sunday in the hunt with a chance to make history.
Late run
Niemann, who won five times last season but started slowly this season, made a charge up the leaderboard of his own, shooting a 5 under 66 that included seven birdies and two bogeys.
A win would earn Niemann his eighth LIV Golf victory, which would be three more than any other player in league history.
“I hit the ball unbelievable today compared to the other days,” Niemann said.
“I was able to see the ball in the windows that I was seeing in my mind. Yeah, it was nice. I played pretty confident. I was able to attack a lot of pins.”
Niemann will enter the final round of a tournament with the lead or co-lead for the fifth time in his LIV Golf career. He went on to win in each of the four previous times (Mayakoba and Jeddah in 2024; Singapore and UK last season).
A win would make him just the second player to successfully defend a LIV Golf title after Brooks Koepka in Jeddah (2022-23).
“It’s really nice to be in this situation right now,” Niemann said. “I feel like it’s been close – obviously not the best results overall in the first three events. … I feel like the game is trending in the right direction.”
Bryson DeChambeau, who entered the third round with a three-shot lead, struggled to a 1-over 72 but made the best of a tough day to keep himself in the tournament at just one shot back of the co-leaders.
England’s Lee Westwood on his way into a share of the day three lead on the Serapong course on Saturday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
Cold putter
The Crushers GC captain made three birdies that were offset by four bogeys as he struggled with a cold putter throughout the round.
Despite losing the lead, DeChambeau is pleased with how he’s played.
“For some reason there wasn’t as much wind around there and I guess the greens got slower in that area and I three-putted a few of them and that cost me some momentum,” he said.
“Other than that, I played great golf. I almost played just as good as yesterday, just things didn’t line up.”
Richard T. Lee is tied for third with DeChambeau after shooting a 2 under 69 and, like Niemann and Westwood, has a chance to set league history.
A win would make him the first wild card player to earn a tournament title, and he’s also on pace to eclipse the best-ever (T12) finish for an independent.
“(A win) would change a lot in my life, with my family,” Lee said. “Yeah, just playing with these guys in this big league, I think it would be a great honor to win.”
A bunched pack are also well within reach of victory. Jon Rahm, whose streak of 23 consecutive rounds under par ended with an even-par 71 is three shots back of the lead at 7 under.
The individual leaderboard should create a thriller on Sunday, but the team leaderboard is just as chaotic.
Hong Kong champions 4Aces GC surged to the top of the leaderboard after under-par rounds from three of their four players, giving them a score of 16 under for the week.
Dustin Johnson (68), Anthony Kim (68) and Thomas Pieters (70) produced strong rounds for the resurgent squad while Thomas Detry (73) slipped after brilliant rounds of 68-67 to begin the week.
“Obviously we’re in a really good position,” 4Aces captain Johnson said.
Team push
“But it’s going to take all four of us playing well tomorrow. This golf course is hard, and if we all four play well, then we’ll probably have a really good chance to win.”
With a win on Sunday, the Aces would win in back-to-back starts for the first time since LIV Golf’s inaugural season in 2022.
Ripper GC, who won the first two tournaments this season, and defending team champions Legion XIII are just two shots back of the Aces.
The Australian squad was led by Elvis Smylie, who shot a bogey-free 4 under 67 that included an eagle and two birdies while Legion XIII were led by a 2 under 69 from Tyrrell Hatton.
Like their captain, Crushers GC entered the day with a three-shot lead. The team shot 9 over for the round with all four of their players shooting over par, dropping them all the way to sixth. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Leaddrboards
Individual Top 10
T1 (-10) – Joaquin Niemann, Crushers (69-68-66); Lee Westwood, Majesticks GC (67-68-68)
T3 (-9) – Richard T. Lee, Wild Card (67-68-69); Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers GC (67-65-72)
5. (-7) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (67-68-71)
6. (-6) – Marc Leishman, Ripper GC (68-68-71)
T7 (-5) – Dustin Johnson, 4Aces GC (71-69-68), Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (68-71,69); Talor Gooch, Smash GC (70-68-70); Josele Ballester, Fireballs GC (73-66-69); Brendan Steele, HyFlyers GC (70-71-67); Thomas Detry, 4Aces GC (71-69-68); Louis Oosthuizen, Southern Guards GC (68-67-73)
Team Top 3
1. (-16) – 4Aces GC (Johnson 68, Kim 68, Pieters 70, Detry 73; Rd. 3 score: -5)
T2 (-14) – Ripper CG (Smylie 67, Smith 69, Leishman 71, Herbert 71; Rd. 3 score: -6); Legion XIII (Hatton 69, McKibbin 70, Rahm 71, Surratt 72; Rd. 3 score: -2)
Round 3 stats
Driving Distance: Josele Ballester, 334.9-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Josele Ballester, 375.0 yards (18th hole)
Driving Accuracy: Lee Westwood, Branden Grace, Harold Varner III, Wade Ormsby, Richard Bland, 85.71% (12 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Jon Rahm, 94.44% (17 of 18)
Scrambling: Elvis Smylie (7 of 7), Sergio Garcia (4 of 4), Jason Kokrak (3 of 3), Jon Rahm (1 of 1),100%
Fewest Putts: Dean Burmester, 22
Bogey-free rounds: Elvis Smylie (67)
Also read: DeChambeau and the Crushers hold halfway lead at Singapore
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