Rd. 3 recap: Niemann leads but Varner, Westwood lurking; Torque maintains team lead

BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann already has the most individual tournament wins in LIV Golf history. He’s now 18 holes away from adding to his record total.

Niemann bounced back from an opening double bogey to shoot a 1-under 70, leaving him at 14 under and with a two-shot lead over OKGC’s Harold Varner III entering Sunday’s final round at LIV Golf New York. Majesticks GC Co-Captain Lee Westwood is in solo third, four shots off the pace.

With no other players within six shots of the lead, the final round at Trump National Bedminster could very well turn into a three-man race, with Niemann chasing his ninth career individual tournament victory. But he’s not discounting anybody on the tough, challenging course.

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“It’s not like it’s just me playing,” said the 27-year-old Niemann, the league’s youngest captain. “… They’re going to try to chase me, and I’m going to try to play the best I can to just run away.”

Entering the weekend with a five-shot lead, Niemann had hoped to continue adding distance between him and his pursuers. Instead, he quickly regressed after his opening tee shot sailed right into the native area full of trees, leaving him no choice but to take a penalty drop that led to a double bogey.

After playing bogey-free for the first 36 holes, it was a rude way to start the weekend. He suffered two more bogeys on his front nine but negated those with three birdies, then settled down to play the back nine in a bogey-free 2 under, leaving him with some positive vibes.

“Obviously not the best start,” said Niemann, looking for his second win in his last four starts after claiming LIV Golf Korea. “But pretty proud and happy the way I played today, especially coming into the end of the round. Pretty happy with a few putts that I rolled that went in. A few of them that couldn't go in; probably gave away a few shots there. But super-happy with the round.”

Varner was definitely happy with his performance, as his 6-under 65 was three shots better than anybody else in the field and the only bogey-free round of the day. His best finish of the season is a solo fourth in Hong Kong in March, and he’s been trending lately with two top-10s in his last three starts as he seeks his second career LIV Golf title.

“I've been playing well the last couple few tournaments and I've been working hard,” said Varner, who is a bogey-free 10 under this week on Bedminster’s front nine. “I feel like things are just going my way, and you want to just keep it stacking and attacking.”

As for the 53-year-old Westwood, a win on Sunday could make him the oldest winner on any major professional tour. After opening with a bogey, he played his next 12 holes in a bogey-free 5 under to move within a shot of the lead. But an ill-timed wind switch during his tee shot at the par-3 14th left him in the native area short of the green, ultimately costing him a double-bogey.

Still, he’s in the final group on Sunday for the second time this season and feeling good about his game as he seeks his first LIV Golf title and 45th overall win in his legendary career. Westwood was tied with Niemann for the 54-hole lead in Singapore and eventually finished third for his best LIV Golf result.

“I'm very competitive, and I always just expect to give my best and try 100%,” said Westwood, the oldest captain in the field. “That's the only expectation I put on myself. If it's good enough, it's good enough. I've learned to accept when it's not good enough anymore, and a lot of that is down to do with I'm just getting a bit older. Quite nice to go out there with no real goals or expectations, just play. That's what getting in the zone is, right? Just playing.”

Legion XIII’s Tom McKibbin is in solo fourth at 7 under, with Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia another shot back in fifth. The rest of the top 10 includes a variety of players from different teams; in fact, 11 of the league’s 13 teams have at least one player inside the top 10.

Niemann’s Torque team struggled on Saturday with a cumulative 8 over total but maintained the lead by two over Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII. The Majesticks, who have never won a team title, are in solo third, six shots off the pace.

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

1 (-14) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (64-65-70)

2 (-12) – Harold Varner, OKGC (69-67-65)

3 (-10) – Lee Westwood, Majesticks (69-65-69)

4 (-7) – Tom McKibbin, Legion XIII (70-66-70)

5 (-6) – Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (70-65-72)

T6 (-5) – Byeong Hun An, Korean (72-68-68); Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (68-70-70); Richard Bland, Cleeks (73-64-71)

9 (-4) – Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (69-68-72)

T10 (-3) – Lucas Herbert, Ripper (66-71-73); Paul Casey, Crushers (70-67-73); Younghan Song, Korean (72-70-68)

Team Top 3

1 (-1) – Torque GC (Niemann 64-65-70, Ancer 71-72-70, Ortiz 71-71-76, Munoz 74-71-76; Rd. 3 score: +8)

2 (+1) – Legion XIII (Rahm 72-71-73, Hatton 73-76-69, McKibbin 70-66-70, Surratt 76-69-68; Rd. 3 score: -4)

3 (+5) – Majesticks GC (Poulter 66-72-74, Westwood 69-65-69, Canter 73-70-72, Horsfield 77-75-75; Rd. 3 score: +6)

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ROUND 3 NOTES

WESTWOOD CHASING HISTORY: If Lee Westwood rallies to win on Sunday, the 53-year-old would become the oldest men’s winner on any major non-senior tour – and he would beat the LIV Golf record held by his former Majesticks GC Co-Captain Henrik Stenson.

Sam Snead was 52 years and 10 months old when he won in Greensboro on the PGA Tour in 1965. Miguel Angel Jimenez was 50 when he won the Spanish Open on the DP World Tour. And Mukesh Kumar was 51 when he won in India on the Asian Tour in 2016.

The oldest individual winner in LIV Golf history happened four years ago in the league’s inaugural season here at Trump National Bedminster when Stenson won in his LIV Golf debut at the age of 46 years, 3 months, 26 days.

Asked about a potential place in history, Westwood replied: “It goes beyond that, really, for me now. I'm just pleased to be in good enough shape, my game still be at an elite level where I can compete with these guys that are some of the best in the world. Joaco is one of the best players in the world, in my eyes. You've got Jon Rahm and Bryson and Tyrrell, and they're not even in contention this week.

“At 53 years of age, I think it's quite an achievement to still be mixing it with the youngsters. If you go out there and watch us all playing, I'm giving up quite an advantage off the tee. Not all the time – I get the occasional one out there – but in general, I'm playing a different golf course, really.”

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: Two-time defending LIV Golf Individual Champion Jon Rahm is on pace to clinch his third consecutive season-long title on Sunday at Bedminster.

The Legion XIII captain is tied for 32nd after his 2-over 73 left him at 3 over for the tournament. His projected total points after this week would be 946.74 points.

The only player who can catch him, Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, is 41st at 7 over after his third-round 70. He’s projected to increase his points total to 725.80 points.

DeChambeau must find a way to move within 200 points of Rahm after Sunday in order to stay in the race going into the regular-season finale at LIV Golf Indianapolis. An individual tournament win is worth 200 points.

Tournament leader Joaquin Niemann is projected to leapfrog Lucas Herbert and move into third place in total points with a win. But he would not have enough points to catch Rahm.

VARNER AND OKGC: Harold Varner is 12 under through the first three rounds, leaving him in solo second. The other three members of his OKGC team are a cumulative 35 over, which leaves the team at 23 over and in 12th place in the 13-team leaderboard.

Asked about the disparity in his solo score and the team score, Varner replied: “I think it's a team when we're playing well; I think it's a team when we're playing bad. I'm a part of the team.”

WEATHER DELAY: Play was temporarily suspended due to severe weather for 28 minutes with the final group on the 12th hole. Although players were asked to return to the clubhouse, the short delay meant some didn’t even make it inside before needing to turn around to their previous positions.

“I spent that time on a cart either riding in or riding out,” said Lee Westwood. “It was over really quickly and there was no real need to warm up again because nobody cooled down.”

Harold Varner III was on the 13th hole when play was suspended. He returned and promptly chipped in from the greenside rough for a birdie. “Did a good job during the delay,” he said. “Didn't get to warm up but came out and chipped in for birdie, so I think today was a good day.”

STATS LEADERS

Round 3

Driving Distance: Luis Masaveu, 321.6-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Luis Masaveu, 346.0 yards (18th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 15 and 18.

Driving Accuracy: Abraham Ancer, 100% (14 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Byeong Hun An, Younghan Song, Abraham Ancer, Victor Perez, Martin Vorster, 77.78% (14 of 18)

Scrambling: Richard Bland (6 of 6), Harold Varner III (5 of 5), Abraham Ancer (4 of 4), 100%

Fewest Putts: Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel, 25

Bogey-free rounds: Harold Varner III (65)

CUMULATIVE

Driving Distance: Bryson DeChambeau, 312.6-yard avg.

Driving Accuracy: Abraham Ancer, 88.10% (37 of 42)

Greens in Regulation: Joaquin Niemann, 77.78% (42 of 54)

Scrambling: Richard Bland, 82.35% (14 of 17)

Fewest Putts: Harold Varner III, 75

Lowest Rounds: Rd. 1 - Joaquin Niemann (64). Rd. 2 – Richard Bland (64); Rd. 3 – Harold Varner III (65)