DeChambeau’s best LIV Golf result is a tie for fifth earlier this season in Tulsa, a reflection of his upward trend in recent months that also includes a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship won by Koepka 
DeChambeau’s best LIV Golf result is a tie for fifth earlier this season in Tulsa, a reflection of his upward trend in recent months that also includes a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship won by Koepka
Anirban Lahiri had an outing he would like to forget on day two of LIV Golf Andalusia, slipping from tied place overnight one shot behind the leaders to shared 32nd place even as his team captain Bryson DeChambeau turned in a stunning 8 under par 63 to hold the 36-hold lead on Saturday.
The India and Crushers GC golfer followed his opening 4 under par 67 with a 79 to total 4 over 146 at the challenging Valderrama course on Saturday but DeChambeau’s efforts were good enough to give their squad a share of the team lead.
Since joining LIV Golf early last year DeChambeau has not put his true abilities on show, but has a chance to change that on Sunday and add a first LIV Golf title to his 10 other international wins which include the 2020 US Open.
Saturday’s brilliant bogey-free 63 that included a closing eagle on the par-5 17th hole gave DeChambeau a one-shot lead over Talor Gooch and had him three ahead of PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka. Not only did he narrowly miss tying the course record, but the Crushers captain has the only bogey-free round recorded in the competition so far.
“It was a fantastic round,” DeChambeau said on the LIV Golf website. “I had a lot of great things happen to me, but I also struck it really like I've been wanting to, and whenever I got nervous, I was able to stripe it down the middle or hit a shot that was in the right position on the golf course. I was pretty excited about the way I played today.”
Both Gooch and Koepka have won two LIV Golf tournaments and will be in the final group with DeChambeau, who is playing in the lead group for the first time in a LIV Golf final round.
“They're playing incredible,” DeChambeau said. “You've got a major champion and then a guy that's won two LIV events in a row. They're going to be biting at the heels, and I've just got to be steadfast and in my own little zone and get after it.”
DeChambeau’s Crushers and Gooch’s RangeGoats GC are also tied on the team leaderboard at 10 under, with Torque GC two strokes back in third. The Crushers and RangeGoats each have one victory this season, while Torque claimed their second win of the season at LIV Golf’s previous event in DC.
Gooch had three consecutive birdies early in his round and assumed the lead in the afternoon after a string of five birdies in six holes. But a late bogey and DeChambeau’s eagle turned the leaderboard over late in the day.
Gooch, whose previous wins this season came in Adelaide and Singapore, will be looking for his third victory outside the US this season. “It's been so cool to see Bryson trending and how well he's been playing here the last few months,” Gooch said.
“We were halfway through the round and of course we're paired with him tomorrow, and we're like, oh, now I kind of don't want him to play well tomorrow. We played the final round together in Singapore, me and Brooks, and he's one of the
greatest of our generation. It's going to be another great challenge and experience to go and try to beat him tomorrow.”
Koepka opened with a bogey but bounced back with eagle on 17 and stayed bogey-free golf for the rest of his round. “Made bogey there at the first but then kind of rebounded and built off that,” said the Smash GC captain. “It could have been a lot lower. I played really well.”
DeChambeau’s best LIV Golf result is a tie for fifth earlier this season in Tulsa, a reflection of his upward trend in recent months that also includes a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship won by Koepka. “Moving in the right direction, and I've got a lot of golf years left, a lot of major championships, a lot of LIV events,” DeChambeau said. “It's only hopefully up and up.”
Team scores
T1 RangeGoats GC (-10): Talor Gooch 65, Thomas Pieters 67, Bubba Watson 70
T1 Crushers GC (-10): Bryson DeChambeau 63, Paul Casey 71, Charles Howell III 73
3. Torque GC (-8): David Puig 66, Sebastián Muñoz 68, Mito Pereira 72
4. 4Aces GC (-5): Pat Perez 66, Patrick Reed 71, Dustin Johnson 71
T5. Majesticks GC (-3): Ian Poulter 70, Lee Westwood 70, Henrik Stenson 72
T5: Ripper GC (-3): Matt Jones 70, Marc Leishman 71, Cameron Smith 72
7. Smash GC (-2): Brooks Koepka 65, Matthew Wolff 72, Jason Kokrak 74
8. Fireballs GC (E): Carlos Ortiz 69, Sergio Garcia 71, Abraham Ancer 71
9. HyFLyers GC (+3): Cameron Tringale 70, Phil Mickelson 70, James Piot 71
10. Stinger GC (+6): Louis Oosthuizen 72, Branden Grace 72, Charl Schwartzel 73
11. Iron Heads GC (+7): Scott Vincent 70, Kevin Na 72, Sihwan Kim 73
12. Cleeks GC (+11): Richard Bland 73, Martin Kaymer 74, Bernd Wiesberger 76
Also Read: Lahiri powers Crushers into LIV Golf Andalucia lead with gutsy display
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