Chile’s Joaquin Niemann carded a 4-under 66 in the third round on Saturday to catch Talor Gooch for the lead at the LIV Golf Korea tournament.
Niemann posted six birdies and two bogeys to move to 9-under at Asiad Country Club in Busan, South Korea. Second-round leader Gooch’s round of 69 featured 17 pars and a lone birdie at the par-5 15th hole.
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent is one shot behind the leaders in solo third place after round of 67 with four birdies and a bogey. Charles Howell III and Australia’s Cameron Smith are tied for fourth at 7-under after both shooting 68.
Three golfers are lurking three shots back at 6-under, including Dustin Johnson after delivering Saturday’s low round with a bogey-free 64. He is tied with New Zealand’s Ben Campbell (66 on Saturday) and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau (71), whose eventful day included four bogeys and three birdies.
DeChambeau’s Crushers GC sit atop the team standings at 16-under, one shot ahead of Gooch’s OKGC and four up on Smith’s Ripper GC.
Eight of the top-10 golfers on the leaderboard have won at least one LIV Golf title. Niemann holds the tour record with seven titles, including five in 2025, but is looking for his first of the season.
Niemann rolled in three long birdie puts on Saturday, including a breaking 34-footer at the par-14 14th hole.
“Putter did behave a lot better today than the first two days, so pretty happy about that,” Niemann said. “It did love me a lot. I did love it a lot, too.”
Gooch, who has four LIV Golf wins, began his round with 14 consecutive pars.
“You’ve got to stay patient and just wait for your time and hope that it comes, and it unfortunately didn’t come much today,” Gooch said. “But that’s why we stay patient. Maybe tomorrow it’ll come.”
This will be Gooch’s 16th time playing in the final group at an LIV Golf event and the 14th time for Niemann. The last time they were both in the final group was at LIV Golf Boston in 2022, where Johnson prevailed.
Joining them in the last group is Vincent, who is filling in for HyFlyers GC captain Phil Mickelson and looking for his first LIV Golf title.
“Winning out here is not easy,” Vincent said. “I think just big picture-wise, just putting myself in this position is just great for me, try and get better and develop as a player.”
–Field Level Media
