Top guns head for a Saturday showdown in LIV Golf Las Vegas
Three of LIV Golf’s top stars including Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are locked together headed into the final round of the Las Vegas tournament.
- Feb 10, 2024,
- Updated Feb 10, 2024 2:05 PM IST
Dustin Johnson versus Bryson DeChambeau versus Jon Rahm – the 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters winner versus the 2020 US Open champion versus the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters titleist – facing off for top spot at LIV Golf Las Vegas.
This was the sort of stuff league commissioner and CEO Greg Norman would have dreamed of when he conceptualised and launched LIV Golf in 2022, the best versus the best which is very likely to happen on Saturday night (India time 11.45 pm onwards) at the Las Vegas Country Club as the second leg of the season peaks ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.
In a town that loves to celebrate marquee performers on the glitziest stages, three of LIV Golf’s biggest stars will battle it out in the final round as the first two share top spot on the individual leaderboard on 11 under par totals, and Rahm is in the group immediately behind two strokes adrift. On Friday, both DeChambeau and Johnson shot matching 8-under 62s in the second round while Rahm was in a three-way tie for third at 9 under with a 63. The three will play together in the final round after carding the three best totals in round two.
With a $4 million winner’s cheque up for grabs, bets are sure to be piling up in Sin City on chances of a second successive playoff, after the one involving ultimate winner Joaquin Neimann and Sergio Garcia in Mexico last week.
“It's a lot of fun anytime you get to play with the best players in the world and go head-to-head against each other,” DeChambeau said on livgolf.com. “It's more of a sprint to the finish now, and with a lot of birdie holes out there, it's going to be exciting. A lot of fireworks.”
“It's what everybody wants to see,” added recent signing Rahm, who playing in his second LIV Golf tournament. “It's always a little bit better for a player when you win and you know you actually had to compete against the best in the world at their best. There's no better feeling. As much as we enjoy it, the spectators will enjoy it more.”
“Obviously it was a good day,” said Johnson, whose 4Aces GC shared the team lead with RangeGoats GC on 26 under. “Just really solid. Drove it really well. Hit a lot of nice iron shots. Gave myself a lot of looks at birdie.” Defending champions the Crushers led by DeChambeau are third on the team leaderboard.
DeChambeau – who posted a league best 58 at Greenbriar last year – was 8 under after 13 holes but after four birdies in a row birdies, could add only pars to finish the round. “It was the weirdest 62 I’ve ever had,” said DeChambeau, who missed just one green on Friday.
“… Felt like I would shoot sub-60 all day and it was going that way after 16, and then I just got uncomfortable for some reason with the golf swing. One of the most sub-optimal 62s I’ve ever had – but I’ll take a 62 any day of the week.”
Legion XIII captain Rahm was tied with Peter Uihlein (65) and Matthew Wolff (66) after his lowest score in five rounds as a LIV Golf member. “It was a very good day, very organized day I would say,” he said.
India star Anirban Lahiri had a sedate day and brought in a level par round that split one birdie with a dropped shot. It kept him on 4 under for 36 holes, and in a share of 26th place.
Incidentally,
Standings and Round 2 scores
T1. 4Aces GC: -26 (Johnson 62, Reed 66, Perez 69) T1. RangeGoats GC: -26 (Uihlein 65, Wolff 66, Watson 68) 3. Crushers GC: -24 (DeChambeau 62, Howell III 68, Casey 70) 4. Smash GC: -23 (Gooch 66, Koepka 67, Kokrak 67) T5. Torque GC: -19 (Pereira 64, Niemann 66, Muñoz 68) T5. Legion XIII: -19 (Rahm 63, Hatton 67, Surratt 69) 7. Ripper GC: -16 (Smith 66, Herbert 67, Jones 67) 8. Fireballs GC: -15 (Puig 67, Ancer 68, Garcia 68) 9. HyFlyers GC: -13 (Ogletree 67, Steele 67, Mickelson 67) 10. Cleeks GC: -12 (Bland 65, Meronk 68, Kaymer 70) 11. Stinger GC: -11 (Grace 65, Oosthuizen 67, Burmester 68) 12. Iron Heads GC: -10 (Kozuma 66, Na 68, Lee 72) 13. Majesticks GC: -8 (Stenson 67, Horsfield 69, Poulter 69)
Dustin Johnson versus Bryson DeChambeau versus Jon Rahm – the 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters winner versus the 2020 US Open champion versus the 2021 US Open and 2023 Masters titleist – facing off for top spot at LIV Golf Las Vegas.
This was the sort of stuff league commissioner and CEO Greg Norman would have dreamed of when he conceptualised and launched LIV Golf in 2022, the best versus the best which is very likely to happen on Saturday night (India time 11.45 pm onwards) at the Las Vegas Country Club as the second leg of the season peaks ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.
In a town that loves to celebrate marquee performers on the glitziest stages, three of LIV Golf’s biggest stars will battle it out in the final round as the first two share top spot on the individual leaderboard on 11 under par totals, and Rahm is in the group immediately behind two strokes adrift. On Friday, both DeChambeau and Johnson shot matching 8-under 62s in the second round while Rahm was in a three-way tie for third at 9 under with a 63. The three will play together in the final round after carding the three best totals in round two.
With a $4 million winner’s cheque up for grabs, bets are sure to be piling up in Sin City on chances of a second successive playoff, after the one involving ultimate winner Joaquin Neimann and Sergio Garcia in Mexico last week.
“It's a lot of fun anytime you get to play with the best players in the world and go head-to-head against each other,” DeChambeau said on livgolf.com. “It's more of a sprint to the finish now, and with a lot of birdie holes out there, it's going to be exciting. A lot of fireworks.”
“It's what everybody wants to see,” added recent signing Rahm, who playing in his second LIV Golf tournament. “It's always a little bit better for a player when you win and you know you actually had to compete against the best in the world at their best. There's no better feeling. As much as we enjoy it, the spectators will enjoy it more.”
“Obviously it was a good day,” said Johnson, whose 4Aces GC shared the team lead with RangeGoats GC on 26 under. “Just really solid. Drove it really well. Hit a lot of nice iron shots. Gave myself a lot of looks at birdie.” Defending champions the Crushers led by DeChambeau are third on the team leaderboard.
DeChambeau – who posted a league best 58 at Greenbriar last year – was 8 under after 13 holes but after four birdies in a row birdies, could add only pars to finish the round. “It was the weirdest 62 I’ve ever had,” said DeChambeau, who missed just one green on Friday.
“… Felt like I would shoot sub-60 all day and it was going that way after 16, and then I just got uncomfortable for some reason with the golf swing. One of the most sub-optimal 62s I’ve ever had – but I’ll take a 62 any day of the week.”
Legion XIII captain Rahm was tied with Peter Uihlein (65) and Matthew Wolff (66) after his lowest score in five rounds as a LIV Golf member. “It was a very good day, very organized day I would say,” he said.
India star Anirban Lahiri had a sedate day and brought in a level par round that split one birdie with a dropped shot. It kept him on 4 under for 36 holes, and in a share of 26th place.
Incidentally,
Standings and Round 2 scores
T1. 4Aces GC: -26 (Johnson 62, Reed 66, Perez 69) T1. RangeGoats GC: -26 (Uihlein 65, Wolff 66, Watson 68) 3. Crushers GC: -24 (DeChambeau 62, Howell III 68, Casey 70) 4. Smash GC: -23 (Gooch 66, Koepka 67, Kokrak 67) T5. Torque GC: -19 (Pereira 64, Niemann 66, Muñoz 68) T5. Legion XIII: -19 (Rahm 63, Hatton 67, Surratt 69) 7. Ripper GC: -16 (Smith 66, Herbert 67, Jones 67) 8. Fireballs GC: -15 (Puig 67, Ancer 68, Garcia 68) 9. HyFlyers GC: -13 (Ogletree 67, Steele 67, Mickelson 67) 10. Cleeks GC: -12 (Bland 65, Meronk 68, Kaymer 70) 11. Stinger GC: -11 (Grace 65, Oosthuizen 67, Burmester 68) 12. Iron Heads GC: -10 (Kozuma 66, Na 68, Lee 72) 13. Majesticks GC: -8 (Stenson 67, Horsfield 69, Poulter 69)