Bryson DeChambeau carded an 8-under-par 63 on Saturday to leap into the lead going into the final round of the LIV Golf Invitational Andalucia at Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande, Spain.
A bogey-free round that ended with a flourish — an eagle on 18 — gave DeChambeau his one-stroke lead going into Sunday. He sits at 9 under for the tournament.
“It was a fantastic round,” DeChambeau said. “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.”
DeChambeau, whose best finish this season is a tie for fifth, is joined by Talor Gooch (8 under), Brooks Koepka (6 under) and Dustin Johnson (4 under) in holding down the top four spots.
Johnson, who had shared the lead after Friday’s round, had a tougher day in shooting par 71, but he remains in the mix.
“For today, the course played very difficult for myself,” Johnson said. “But luckily I chipped and putted very well and shot even par. It could have been a lot worse than that.”
Meanwhile, Koepka (65), the reigning PGA Championship winner, carded an eagle on 17 while Gooch (65) led the field with eight birdies in the round.
“Out here if you get the ball in the fairway, you’re going to have a chance. The fairways are just tough to hit,” Gooch said. “I was able to hit a bunch of fairways and made a couple putts today. Yesterday I really didn’t make anything. I played nearly as good, just made nothing. Made a few more putts today, which was good.”
Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz is six strokes back in fifth place after firing a 3-under 68.
Three golfers are tied for sixth at seven strokes behind the leader.
Spain’s David Puig had a 5-under 66 and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters shot a second-round 67, while England’s Ian Poulter matched his first-round score with another 70 on Day 2. All sit at 2 under.
–Field Level Media