LIV Golf Las Vegas: Day Three
Dustin Johnson earns third LIV victory: Dustin Johnson entered Saturday with a share of the lead and after a final round 69, walks away from Las Vegas with his third victory. The third victory now ties Talor Gooch, Cameron Smith, and Brooks Koepka for most victories since the tour started in June of 2022. This brings his professional career total to 31 wins. Johnson started the day off with a birdie but suffered three bogeys between six and eleven. Ending the day with three birdies over five holes, a birdie on the 17th put him into the outright lead at -12 to put him ahead of Talor Gooch and Peter Uihlein. The final round looked to be going to playoff for the second week in a row before the crucial shot. Talor Gooch ends the weekend as the runner-up with six birdies shooting a 67, joining the lead late despite before Johnson’s birdie on 17. Uihlein rounds out the podium with a 68 on the day and moves up 49 spots from last weekend after finishing 51st in Mayakoba.
The rest of the top 10: Standalone in 4th is Matthew Wolff. In the lead at one point, the 24-year-old ends an impressive weekend with a 69 to finish -10. In a tie for 5th at -9 is a trio of Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, and Jason Kokrak. McDowell had the round of the day, shooting a final-day low of 65 with five birdies and no bogeys. Improving from yesterday with a 68, Paul Casey ends the weekend in the top five to start the year with two top-11 finishes. Kokrak shot a 69 on Saturday with four birdies. Alone in 8th is Jon Rahm, continuing his strong start to his LIV Golf career, shooting -8 on the weekend. Rounding out the top 10 is a tie of Sebastian Munoz, Adrian Meronk, and Bryson DeChambeau at -7. Munoz shot 68 on Saturday with three birdies. Adrian Meronk earns the first top 10 of his LIV Golf career. Moving up 38 spots this weekend, the European Tour Player of the Year shot a 68 on the final day with six birdies. DeChambeau fell back from first today but earned his first top-10 finish of the season after finishing in 25th last weekend.
Smash GC’s first win since 2022: After not winning since 2022, it’s taken Smash GC two events of 2024 to end the drought. Signing Graeme McDowell in November and trading for Talor Gooch in December were the steps back to the top of the podium. Gooch and McDowell were respectively the runner-up and low round of the day, the top two scorers for Smash. Jason Kokrak joined McDowell in the tie for 5th while Brooks Koepka was just outside the top 10 in 12th at -6. All four scores counted today and Koepka moved up seven spots today to help secure the victory. The four will now walk away with a share of the 5 million dollar prize. Smash ends the weekend with an impressive score of -33, seven ahead of the 4Aces who finished in second place. In third were the RangeGoats with a score of -24.
Looking Ahead: LIV Golf returns to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Brooks Koepka will look for his third consecutive victory at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. Koepka won in both 2022 and 2023. Koepka has gone to a playoff both times in Jeddah including last season against his now teammate Talor Gooch and Peter Uihlein in 2022. Royal Greens is also host to the Saudi International which has been won in the past by LIV’s Abraham Ancer, Harold Varner III, Graeme McDowell, and Dustin Johnson twice.
