LIV Golf Singapore: Day Three
Koepka first to four, looks primed for PGA: With his win on Sunday, Brooks Koepka becomes the first player with LIV to four wins. All Koepka needed today was four birdies and a 68 to seal the deal, looking in control early on as the top of the leaderboard became a revolving door. Finishing the weekend at -15, Koepka now sits in 5th of the overall standings with his third top 10 and first win of the season. Next up for Brooks Koepka is his PGA title defense in two weeks at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky. A win would mark Koepka’s fourth PGA Championship which would tie him with one of the greats, Tiger Woods. Valhalla last hosted the tournament 10 years ago, where Koepka had a strong showing as a 24-year-old, finishing tied for 15th. Rounding out the podium two strokes behind at -13 are Ripper GC teammates Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman. Smith had the performance of the day, shooting the low round of the day of 64 and eight birdies. Smith was just outside the top 10 yesterday and 35th on Friday at even, meaning he gained 13 strokes over two days. Smith will be another player in Valhalla and is another contender after finishing tied for 9th at the 2023 event, his best result to date at the PGA. Leishman had his best round of the week by a stroke, shooting a 66 with six birdies. This moves Leishman into 14th overall and his second top-five of the season. More on Ripper GC later…
Rest of the Top 10: In solo fourth at -12 is 2023’s LIV Singapore winner Talor Gooch. Still stringing together a strong performance, Gooch shot a 67 on the final day with five birdies. In a tie for 5th at -11 are Tyrrell Hatton and Thomas Pieters. A final round 66 with five birdies and an eagle helps Hatton earn his third top 10 of the season to sit in 11th overall. Pieters shot a final round 69 with three birdies. In a tie for 7th at -10 are Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann, and Kevin Na. Johnson has his best round of the week with a 66 and six birdies for his third top 10 of the season. Niemann gets his sixth top-10 of the season to extend his overall standing lead with a final round 67. Kevin Na goes bogey-free on the final day to get his second top-10 of the season with a final-round 67 and four birdies. Rounding out the top 10 in a tie for 10th are Jon Rahm, Eugenio Chacarra, Abraham Ancer, and Adrian Meronk. Rahm sneaks into the top 10 on the final day to extend his top 10 streak with a 67 and five birdies. Chacarra gets his best result of the season, opening and closing the day with birdies and a final round 68. Ancer’s tie for 10th makes it his fourth top-10 in a row. Meronk ended the day with three consecutive birdies to assure himself another top 10, his third of the season to sit in 18th overall.
Ripper does it again: Two weeks and two wins for Ripper GC. After an exciting win in front of its home crowd, Ripper GC ends the week at -32 to best second place by three strokes. Led by Smith and Leishman, Lucas Herbert finishes the weekend in a tie for 27th while Matt Jones finishes 37th. The second win and third podium for Ripper puts them in third place of the season overall. In a tie for second at -29 are the Fireballs and Cleeks. Both teams get their first podiums of the season and sit in 8th and 9th overall respectively.
Looking ahead: LIV Golf returns June 7th to 9th and will appear in Houston, Texas for the first time ever. The tournament will be held at the Golf Club of Houston which is very familiar to a lot of LIV’s roster, it hosted the Houston Open from 2003 to 2019. Paul Casey, Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson, Matt Jones, and Ian Poulter have all won on this course while Henrik Stenson was runner-up in 2013 and 2016. A lot of familiarity with nearly every player rostered by LIV should make for an exciting tournament.
