SINGAPORE: It will be a battle between red-hot form and hard-earned experience in the final round of LIV Golf Singapore as Talor Gooch and Sergio Garcia move to the top of the leaderboard.
American Gooch birdied his last two holes for a six-under par 65, while Spain’s 2017 Masters champion once again showed his love for the tough par-71 Serapong course of Sentosa Golf Club, going bogey-free for the second straight day in his round of seven-under par 64.
The duo were tied on top at 13-under par 129, but will be extremely wary of another in-form star, Brooks Koepka. The four-time major champion, runner-up recently at the Masters and winner of LIV Golf Orlando, was just one behind at 12-under par after a 65.
With lift, clean and place in play following the heavy rains on Friday, scoring was much better as the wind dropped. And the man who made most of the conditions was Zimbabwean Scott Vincent, who wielded a hot putter in a superb round of nine-under par 62. That elevated the Asian Tour member to tied fourth place at 11-under par 131 alongside American Cameron Tringale (66) and Australia’s Cameron Smith (66). All three players were bogey-free.
The 31-year-old Gooch is now an astonishing 32-under par for his last five rounds (19-under winning total in Adelaide) and agreed that experience was paramount on a golf course like Sentosa. However, he added that leading tournaments was helping him add valuable experience as well.
“Nothing can replace experience. The more that I can put myself in this position, the more comfortable I’m going to get. The more you play with these guys and the more you feel like you can compete and beat these guys, the more comfortable you’re going to get,” Gooch said.
Garcia has played the Serapong course several times and also won the 2018 SMBC Singapore Open at the same venue. On Saturday, he showed his comfort level on the golf course with an array of brilliantly shaped shots.
“Some of the memories help. But at the end of the day, I think that every tournament is a different story,” said the 43-year-old. “The course is playing a little bit longer than when we played the Singapore Open. It definitely makes a little bit of a difference, but obviously, you know that if you want to contend on a LIV tournament, you have to raise your level as much as possible because all of these guys can really play the game.”
Hy Flyers captain Phil Mickelson (66) thrilled the crown with an astonishing holed-out eagle on the seventh hole to go five-under par for his first five holes. He could not maintain the momentum but did well enough to combine with Tringale’s effort and vault his team into a lead in the team championship.
The Bubba Watson-led Range Goats, with Gooch doing a majority of scoring, joined the Hy Flyers on top at 25-under par. Both teams are looking for their first success in the distinctive team championship that is part of LIV Golf.
On Sunday, the tee times have been advanced with more thunderstorms forecast. Shotgun start is scheduled at 8:05am local time (03:05 KSA). Live broadcast starts at 8:00 a.m. (03:00 a.m. KSA).
