Sebastian Muñoz sizzles to 63 for three-shot lead; Torque, Fireballs share top spot in team race

Sebastian Muñoz of Torque GC leads by three shots heading into the final round of LIV Golf Chicago. (Sam Greenwood/LIV Golf)
Short Url
Updated 24 September 2023
Follow

Sebastian Muñoz sizzles to 63 for three-shot lead; Torque, Fireballs share top spot in team race

  • The 63 left him at 13 under, three shots ahead of Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri, who shot his second consecutive 66 to move to 10 under
  • Torque will be seeking their fifth team victory of the season

SUGAR GROVE, Illinois: Thanks to a brilliant 8-under 63, Torque GC’s Sebastian Muñoz will take a three-shot lead entering Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf Chicago.

Now comes the difficult part — converting that lead into a victory at Rich Harvest Farms.

That’s been an issue for the 30-year-old from Colombia, whose best individual finish since joining LIV Golf this season was a second place in Orlando.

“I don’t want to take care of the lead because I don’t have good experiences with that in the past,” said Muñoz, whose last professional win came in 2019.

“… It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be challenging, especially me talking about it now. But I’m going to do what I’ve been doing.”

One of five co-leaders after the first round, Muñoz opened his second round Saturday with three birdies before holing his second shot at the par-4 fifth hole from 123 yards for eagle.

It was the first of two eagles in his round, the other coming at the par-5 10th.

The 63 left him at 13 under, three shots ahead of Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri, who shot his second consecutive 66 to move to 10 under.

Three players – 4Aces GC captain Dustin Johnson, Fireballs GC’s Abraham Ancer and RangeGoats GC’s Thomas Pieters – are five strokes back at 8 under.

Fueled by Muñoz’s low round, Torque moved into a tie for the team lead at 22 under, with David Puig (68) and Mito Pereira (70) also supplying counting scores.

The Fireballs also are at 22 under after counting scores from Ancer, Carlos Ortiz (68) and Eugenio Chacarra (69). The Aces and Crushers share third at 18 under.

Torque will be seeking their fifth team victory of the season. If that happens and the Aces finish no better than third, then Torque will assume the lead in the season-long team standings.

Meanwhile, Muñoz will seek to deliver the team’s first individual trophy. “It’s time for an individual win for us,” he said.

From Lahiri’s perspective, it’s also time for him to end his individual drought. His last professional win was in February 2015 when he won twice that month.

He’s been close to ending the drought since joining LIV Golf last year, finishing second in Boston in his debut event, and adding two more runner-up finishes this season — three shots behind Talor Gooch in Adelaide and seven strokes behind Cameron Smith last month in Bedminster.

“I’ve had a few too many seconds,” said Lahiri, who opened with an eagle Saturday en route to a bogey-free round.

“… I can’t control what Sebastian or anyone else does, so I’m just going to focus on my process and what I’m trying to do on the golf course.”

Of the top five players on the leaderboard, three still have a chance to finish the season-long individual race inside the bonus-paying top three.

Johnson, the defending individual champion, is currently eighth in points, while Muñoz is 12th and Lahiri 15th.

Based on the second-round leaderboard, Muñoz is projected to move into third place.

Four rounds are left in the regular season — Sunday’s final round in Chicago and next month’s LIV Golf Jeddah, which will be followed by the Team Championship in Miami.

TEAM COUNTING SCORES

Here are the standings and counting scores for Saturday’s second round of the team competition at LIV Golf Chicago. The three best scores from each team count in every round for their total team score. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.

T1. TORQUE GC (-22): Sebastian Muñoz 63, David Puig 68, Mito Pereira 70 (Rd. 2 score: -12)

T1. FIREBALLS GC (-22): Abraham Ancer 66, Carlos Ortiz 68, Eugenio Chacarra 69 (Rd. 2 score: -10)

T3. 4ACES GC (-18): Dustin Johnson 66, Peter Uihlein 69, Pat Perez 70 (Rd. 2 score: -8)

T3. CRUSHERS GC (-18): Anirban Lahiri 66, Bryson DeChambeau 69, Paul Casey 72 (Rd. 2 score: -6)

5. RANGEGOATS GC (-17): Talor Gooch 67, Thomas Pieters 67, Harold Varner III 71 (Rd. 2 score: -8)

T6. MAJESTICKS GC (-16): Ian Poulter 67, Henrik Stenson 67, Lee Westwood 69 (Rd. 2 score: -10)

T6. STINGER GC (-16): Dean Burmester 69, Louis Oosthuizen 70, Charl Schwartzel 71 (Rd. 2 score: -3)

8. RIPPER GC (-15): Marc Leishman 68, Matt Jones 70, Cameron Smith 71 (Rd. 2 score: -4)

9. SMASH GC (-11): Brooks Koepka 69, Jason Kokrak 71, Chase Koepka 72 (Rd. 2 score: -1)

T10. CLEEKS GC (-10): Richard Bland 66, Martin Kaymer 69, Graeme McDowell 69 (Rd. 2 score: -9)

T10. HYFLYERS GC (-10): Phil Mickelson 68, Brendan Steele 68, James Piot 69 (Rd. 2 score: -8)

12. IRON HEADS GC (-4): Scott Vincent 69, Kevin Na 70, Sihwan Kim 73 (Rd. 2 score: -1)


Lowry and Elvira share halfway lead at Dubai Invitational

Shane Lowry leads the Dubai Invitational after two days of play. (Supplied)
Updated 16 January 2026
Follow

Lowry and Elvira share halfway lead at Dubai Invitational

  • Irishman Lowry began the day 3 shots behind Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy before finishing with 68

DUBAI: Shane Lowry and Nacho Elvira both produced brilliant rounds of 68 in windy conditions to earn a two-shot lead at the 2026 Dubai Invitational.

The Irishman began the day three shots behind good friend and Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy, but some stunning iron play and clutch putting saw him overhaul his playing partner.

Lowry is aiming to secure his first DP World Tour title since winning the 2022 BMW PGA Championship and he showcased his quality with five birdies and two bogeys.

Spaniard Elvira surged into contention thanks to four birdies in his final six holes for a matching 68 — the best rounds of the day — to set the clubhouse target of five under.

Having been joined at the summit of the leaderboard earlier in the day, McIlroy regained his one-shot advantage when he birdied the third to reach six under.

That lead was briefly extended to two when Antoine Rozner’s early birdie burst was offset by a double bogey, but McIlroy dropped a shot at the sixth.

A skewed chip left a difficult par putt for McIlroy to save par at the ninth and when it slid by, he was in a two-way tie for the lead at four under.

In the group ahead, Lawrence carded back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth — the latter with a sumptuous hole-out from the bunker — to join that mark.

Lowry opened with birdie-birdie for the second day running and despite a bogey at the fifth, he picked up the shot at the very next hole. A bogey at the ninth saw him slip back one, but he responded immediately with a lovely birdie putt at the 10th to rejoin the lead.

None of the trio could jump ahead on their own as they reached the turn, which saw Armitage increase the leadership group to four.

The Englishman, who started on the back nine, mixed two birdies and two bogeys during his front nine and then picked up shots at the second and fourth to reach the summit.

However, by the time McIlroy and Lowry finished the 14th hole, the latter was in the sole lead.

Lawrence had bogeyed the same par-three hole, Armitage dropped a shot at the ninth — his last — and McIlroy found the water at the 14th as the trio slipped back to three under.

That left Lowry on his own at the top. He was briefly joined by Elvira and McIlroy when the latter rolled in a 46-foot putt at the 16th for birdie, but Lowry followed suit from 31 feet to maintain his one-shot lead at five under.

McIlroy found the water for the fourth time at the 17th as he finished with back-to-back bogeys to sit three behind the joint leaders.

“Very happy (with the round),” said Lowry. “It was hard. It was tricky. You know, like that putt on the last hole, you don’t hole a lot of putts like that, and I did well. I did a good job. A couple sloppy mistakes on the front nine, but I was playing good and giving myself chances.

“I just had a great day out there. I really enjoyed it. I had a great group. Two great amateurs, and playing golf in a good frame of mind makes it a little bit easier. That’s sort of a little lesson for me for the rest season. If I play golf like that for the rest season in that frame of mind, I’ll be pretty good.”

Elvira had carded three bogeys and two birdies during his first 12 holes, but his birdie blitz to complete his second round propelled into the share of the lead with Lowry.

“I feel like off the tee I hit it really well,” said Elvira. “That’s something I struggled with in the past, and we made a couple changes, and I think it’s paying off. So, I’m very happy with the way I’m hitting it off the tee. It’s putting me in good positions to take advantage.”

Armitage and Spain’s David Puig were tied for third at three under, while McIlroy, Lawrence, Rozner and Spain’s Angel Ayora were one shot further back at two under.

American Ryggs Johnston recorded the first hole-in-one of 2026 when he aced the 218-yard par-three eighth with a six iron.

In the team competition, Jimmy Dunne, who was paired with Lowry, leads the way on 12 under, one stroke ahead of Greg Mondre and Dante Jimenez.