Joaquin Niemann of Chile has opened up a six-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round at LIV Golf United Kingdom.
The Torque GC captain moved to 14-under par with an 8-under 65 on Saturday at the JCB Golf and Country Club in Rocester, England. He racked up nine birdies with a lone bogey at the par-4 15th hole.
Bubba Watson is in solo second at 8-under after a second-round 68. England’s Paul Casey (68), Caleb Surratt (68) and Poland’s Adrian Meronk (70) are tied for third at 7-under.
Niemann, already a four-time winner on the LIV Golf tour this season, is looking to add his to his titles at Adelaide, Singapore, Mexico City and Virginia.
“I had a great time. I made a lot of putts,” Niemann said. “I was laughing at it sometimes because I’m not used to seeing so many of those going in, and it’s kind of cool to see that.
“Other than that, I hit some good shots. Everything felt pretty much under control, off the tee, irons, putting. Yeah, just pretty happy the way I’ve been going through the last two days.”
Niemann had five birdies on the front nine, including three in a row at Nos. 1-3.
“I think it’s a great course for my eyes,” said Niemann, who was T2 here last year. “I feel like there’s a lot of blind shots. There’s a lot of left-to- right shots, left-to-right, right-to-left. You’ve got to move it around. You’ve got to use different types of shots off the tee, as well. I feel pretty confident on this course. Hopefully I can improve one position from last year, and I’ll be pretty happy.”
Niemann’s Torque GC is also in front for the team championship at 24-under, three shots ahead of Legion XIII as it seeks its first team title since 2023.
“We know we can do it. We’ve been close for a few chances,” Niemann said. .”.. I think it’s going to be an exciting day for all of us tomorrow and hopefully see low scores from the four of us.”
Watson knows it will take a hot round and perhaps poor weather to keep Niemann off the top of the podium.
“He’s playing so good, you don’t expect him to do anything, like come backwards,” Watson said. “Wind direction — I haven’t looked at the weather. That can change a golf course or how we play it, pin setups.
“But we’re going to give it our all and then hopefully that’s good enough, have a round like he’s having (Saturday). He shoots like even or 1-under, whatever it is — but we’re just going to go out there and do the same thing and hopefully that’s good enough or have a really high finish.”
Five golfers are tied for sixth at 6-under, including Niemann’s Torque GC teammate Carlos Ortiz of Mexico.