Bryson DeChambeau has set aside any personal goals of catching LIV Golf Jeddah leader Brooks Koepka on Sunday and is solely focused on helping his team to victory at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

The Crushers captain shot a seven-under 63 on Saturday to launch himself up to eight-under overall and in T-4 on the leaderboard. That has him lurking just four strokes behind his old rival Koepka.

The pair underwent a back-and-forth verbal feud in 2021, but have since buried the hatchet — as evidenced by the pat on the back as DeChambeau gave Koepka  after the latter’s press conference on Saturday evening in Jeddah.

“It was about shooting low today, as low as I could,” DeChambeau said after that pat on the back. “I knew Brooks and a few others were going to play well, and I needed to get it deep today.  I did that, but I would have liked to have finish off with a birdie or two coming in, have a better chance. But being four back as it is, this golf course, you can definitely do it.”

The Crushers are the trending team at the minute, coming off a win in Chicago and leading at 22-under ahead of the final round in Jeddah ahead of next week’s Team Championship final in Miami, and are second in the standings behind last year’s winners, the 4 Aces. DeChambeau has a simple plan to claim the crown this year.

“I just want the boys [Paul. Casey, Anirban Lahiri and Charles Howell III] to keep playing the way they are,” he said. “They’re a special bunch of guys, and they know how to get the job done when it matters.

“This year is going to be a lot different than last year, I believe, if we bring this form into next week. Very excited for the guys and seeing what we can do next week in Miami.”

DeChambeau was very clear on team-before-individual success.

“It’s about the team,” he insisted. “I definitely want to win the team championship [in Jeddah] and be first in the points list going to Miami. We’re that good of a team, and my boys have worked really hard this year. If we play well tomorrow, we definitely deserve to be up in that No. 1 spot. I’m definitely focused on that, focused on playing well tomorrow individually for the Crushers, and just going to give it my all.”

A win over Koepka probably wouldn’t go amiss either, though …

Main image: Bryson DeChambeau. LIV Golf