Talor Gooch is on fire as he leads once again at LIV Golf Singapore. But he will not have everything his own way this time around at Sentosa as he did in Adelaide last week, as he has some big names right beside him going into Sunday’s final round.
A week ago, Gooch entered the final 18 in Australia with a 10-stroke lead. But the shadows are looming much larger this time around.
The RangeGoats star is tied with Fireballs captain Sergio. The co-leaders are at 13-under, with Smash captain Brooks Koepka in solo third, one stroke back. Iron Head’s Scott Vincent moved into a tie for third by shooting a nine-under 62, tying the LIV record for lowest score.
In the team standings, Gooch’s RangeGoats are tied with Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers at 25-under, with Cameron Smith’s Ripper in solo third. All three teams enter the final round at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course seeking their first team victory.
Gooch recorded his first individual victory last week at LIV Golf Adelaide, shooting LIV-record 10-under 62s in the first two rounds to take a commanding lead into the final round. He doesn’t have that luxury this week. Six of the 11 players within seven shots of the lead are major champions.
For Gooch, it’s the eighth time he’s either led or shared a lead after a LIV Golf round. That’s the most of any player. He’s now led or shared the lead in the last five League rounds.
“Nothing can replace experience,” said Gooch after his six-under 65. “The more that I can put myself in this position, the more comfortable I’m going to get.”
Garcia has experience of a different kind at Sentosa. He won the Singapore Open here in 2018 and has played bogey-free golf in the first 36 holes this week. On Saturday, he hit all 18 greens in regulation in shooting a 64.
“Some of the memories definitely help,” Garcia said. “But at the end of the day, I think that every tournament is a different story. … It definitely makes a little bit of 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.”
The RangeGoats came close to riding Gooch’s win last week to a team title, falling one shot short of 4 Aces. Now Bubba Watson’s team has another shot this week.
The HyFlyers also came in with momentum from Australia, finishing fourth. The HyFlyers have a chance at sweeping both trophies, with Cameron Tringale tied for fourth at 11-under while Mickelson is one stroke back in solo seventh after shooting a 66
“It’s a fun week for us so far and we’re continuing to get better and better each week,” said Mickelson, who was 5 under through his first five holes, including a hole-out eagle at the par-5 seventh. “… There’s a lot to play for and we’re having a blast.”
Gooch and Garcia had a blast on Saturday in a group that also included Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith. The trio combined to shoot 18 under. Smith is tied with Vincent and Tringale for fourth. Gooch and Garcia will be together again on Sunday with Koepka in the final group off the No. 1 tee.
“We’ve been paired together a bunch here in the last year and it was fun out there playing with Sergio,” Gooch said. “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.”
