Cameron Smith is the points leader. Talor Gooch has the most wins. Bryson DeChambeau is the hottest player.

One of the three will be crowned 2023 LIV Golf League Individual Champion on Sunday at LIV Golf Jeddah.

The season-long title comes with a substantial bonus: $18 million. And a place in history — as LIV Golf’s first full-season winner.

“Being the first one ever for a full season would be kind of cool,” Smith said. “This only happens once.”

Dustin Johnson was the Individual Champion for the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational beta-test year in 2022. He was a dominant force during the abbreviated seven-tournament regular season, arriving at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club having already clinched the title.

That’s not the case this time.

Through the first 12 events of 2023, Smith, the Ripper captain, tops the standings with 170 points, having won twice this season. Gooch, the RangeGoats star with three wins in 2023, is his closest pursuer with 162 points.

DeChambeau, the Crushers captain, has won two of the last three LIV Golf tournaments after a slow start to vault into third place with 146 points.

With 40 points for a tournament victory, 30 points for second, and only the top 24 on the leaderboard (after tiebreakers) offering points, there are multiple scenarios for each player to emerge as champion — about a dozen each for Smith and Gooch, three for DeChambeau.

The maths can be a bit dizzying — except, perhaps, for DeChambeau, aka The Scientist ­— but there is one relatively easy way to guarantee the best possible outcome:
Win the tournament.

“The only scenario that I have control of is if I go and win,” Gooch said. “That takes care of everything.”

Added Smith: “For sure there’s a little bit more up for grabs this week.”

In addition to the first-place bonus, the season-long race also awards bonuses to the second- and third-place finishers. No matter how Smith and Gooch fare this week, they are guaranteed at least one of the top 3 bonus spots.

DeChambeau, however, does not have that fallback position. While he must finish on the podium in Jeddah to have any shot at winning the Individual title, there are five other players who enter this week with a mathematical chance of overtaking DeChambeau for third place in the season race.

That doesn’t seem likely to happen, given DeChambeau’s form at the moment.

He shot 61-58 on the weekend to win his first LIV Golf tournament in Greenbrier in early August, then rallied with a 63 in the final round in Chicago last month to overtake Crushers teammate Anirban Lahiri for his second win. He credits the new Krank Golf driver that he put in his bag with turning around his season. “That’s really ultimately what did it,” he said.

Now he seems unbeatable.

Still, he faces the challenge of needing to play aggressively to catch Smith and Gooch while also trying to protect his bonus-paying position. How will he balance the two approaches?

“It’s just a focus on winning,” DeChambeau said. “That’s all it is. I don’t know what else to say. If you try to think, oh, I’ve got to save my spot, you’re not in the right mindset. You shouldn’t be there.”

Seeing major winners Smith and DeChambeau in contention for the Individual title should surprise no one. If you’ve followed Gooch’s path as a LIV golfer, you shouldn’t be surprised he’s in the mix, either.

A year ago, while playing for 4Aces, Gooch started the season with four consecutive top-10 finishes and was a key cog in the team’s domination of the team race.

Jumping to Bubba Watson’s RangeGoats for 2023, he eventually began turning opportunities into victories. The breakthrough statement came with consecutive 10-under 62s en route to winning in Adelaide.

“It’s been a culmination of years of hard work and patience,” Gooch said. “I played really well last year, and I couldn’t close out some tournaments. Some of that experience of failing last year I think kind of set me up to succeed for this year when I was in those same positions.”

Smith, who won last year in Chicago in just his second start after joining LIV Golf, entered the 2023 season with high expectations.

After a couple of disappointing non-points finishes, he was re-energised back home in Australia with a strong performance and was trending toward a win, which he achieved in London — and repeated two starts later in Bedminster.

“I was a bit rusty,” Smith said about his 2023 start. “I spent a fair bit of time down in Australia, probably had a few too many pies. Golf really wasn’t the focus. Definitely in a much better spot than what it was in January.”

On Friday, with groupings arranged by position in the season-long standings, the trio of Smith, Gooch and DeChambeau will tee off on No. 1 to start the opening round.

Of course, the ideal scenario — at least for golf fans — would be to see them together again late Sunday afternoon, duelling for a tournament title, a team title, and, of course, the Individual Champion crown.

TEE TIMES

Main image: Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau and Talor Gooch. LIV Golf

TALE OF THE TAPE

Breaking down the 2023 LIV Golf League season for the three contenders of the Individual Champion title

LIV Golf