Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm Lead LIV Golf Adelaide by Five Shots After Round 3

Two of golf’s biggest names are five shots clear of the field and will go toe-to-toe in the final round of LIV Golf’s largest regular-season event. LIV Golf Adelaide has produced many electric moments in its previous three years, but a Bryson DeChambeau vs. Jon Rahm showdown for the individual title before a packed house Sunday at The Grange has the potential to be the tournament’s most epic 18 holes. 

"Going to be a good battle tomorrow," DeChambeau said. "We're going to have some fun." 

"I hope it’s a banger," Rahm said. "I hope we both have a good day, and may the best player win." 

DeChambeau, the Crushers GC captain, and Rahm, the Legion XIII captain, share the 54-hole lead at 19 under, five shots ahead of Anthony Kim, the newest 4Aces GC player who is writing his own dramatic storyline in a week that’s offered plenty of them. Two members of the Ripper GC, captain Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert, are tied with RangeGoats GC’s Peter Uihlein for fourth, six shots back. 

While the two Ripper players face long odds to capture the individual title in front of their home fans, the team trophy remains a distinct possibility. The Rippers will start Sunday in second place, five shots behind Rahm’s Legion XIII, and will have the benefit of the huge local support, which they leaned on two years ago to win LIV Golf Adelaide in the league’s first-ever playoff.

"It’ll be awesome," said Smith, who posted an 8-under 64, tying for the lowest score of the day, to move to 13 under. "I think given that the team is up there, the energy will be high again." 

DeChambeau and Rahm, playing in the final group with Ben Campbell, separated themselves, albeit in different manners, from the remainder of the individual field. 

Rahm opened with consecutive bogeys while DeChambeau reeled off five consecutive pars. DeChambeau then birdied the par-3 sixth, the start of eight birdies in a nine-hole stretch.  Rahm could not keep up, and when he bogeyed the par-5 13th – the third easiest hole Saturday – he found himself four shots behind DeChambeau.

At that point, DeChambeau was threatening to run away with the tournament.

But Rahm immediately bounced back from his bogey, producing three consecutive birdies. When DeChambeau bogeyed the par-4 17th, his lead was down to two going into the final hole of the day. 

Rahm’s tee shot at the par-4 18th was way left for the second straight round and ended up on the 10th teeing area. With the grandstands in his direct line to the hole, he was afforded TIO (temporary immovable obstruction) relief. 

Remarkably, he followed by holing his shot from 75 yards for eagle, his 5 under stretch in the final five holes giving him a 6-under 66 and moving him to the top of the leaderboard with DeChambeau. 

"Obviously executed it pretty well, and the rest is what you all saw," Rahm said. "I'm not really expecting to make it. I'm hoping to hit it close but obviously ended up with the grand prize on that one."

DeChambeau, who had control of the tournament just an hour earlier, parred the hole for a 64, tying for the lowest score of the day. It was not enough to give him the outright lead. 

"8-under is nothing to be ashamed of," he said. "I played great today. I'm pretty proud of the way I handled myself. That was pretty sick seeing what Jon did on 18. I didn't know you could go that far left and still have a clean lie and angle after that." 

Rahm and DeChambeau will be in the final group of the final round for just the second time in LIV Golf history. The first time came two years ago at LIV Golf Las Vegas when they played with eventual winner Dustin Johnson , the 4Aces GC captain. 

Johnson’s newest teammate is Kim, who joined the club this week after playing as a Wild Card since returning to professional golf after a 12-year absence to join LIV Golf in 2024. He was not even in the league at the Vegas tournament, but now he’s in the final group on the final day with the two big stars, a huge step in his progress back as a world-class golfer. 

"It’s been a helluva week," Kim said, who struggled to get into Australia after not having the proper paperwork when he left last week’s season-opener in Saudi Arabia. "Obviously not having a visa to get into this country was a start. I’ve worked hard and I knew this day would come at some point." 

Sunday in Australia could be one of the country’s biggest days in terms of professional golf. The individual leaderboard is star-studded at the top and the team leaderboard has the local heroes chasing the reigning Team Champions. 

"Hopefully we can give them a good show tomorrow," DeChambeau said. "We'll see how the cookie crumbles."

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS 

Individual Top 10

T1 (-19) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (68-63-66); Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (66-67-64)

3 (-14) – Anthony Kim, 4Aces (67-67-68)

T4 (-13) – Peter Uihlein, RangeGoats (69-67-67); Lucas Herbert, Ripper (71-65-67); Cameron Smith, Ripper (72-67-64)

T7 (-12) – Jason Kokrak, Smash (69-70-65); Branden Grace, Southern Guards (71-64-69); Tyrrell Hatton (69-69-66); Ben Campbell, RangeGoats (69-63-72)

T10 (-11) – Sebastian Munoz, Torque (69-67-69), Scott Vincent, Wild Card (73-65-67)

Team Top 3

1 (-45) – Legion XIII (Surratt 64, Hatton 66, Rahm 66, McKibbin 69; Rd. 3 score: -23)

2 (-40) – Ripper GC (Smith 64, Herbert 67, Smylie 69, Leishman 70; Rd. 3 score: -18)

3 (-38) – 4Aces GC (Detry 68, Kim 68, Pieters 68, Johnson 69; Rd. 3 score: -15) 

Click here for full leaderboard 

ROUND 3 NOTES 

THE AK STORYLINE: While Sunday’s juiciest storyline is Bryson DeChambeau vs. Jon Rahm, the third member of the final group, Anthony Kim, offers an incredible tale of redemption. 

Kim was not even a member of LIV Golf two years ago when DeChambeau and Rahm last played in the final group of a LIV Golf tournament. But after returning to professional golf from a 12-year absence, he finds himself playing with two of the sport’s biggest names. 

"It was always the goal to be in the final group, giving yourself a chance to win a golf tournament, or else I wouldn't have been practicing and playing on this league," said Kim, making his first start this week as a member of 4Aces GC after previously playing as an independent Wild Card. 

Both DeChambeau and Rahm have been inspired by Kim’s story. 

"What an incredible story," DeChambeau said. "Going from the lowest of lows, almost moving away from this earth and then coming back and really taking accountability and raising his little girl and being a family man and being one percent better every day. It's an inspiring story that I think honestly should have a lot more media attention than it does. It deserves that. 

"It shows some of the opportunities that LIV Golf can provide and give hope to people. It's another opportunity to play. I think that's what's so brilliant about it is you've got a guy like that that's struggled pretty much his entire career, and this is really when he has become more of himself than any other time, more of a family man, a father, a great person that cares deeply about playing good golf now. That's all he cares about, and he loves it. I think that's really inspiring for anybody at any age, that you can pick it up and be a better person." 

Added Rahm: "I was able to enjoy a car ride back to the hotel from the golf course in Riyadh … and he shared quite a bit of his story with me. What he's doing is nothing short of remarkable. … I really hope he can find the right person to tell his story, however form, movie, documentary series, book, whatever it is, because what he's doing is so impressive."

RAHM RULING ON 18: Jon Rahm was not surprised that he received TIO relief after his wayward drive left on the 18th hole Saturday. He suffered the same tee shot the previous day. 

"I knew from yesterday, so I wasn't too concerned, and knowing where I was going to drop, pretty good angle to that pin, as well," the Legion XIII captain said. "It was actually the best spot to be pretty much for every single pin for that distance." 

Rahm holed the chip shot for an eagle 2 to jump into a share of the lead with Bryson DeChambeau. 

"I didn't know that's what could happen, so that was most of what the shock was," DeChambeau said of the relief ruling.  It was like, what the heck, you can do that? I didn't know that. But ultimately, I didn't really know from my perspective that it was OK over there, so I was kind of shocked."

CAM STILL HAS HOPE: Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith will start the final round six shots off the lead and tied for fourth. It’s a daunting task to reel in the leaders, but Smith isn’t giving up hope just yet. 

They're going to be hard to chase down tomorrow," Smith said. "Anything can happen out there, though. It's tricky. The greens get slick and firm. Anything can happen." 

His Rippers are just five shots off the lead behind Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII, a minimal deficit in which all four player scores count. Even so, Legion has won nine tournaments the last two years, including the 2025 Team Championship. 

"It's not going to come easy. Being behind Legion, defending team champs, they've done it plenty of times before, so we need some of our best tomorrow." 

Smith is hoping that the supportive Australian crowds will make a difference Sunday. They certainly helped push him Saturday when shot an 8-under 64. 

"It's really epic, actually, particularly when I got off to a really hot start, and it seemed like the crowd just grew and grew and grew and the momentum was growing," Smith said. "A guy shouted out to me on the 17th tee, he said, ‘Fire up.’ I'm like, I don't think I can fire up anymore. I think if I fired up anymore, my head would just explode. I was really out there on a mission today, and the momentum and the energy was so high that I really didn't need any help. It was a pretty cool day." 

WATERING HOLE: HyFlyers GC’s Brendan Steele, the 2024 Adelaide individual champion, has the best tee shot of the day at the par-3 Watering Hole, leaving himself 2 feet, 3 inches for birdie. 

STATS LEADERS 

Round 3

Driving Distance: Victor Perez, 339.6-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Victor Perez, 378.1 yards (17th hole)

Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, Sebastián Muñoz, Wade Ormsby, 85.71% (12 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Sam Horsfield, 94.44% (17 of 18)

Scrambling: Bjorn Hellgren (7 of 7), Cameron Smith (6 of 6), Ian Poulter (4 of 4), Brendan Steele (3 of 3), Sam Horsfield (1 of 1), 100%

Fewest Putts: Cameron Smith, 22

Bogey-free rounds: Cameron Smith (64), Ian Poulter (67), Sam Horsfield (68)

Cumulative

Driving Distance: Victor Perez, 317.9-yard avg.

Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, 78.57% (33 of 42)

Greens in Regulation: Anthony Kim, 81.48% (44 of 54)

Scrambling: Cameron Smith, 80% (16 of 20)

Fewest Putts: Cameron Smith, 75

Fewest Bogeys: Jon Rahm, Anthony Kim, 1

This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.