LIV Golf Leaderboard At The Open: Three Players Remain In Contention With One Round To Play
Only seven LIV golfers remained on course at Royal Birkdale into the weekend from the 15 who began - who is still in with a chance of lifting the Claret Jug?
The 154th Open Championship has just one round remaining and Sam Burns of the PGA Tour leads the way on 10-under-par.
LIV's Lucas Herbert was ahead at the halfway stage thanks to a record-equalling 62 on Friday - a score that Burns also signed for during round two - but the Ripper GC man is now three back after battling to a one-over 71 on Saturday.
Herbert went out in 33 at Royal Birkdale but pesky winds and a stumble on the 15th and 16th holes caused him to fall back coming home. Herbert will now begin Sunday's final round on seven-under and knowing he must put his foot down.
Nevertheless, the 30-year-old remains the leading light at Royal Birkdale among the roster of 15 LIV pros who began the week dreaming of lifting the Claret Jug.
Bryson DeChambeau is not far behind on six-under, but that score could have looked a lot different if not for a controversial two-stroke penalty he suffered at the end of the second round.
DeChambeau was adjudged to have improved his swing path midway down the fifth hole on Friday and was penalized for what The R&A were careful to label an accidental breach of the Rules.
Either way, the two-time Major winner fought back as expected on Saturday and eventually entered the clubhouse with a score of 69 (-1). That leaves him T6th and just four strokes back of leader Burns.
The third-highest LIV golfer at this late stage is Jon Rahm - hardly a stranger to a top-10 - especially when it comes to the breakaway circuit.
Rahm shot an even par round of 70 on Saturday to stay at four-under, although he actually did well to return to that score given he immediately drove it out of bounds in round three and wrote down a double-bogey six on hole one.
The 2024 and 2025 LIV Golf Individual Champion will need to go some if he's to win a first Claret Jug, but aggressive golf is where Rahm thrives so no one is ruling that scenario out just yet.
Rahm's countryman, Jose Luis Ballester, is the only other LIV golfer under par through 54 holes at Royal Birkdale. Ballester's three-under championship total is largely thanks to a four-under score on Saturday, however.
Having only just made the cut on the number thanks to an eagle-birdie finish on Friday, Ballester took his time to begin firing on Saturday. But, once he did, there was almost no stopping him.
The 22-year-old reeled off six birdies in his final 11 holes, only bringing that run to an end via a closing bogey. If not for a rough start to the week, Ballester might have been an outside shout for a remarkable win on England's north-west coast.
Lucas Herbert leads the LIV charge at Royal Birkdale through 54 holes
As for the remaining five LIV players, each suffered particularly disappointing Saturdays. Thomas Detry was four-over in round three to fall out of contention after being even par at the halfway mark while Frenchman Victor Perez was three-over today, landing on the same number.
Tyrrell Hatton is on one-over due to a torrid four-over third round himself while Peter Uihlein shot a 72 to fall back to three-over and Laurie Canter moved from even par after 36 holes to four-over at the end of 54.
Below is the full LIV Golf leaderboard through 54 holes at The 154th Open Championship.
LIV Golf Leaderboard At The Open
- -7 Lucas Herbert
- -6 Bryson DeChambeau
- -4 Jon Rahm
- -3 Jose Luis Ballester
- E Victor Perez
- E Thomas Detry
- +1 Tyrrell Hatton
- +3 Peter Uihlein
- +4 Laurie Canter
- MC Cameron Smith
- MC Tom McKibbin
- MC Joaquin Niemann
- MC Sam Bairstow
- MC Caleb Surratt
- MC David Puig
