LIV Golf Singapore Round 3: Lee Westwood and Joaquin Niemann Share the Lead as DeChambeau Slips

Moving day at Sentosa moved almost everyone except the man who started it in front. Bryson DeChambeau began Saturday with a three-shot lead and finished it one shot back, and the two players who now own the top of the board could hardly be more different.

Lee Westwood, 52 years old and in only his second start back from a wrist injury, shot 3-under 68. Joaquin Niemann, the defending champion and the most prolific winner in LIV history, shot 5-under 66. They share the 54-hole lead of LIV Golf Singapore at 10 under, one clear of DeChambeau and wild card Richard T. Lee. In the team race, 4Aces GC moved to the front at 16 under, two clear of Ripper GC and Legion XIII.

Westwood Finishes Like a Closer

Westwood called the conditions difficult, and for much of the day the scorecard agreed with him. Then the Majesticks GC co-captain birdied three of his last four holes to jump into a share of the lead. It will put him in the final group for the first time in his LIV career.

He also knows exactly what a win would mean. Westwood would become the oldest individual winner in league history, and he made the stakes clear himself.

"I'm 53 on the 24th of April, so at that stage, it would probably be the best win of my career," Westwood said.

That is a heavy line from a player with as long a resume as Westwood's, and it tells you he does not view Sunday as a nice bonus week.

Niemann Wakes Up

Niemann spent the first two rounds hovering, a 69 and a 68 that kept him on the fringe of the conversation without ever putting him in it. Saturday was different. The Torque GC captain made seven birdies against two bogeys, and the ball striking finally matched his reputation.

"I hit the ball unbelievable today compared to the other days," Niemann said.

The history here is significant. Niemann won this event by five shots in 2025, and a successful defense would make him only the second player to defend a LIV title, after Brooks Koepka in Jeddah. It would also be his eighth LIV win, three more than anybody else has.

DeChambeau's Cold Putter

DeChambeau's 72 was not a collapse so much as a slow leak. He made three birdies and four bogeys, and the putter that carried him on Friday went quiet. He said a few three-putts cost him momentum and pointed to slower greens in one area of the course as part of the adjustment.

He is far from out of it at 9 under, but he no longer controls the tournament. The greens punished everybody: the field averaged 1.82 putts per green hit in regulation on Saturday and made 44 three-putts.

Lee did nothing to suggest the pressure is getting to him. A 2-under 69 kept the wild card one shot back, and a win would make Lee the first wild card to win a LIV event. Lee said it would be a great honor.

Jon Rahm had the strangest day of the contenders. He hit 17 greens in regulation, tying his best ball-striking round in LIV, and still shot even-par 71 because of three three-putts. That snapped his league-record run of under-par rounds at 23 and left him three back at 7 under. Marc Leishman is alone in sixth at 6 under.

4Aces Take Over

LIV's 2026 format counts all four scores every round, and on Saturday that rewarded depth over star power. 4Aces GC went 5 under on the day, with captain Dustin Johnson and Anthony Kim each shooting 68 and Thomas Pieters adding a 70, which offset a 73 from Thomas Detry. The Hong Kong champions sit at 16 under, chasing their first back-to-back team wins since 2022. Johnson said afterward that it will take all four of them playing well on Sunday.

Ripper GC climbed into a tie for second at 14 under with a 6-under round, the best of the top three teams, led by a bogey-free 67 from Elvis Smylie and a 69 from captain Cameron Smith, who birdied all four par 3s. Legion XIII are also at 14 under after a 2-under day built on Tyrrell Hatton's 69.

Then there are the Crushers. DeChambeau's team started the day three clear and went 9 over as a group, falling to sixth.

Garcia Goes Low

The round of the day belonged to someone nowhere near the lead. Sergio Garcia shot 6-under 65, gaining more than six strokes on the field in what LIV Golf called the best round of his LIV career, and helped Fireballs GC post an 11-under team round, the best of the day by a distance. Josele Ballester hit the longest drive of the tournament so far, a 375-yard blast at the 18th.

Sunday Setup

Seven players sit at 5 under, five shots back, which means the realistic list of winners runs from Westwood and Niemann through DeChambeau, Lee, Rahm and Leishman. Westwood has the story, Niemann has the record, DeChambeau has the firepower and Lee has nothing to lose. In the team event, 4Aces lead by two with Ripper and Legion right behind. Sunday will decide whose version of this week holds up.

The full third-round breakdown is in the LIV Golf Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab). Catch up on Round 1 and Round 2.

Sources: LIV Golf (Round 3 recap), Arab News, Golf News Net (leaderboard). More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: LIV Golf.