LIV Golf Virginia Round 3: Josele Ballester Shoots 60 as Lucas Herbert's Lead Shrinks to Three

Saturday at Trump National turned into a shootout, and the man with the six-shot lead was the one player who did not quite join in.

Lucas Herbert shot a 4-under 68 in the third round of LIV Golf Virginia, a perfectly respectable number on a day when the field went 232 under par. It left the Ripper GC Australian at 21 under and three clear of Sergio Garcia, who fired a 65. Behind them, Josele Ballester shot 60, the field produced 17 eagles, and the team race flipped completely: Fireballs GC and Legion XIII are tied at 35 under, with Ripper two back.

Ballester Chases History

Ballester started the day tied for 33rd. He finished it tied for third. The 22-year-old Spaniard went around in a bogey-free 12-under 60, tying the lowest round relative to par in LIV history and setting a course record, and the climb of 30 spots is the biggest single-round jump the league has ever recorded.

It nearly went lower. Ballester saved pars at the 7th and 9th, then had a 29-foot birdie putt on his final hole, the 10th, for 59. It faded right. He told reporters he only started thinking about breaking 60 over the last four holes, and admitted he struggled after joining the league. A year ago at this event, his LIV debut, Ballester finished tied for 50th.

Herbert Bends, Does Not Break

Herbert's day started like the previous two. He made two quick birdies and was 3 under through six holes before a bogey at the par-4 7th, his first dropped shot since Thursday. Then the scoring stalled. He played his final 11 holes in 2 under without a bogey, but every birdie he made came on a par 5 or the par-3 3rd, and he could not find the extra gear the rest of the field had in its bag.

He did not seem rattled. Herbert said he did not feel he had done much wrong and framed Sunday as a two-man question that he and Garcia control. He also made no secret of the goal: a LIV Golf trophy for his cabinet. A win would make him the fourth different Ripper GC player to win individually, joining Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and Elvis Smylie, who won on debut in Riyadh in February.

Garcia Takes His Shoes Off

Garcia's 65 had 10 birdies, three bogeys and the shot of the day. At the 13th, his drive finished half-submerged in muddy water. Garcia took off his shoes and socks, waded in and slashed it 155 yards into the rough short of the green, then chipped to 16 feet and holed the putt for par. He rated it among the best pars of his career. He finished with back-to-back birdies to get within three, and reminded everyone there are still 18 holes left.

The Pack Arrives

Ballester has company at 13 under. Scott Vincent, the Zimbabwean playing for HyFlyers GC this week, shot 62 with just 22 putts. Bryson DeChambeau posted a bogey-free 64, his fourth bogey-free round of the season, and Dean Burmester added 65. DeChambeau starts the final round inside the top three for the 11th time in his LIV career, one shy of Talor Gooch's league record.

DeChambeau played alongside Jon Rahm and Thomas Detry, the top three in the season standings, and the group combined to go 21 under, the second-lowest single-group score in league history. Rahm shot 65 and sits alone in seventh at 12 under. Detry's 66 has him tied for eighth with Graeme McDowell at 11 under. The field average of 67.93 was more than three and a half shots easier than Friday's.

Fireballs Light It Up

The team board looked nothing like it did 24 hours earlier. Fireballs posted 28 under as a team, the second-lowest team round in LIV history, and its 32 birdies set a league record. Ballester's 60 and Garcia's 65 led the way, Luis Masaveu shot 67 and David Puig 68, and the club rocketed from 7 under to 35 under.

Legion XIII matched that total thanks to a 23-under day: 65s from Rahm and Caleb Surratt, who was bogey-free, plus Tyrrell Hatton's 66 and Tom McKibbin's 69. Ripper managed only 12 under for the round and slipped to third at 33 under, with Herbert's 68 and Leishman's 68 doing most of the lifting. 4Aces GC and Crushers GC are tied for fourth at 31 under, one ahead of Southern Guards GC.

What Sunday Holds

The final group goes off at 12:16 p.m. local time: DeChambeau, Garcia and Herbert. Herbert has never won a LIV event, and his best finish is a tie for second in Mexico City a year ago. His last win anywhere came at the Asian Tour's International Series Japan in 2025. The U.S. Open subplot is unchanged: a win would likely carry him past Detry into third in the season standings and onto the Shinnecock tee sheet, provided Detry does not finish solo fourth or better.

After Friday's six-shot cushion, three shots is a very different number. Herbert built this lead with a sick body and almost no prep. Keeping it means playing against a Garcia who seems to be enjoying himself.

Full third-round numbers are in the LIV Golf Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab).

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

Photo: Charles Laberge/LIV Golf.