2022 LIV Golf in Boston leaderboard: Talor Gooch takes slim lead over Joaquin Niemann into final round

The cream has risen to the highest of the leaderboard on the 2022 LIV Golf occasion in Boston. The Oaks Course at The International was defenseless on Saturday as gamers took benefit of accessible pin areas and a hearty dose of wedge photographs across the Tom Fazio redesign. While Friday belonged to Matthew Wolff, Saturday was all Talor Gooch. The in a single day co-leader backed up his opening round of 7-under 63 with a 5-under 65 to take care of his spot atop the leaderboard by himself.

Looking to turn into the primary American to win in the LIV Golf Invitational Series, Gooch stands at 12 underneath with simply 18 holes to go. Consistently on the primary web page of the leaderboard all through his brief tenure with LIV Golf, Gooch will try to fend off LIV Golf newcomer Joaquin Niemann at 11 underneath, in addition to a pleasant face in Dustin Johnson — his fellow 4 Aces teammate — at 10 underneath.

Just as they’ve executed in the previous two LIV Golf occasions, the 4 Aces are well-positioned to assert the workforce title. With Gooch and Johnson main the way in which, Phil Mickelson’s Hy Flyers and Kevin Na’s Iron Heads will hope to offer drama in the workforce portion of the occasion. Between the person race amongst three of the largest names in LIV Golf and a decent workforce competitors, the final round is ready as much as present fireworks exterior Boston.

The chief

1. Talor Gooch (-12)

The 2021 RSM Classic winner seems to seize his second skilled victory in lower than a yr. Gooch has been one of the crucial constant gamers for the reason that onset of the LIV Golf circuit, ending ninth in London, seventh in Portland and T6 in Bedminster. While these sturdy performances have produced workforce titles, he has but to actually contend individually.

The largest space of concern with Gooch is commonly his inaccuracy off the tee. With tree-lined fairways at The International, we must always know early in his final round if there are any nerves in his system, as he tends to hit a fast hook when in rivalry. If that shot is nowhere to be seen, the 30-year-old ought to love his probabilities to win his first LIV Golf occasion and lead his workforce to its third.

Other contenders

2. Joaquin Niemann (-11)

3. Dustin Johnson (-10)

4. Anirban Lahiri (-9)

T4. Matthew Wolff, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na and Bernd Wiesberger (-8)

Unless Wolff can recreate the magic from Friday’s round, this occasion has turned into a three-horse race between Gooch, Niemann and Johnson. Despite being the elder statesman amongst his friends, Johnson is at the moment in the midst of an enormous drought in phrases of victories; he final raised a person trophy on the 2021 Saudi International when he was world No. 1. 

With Gooch and Niemann capturing wins throughout the 2021-22 PGA Tour season, one has to surprise if the nerves will reside in the veteran Johnson. Finishing T3 at LIV Portland and T2 at LIV Bedminster, the two-time main champion has been trending to the highest spot and will take solace in understanding he’s essentially the most prolific winner on the primary web page of the leaderboard.

Sihwan Kim wins most improved

Kicking off his LIV Boston occasion in a nightmare vogue, Kim greater than struggled on his inward half in the primary round at The International. Carding three double bogeys and a ten, Kim got here dwelling in 15-over 50 and finally signed for a 17-over 87 on Friday. Perhaps altering his breakfast or his typical morning routine, Kim was born anew on Saturday.

The two-time winner on the Asian Tour improved by 24 photographs in Round 2 and signed for a 7-under 63 — tying Johnson for the bottom round of day. In the method, Kim aided the Iron Heads in their quest for the workforce trophy. They are at the moment on the rostrum in solo third, only one stroke behind the Hy Flyers in second.

Is a 4 Aces dynasty in our presence?

Since including Pat Perez and Patrick Reed, the 4 Aces have gone undefeated, elevating trophies on the LIV Golf occasions in Portland and Bedminster. Despite their workforce’s success, no member of the 4 Aces has gone onto to win the person title in unison with the workforce portion of the occasion. 

Johnson and Gooch are firmly in the combo to win the solo crown and with three of 4 scores counting in direction of tomorrow’s workforce competitors, each gamers might want to stability the urge to assault pins with the necessity to keep the workforce’s margin over the remainder of the squads.

Team leaderboard