LIV Golf Singapore: Westwood, Niemann Share Lead Entering Final Round

Lee Westwood has 44 professional wins across 20 different countries in his storied career. Now at age 52, six years removed from his last victory and having just returned from a wrist injury, the Majesticks Golf Club co-captain is in position to finish off arguably his most impressive performance. Westwood enters Sunday's final round at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore as the co-leader at 10 under with Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann. The Englishman will play in the final group of the final round for the first time in his LIV Golf career and seeks to become the oldest player to win a league individual title. "I'm 53 on the 24th of April, so at that stage, it would probably be the best win of my career," Westwood said after making birdies on three of his final four holes to shoot a 3-under 68 in difficult conditions at Sentosa Golf Club. "All of my wins have special memories. But to still be competitive at my age and up there and having chances to win tournaments like this is validation for driving myself on and doing all the hard work and practice that nobody sees and still being competitive and having a good enough game to compete against them." Westwood, however,isn'tthe only player entering Sunday in the hunt with a chance to make history. Niemann, who won five times last season but started slowly this season,made a charge up the leaderboard of his own, shootinga 5-under66that included seven birdies and two bogeys.With a win, Niemann would earn hiseighthLIV Golfvictory, which would be three more than any other player inleaguehistory. "I hit the ballunbelievabletoday compared to the other days," Niemann said."I was able to see the ball in the windows that I was seeing in my mind.Yeah, it was nice. I played prettyconfident. I was able to attack a lot of pins." Niemann will enter the final round of a tournament with the lead or co-lead for the fifth time in his LIV Golf career. He went on to win in each of the four previous times (Mayakoba and Jeddah in 2024; Singapore and UK last season). A win would make him just the second player to successfully defend a LIV Golf title after Brooks Koepka in Jeddah (2022-23). "It's really nice to be in this situation right now," Niemann said. "I feel like it'sbeen close - obviously not the best results overall in the first three events. ... I feel like the game is trending in the right direction." Bryson DeChambeau, who entered the third round with a three-shot lead, struggled to a 1-over 72 but made the best of a tough day tokeep himself in the tournament at just one shot back of the co-leaders. The Crushers GC captain made three birdies that were offset by four bogeys as hestruggled with a cold putter throughout the round. Despite losing the lead, DeChambeau is pleased with howhe'splayed. "Forsome reason, there wasn't as much wind aroundthereand I guess the greens got slower in that area and I three-putted a few of them and that cost me some momentum,"he said. "Other than that, I played great golf. I almost played just as good as yesterday, just thingsdidn'tline up." Richard T.Lee is tied for third with DeChambeau after shooting a 2-under 69and, like Niemann and Westwood, has a chance to set league history. A win would make him the first LIV Golf Wild Card player to earn a tournament title, and he's also on pace to eclipse thebest-ever finish for a LIV Golf Wild Card player (T12). "[A win] would change a lot in my life, with my family," Lee said. "Yeah, just playing with these guys in this big league, I think it would be a great honor to win." After the top four, abunched packof players are well within reach of an individual victory. Jon Rahm, whose streak of 23 consecutive rounds under par ended with an even-par 71, is three shots backofthe lead at 7 under. The individual leaderboard should create a thriller on Sunday, but the team leaderboard is just as chaotic. Hong Kong champions 4Aces GC surged to the top of the leaderboard after under-par rounds from three of their four players, giving them a score of 16 under for the week. Dustin Johnson (68), Anthony Kim (68)and Thomas Pieters (70)produced strong rounds for the resurgent squad while Thomas Detry (73)slipped down the leaderboard after two brilliant rounds of 68-67 to begin the week. "Obviously we're in a really good position," Johnson, the 4Aces GC captain, said. "Butit'sgoing to take all four of usplayingwell tomorrow. This golf course is hard, and if we all fourplaywell, thenwe'llprobably haveareally goodchance to win." With a win on Sunday, the Aces would win in back-to-back starts for the first time since LIV Golf's inaugural season in 2022. Ripper GC,who won the first two tournaments this season,and defending Team Champions Legion XIIIare just two shots back of the Aces. The Australiansquad was led by Elvis Smylie, who shot abogey-free4-under67 that includedan eagle and two birdies,while Legion XIII was led by a 2-under 69 from Tyrrell Hatton. Like their captain, CrushersGC entered the day with a three-shot lead.The team shot9-overfor theroundwithall four of their playersshootingover par, droppingthem all the way tosixth. TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS Individual Top 10 Team Top 3 This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.