Patrick Reed, Harold Varner III, Sihwan Kim and Richard Bland share second on 11 under, as Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra holds a five-shot lead in Thailand; overnight co-leader Branden Grace withdraws after three holes due to injury
Last Updated: 08/10/22 11:14am
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra is closing in on a maiden professional victory after taking a five-shot lead into the final round of the LIV Golf Thailand.
The Spanish star – who only turned professional when he joined LIV Golf in the summer – carded an eagle and seven birdies to post a bogey-free 63 at Stonehill Golf Club, moving him to 16 under and giving him a commanding lead over a four-way tie for second.
“The conditions are great and the course is unbelievable,” Lopez-Chacarra said. “I’m actually hitting it pretty good, but I’m playing smart and I’m having fun, so that’s the key for these couple rounds.”
Beginning the day tied for the lead, Lopez-Chacarra birdied his opening two holes and followed another at the fifth by holing from a greenside bunker to eagle the par-five sixth.
Lopez-Chacarra ended a run of pars with a tap-in birdie at the par-five 11th and rolled in from six feet to pick up a shot at the par-four 15th, before closing his blemish-free card with successive birdies.
Patrick Reed made a flawless 65 and Harold Varner III joined Sihwan Kim in making a second-round 66, while overnight co-leader Richard Bland completes the quartet on 11 under despite carding a double-bogey during his four-under 68.
Brooks Koepka sits tied-sixth on 10 under with James Piot, while Lee Westwood is a further stroke back alongside Marc Leishman and Kevin Na. Cameron Smith, the winner of the most recent LIV Golf event in Chicago, moved up to tied-35th thanks to a two-under 70.
Branden Grace, one of the first-round leaders with Lopez-Chacarra and Bland, withdrew after three holes on Saturday due to injury and is now a doubt for next week’s LIV Golf event in Jeddah.
In the team contest, Fireball GC – captained by Sergio Garcia and containing Lopez-Chacarra – sit on 34 under and take a seven-stroke advantage over Niblicks GC into the final day.
Garcia on world ranking points fight: ‘It isn’t over’
The Saudi-funded breakaway circuit announced a new strategic alliance with the MENA Tour on Wednesday, a move they believed “would immediately qualify LIV Golf for OWGR points”, with all LIV Golf members joining the Dubai-based golf tour.
The OWGR responded a day later to say they had been given insufficient notice of the development, ruling out the prospect of world ranking points being made available over the final two regular LIV Golf events this season.
“We were excited about it, but I don’t think it’s over,” Garcia said about the possibility of world ranking points. “We’re still fighting on it and trying to get what we think we deserve. Hopefully it’ll come around soon.
“At the end of the day we’re very happy where we are. If they [the OWGR] keep blocking us, it’s because they see us as a threat. So that’s a good thing to have. But if it keeps happening, I’m sure that there will be a way for everyone to come along, I guess.
“At the end of the day, golf is golf, and we all play it. I think that some guys on the other side are a little bit more standoffish, but it is what it is. I think as we go along, everything will calm down, and I think at the end of the day, we’re all golfers. We’re doing what we love to do.”