NEWS AND NOTES: BRYSON BATTLES TO THE BITTER END
LIV Golf Andalucía became the home to a couple of three-time winner's on Sunday, with both Talor Gooch and Torque GC picking up their third wins of the season.
Here are some other news and notes from a thrilling final round at Valderrama:
DECHAMBEAU BATTLES TO THE END: After shooting a bogey-free 8-under 63 to take the 36-hole lead, Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau struggled to duplicate that form in Sunday’s final round. But he put up quite a battle to remain in contention until Gooch’s winning birdie on the final hole.
DeChambeau shot a 2-under 69 that included just one bogey. But instead of chasing birdies, he spent most of his round in scramble mode.
“I just didn't hit it well on the back nine today,” DeChambeau said. “I didn't hit it as well as yesterday. If I hit it better, I win by four or five.”
DeChambeau made two incredible recoveries on Sunday.
At the par-5 11th, he hit an errant drive left that led to him hitting a provisional. After that shot also went left, he hit a second provisional but managed to find his original tee ball and made par.
“That's where I started to break down,” DeChambeau said. “I pulled it a little bit too much, and I've got to work on that under pressure. But I am finally getting back to where I can play and compete under pressure consistently.”
At the par-5 17th, DeChambeau’s tee shot went left into the trees but he found a small gap and hit a 7-iron 210 yards that rolled off the back of the green. He got up-and-down for birdie that kept him tied for the lead.
“It was one of those things that I just tried to accomplish is get in that back bunker, get up-and-down,” he explained. “It got into a place where I could get it up-and-down, and I just hit a bad drive.”
Another errant drive left him scrambling to save par on the final hole but this time, Gooch had the answer with his winning birdie.
“I hit a bad drive on 18, and you can't do that if you're trying to win a championship,” DeChambeau said. “It's on me. I've got to work on my golf swing harder.”
PUIG, MUÑOZ FLOURISH IN SAME GROUP: Sebastian Muñoz, the oldest Torque GC player at age 30, played in the same group Sunday as teammate David Puig, LIV Golf’s youngest player at age 21. The third member of their group was 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson.
Muñoz and Puig said it was an advantage being able to play together. Muñoz shot a 68 while Puig shot 69 as Torque claimed its third team win of the season.
“I would say there's some advantage to playing with David,” Muñoz said. “We know each other's clubbing pretty good, so you can definitely learn from that. Also we can motivate each other, so that helps in the team aspect a lot. I felt like we did a great job today.”
Said Puig: “At the end of the day, you've just got to do what you do even if you're playing with your teammate. But obviously playing with Seb is always great.”
Click here for a full final-round recap from LIV Golf Andalucía
RD. 3 STAT LEADERS
Driving distance – David Puig, 356.1-yard average
Longest drive – Sebastián Muñoz, 375.9 yards (17th hole)
Driving accuracy – Ian Poulter, 93% (13 of 14)
Greens in regulation – Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann 83% (15 of 18)
Scrambling – Brendan Grace (4 of 4), Bryson DeChambeau (3 of 3), 100%
Fewest putts – Danny Lee, 22 putts
Most birdies – Sebastián Muñoz, Patrick Reed, 7
Bogey-free rounds – Branden Grace, 69