Lucas Herbert is primed to make it two wire-to-wire victories in six weeks heading to the final round of the LIVGolfUK
While the winds increased and Herbert’s lead slightly decreased the Ripper GC star still owns a healthy advantage as he chases not only a second win of the season but also an eighth ‘W’ of his pro career on the host JCB Golf and Country Club course.
Herbert, and the all the way winner of last May’s LIV Golf Virginia, posted a third-round 3-under 69 in challenging, windy conditions to move to 20 under, three strokes ahead of Bryson DeChambeau (-17) entering Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf United Kingdom presented by JCB.
Herbert’s all-Aussie RipperGC team remain primed to capture the team event continuing to lead the way by nine shots at 41-under.
AUSSIE PRIMED TO MAKE IT WIRE-TO-WIRE FOR A SECOND TIME IN SIX WEEKS ….
As Lucas Herbert @lhgolf5 heads to final round #LIVGolfUK leading by three @JCBGolfCC
And Herbert’s all- @rippergc_ team out in front by massive nine shots
Read: https://t.co/eCbOIqI16D
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) July 25, 2026
Tyrrell Hatton (-15) is five shots back in solo third while Herbert’s Ripper Captain Cameron Smith (-14) is another stroke back in fourth after tying a league-record with eight consecutive birdies on his back nine.
“It’s a bit of a grind out there,” said Herbert, who won his first LIV Golf individual title two months ago in Virginia and opened this week’s tournament with an 11-under 61 in more benign conditions.
“I think it’s played progressively tougher each day with the wind sort of picking up and the course drying out quite a bit. Pretty happy to get off the course with a three-shot lead.”
Herbert took a four-shot lead into Saturday and fought hard to prevent his chasers from gaining substantial ground. When he rolled in a 7-foot birdie putt on his last hole, it meant more than just gaining another stroke on the field – especially after DeChambeau had birdied the previous two holes.
“Bryson picked up a bit of energy there birdieing 16 and 17 and closing the gap,” said the 30-year-old Australian, who will play with DeChambeau in the final group for the third consecutive round on Sunday. “Feel like three shots is a lot bigger than two, mentally, by more than just one stroke. That was kind of why I was pretty pumped when I made that putt.”
DeChambeau shot a 68 with just a single bogey; the only bogey-free round of the day was Joaquin Niemann’s 68. The Crushers GC captain is chasing his third individual win of the season and also hoping to cut into the points lead held by Jon Rahm in the season-long Individual Championship race.
“Played great coming in,” DeChambeau said. “Excited to make those two birdies. They were huge. … Lucas is playing some great golf right now. It’s going to take something good and special tomorrow to catch him.”
Hatton made the biggest early move Saturday after starting seven strokes behind. For the second consecutive day, the Legion XIII star birdied three of his first four holes, but JCB’s par 5s did not treat him kindly. He bogeyed the sixth and 10th holes and settled for par on the 13th.
Even so, his 5-under 67 at least gives him a fighting chance Sunday as he chases his second consecutive LIV Golf title, having won the league’s most recent tournament last month in Andalucia.
“The conditions were definitely tougher today with the wind being stronger,” Hatton said. “Naturally, there was a little bit of disappointment in there as well. Obviously bogeyed two of the par 5s and par on the other one, which isn’t ideal. There was a lot of good stuff today, and hopefully I can play well again tomorrow.”
TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS
Individual Top 10
1 (-20) – Lucas Herbert, Ripper (61-66-69)
2 (-17) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (64-67-68)
3 (-15) – Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (66-68-67)
4 (-14) – Cameron Smith, Ripper (69-67-66)
T5 (-13) –Abraham Ancer, Torque (68-70-65); Harold Varner III, OKGC (66-69-68)
7 (-11) – Byeong Hun An, Korean (67-68-70)
T8 (-9) – Marc Leishman, Ripper (68-68-71); Caleb Surratt, Legion XIII (68-69-70); Charles Howell III, Crushers (68-70-69)
Team Top 3
1 (-41) – Ripper GC (Herbert 61-66-69, Leishman 68-68-71; Smith 69-67-66; Smyth 71-69-78; Rd. 3 score: -4)
2 (-32) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 64-67-68, Howell III 68-70-69, Lahiri 68-69-75, Casey 73-69-72; Rd. 3 score: -4)
3 (-29) – Legion XIII (Hatton 66-68-67, Surratt 68-69-70, McKibbin 73-70-70, Rahm 73-70-71; Rd. 3 score: -10)
