DeChambeau defeats R. Lee in playoff at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore; 4Aces win second straight

SINGAPORE – Having found the water with his tee shot on the first extra hole Sunday at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore, Bryson DeChambeau was just hoping to save par and extend his playoff against Richard T. Lee. 

Never did the Crushers GC captain expect to win in a drama-filled finish that ended with DeChambeau getting up-and-down for par, then Lee missing a 2-foot par putt that would’ve sent the playoff back to the 18th tee for a second extra hole at Sentosa Golf Club. 

“A lot of emotion right now,” DeChambeau said after his fourth career LIV Golf individual title. “Good emotion, struggling emotion, just everything that you could possibly imagine, it’s there. But a lot of joy.” 

RELATED: Final leaderboard | What's in Bryson's bag? 

There’s also a lot of joy involving Dustin Johnson ’s 4Aces GC, which won for the second consecutive week in Asia, having also claimed last week’s tournament in Hong Kong that broke a streak of 32 consecutive regular-season starts without a win. 

Thomas Pieters led the way for the team with a bogey-free 6-under 65, while Anthony Kim (69) also went bogey-free. Johnson (69) and Thomas Detry (70) rounded out the 11-under final round, lowest of any team Sunday, for the five-shot victory.

“Obviously the league gets better every single year. It gets harder to win,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to have four really good players if you want to have a chance to win. Right now, I feel like we do.” 

Lee, the league’s first Canadian player, certainly reflects the league’s depth. The dominant winner of LIV Golf Promotions in January, his runner-up finish at Sentosa is the best result and first top-10 finish ever posted by one of the league’s independent Wild Card players. 

He put himself in position to win after a birdie at the par-5 18th in regulation to finish with a 5-under 66 and 10 under total. That forced DeChambeau, playing in the final group behind him, to also make birdie to shoot 66 and force the playoff at 14 under. 

In rainy conditions that had already forced two stoppages earlier in the day, DeChambeau initially pulled 3-wood for the tee shot on 18 but then opted for driver. His ball splashed into the water hazard running down the left side of the fairway. Lee, with the advantage, followed with a tee shot that found the fairway bunker on the right side, forcing him to lay up. 

After his penalty drop, DeChambeau’s third shot landed in the rough over the green, while Lee found the green, his ball finishing 10 feet away for what would’ve been the winning birdie. But he failed to sink that putt and the par that followed to extend the playoff.

DeChambeau said he would’ve rather played the 18th hole again with Lee instead of winning on an opponent’s short miss. 

“You never want to win that way – I’ll be the first to admit that,” DeChambeau said. “But it’s happened before, and golf is a fickle and uneasy game at a lot of moments. That’s just sometimes the way the cards fall, but I just didn’t like seeing it happen.” 

Asked about the missed par putt, Lee noted, “It was a short putt, and I wanted to just hit it hard, and I hit it a little too hard. I think the adrenaline was pumping a little bit. Then again, I felt like I had it this week. I played really well. Hopefully next week I can try again.” 

Both DeChambeau and Lee played well after play resumed following rain delays midway through the final round. DeChambeau was a bogey-free 2 under on his back nine while Lee birdied four of his last six holes. 

The two rallied past Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, who held a two-shot lead prior to the rainy conditions but suffered three bogeys after the restart and eventually finished solo fourth. 

Majesticks Golf Club Co-Captain Lee Westwood – making his first league appearance in the final group of a final round – shot a 69 for solo third, his best result in LIV Golf. 

“Really proud,” said the 52-year-old Westwood, making just his second start this season after returning from a wrist injury. “It's a while since I've been in the final group when it's meant something.” 

DeChambeau said his playoff opponent Lee should also be proud of the effort, despite the disappointing finish. 

“As much as winning is great, I have a lot of respect for Richard and the way he golfs his ball out there,” DeChambeau said. “He's a real superstar, and the league should be really proud to have him as a Wild Card.”

FINAL LEADERBOARDS 

Individual Top 10

1 (-14) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (67-65-72-66)*

2 (-14) – Richard T. Lee, Wild Card (67-68-69-66)

3 (-12) – Lee Westwood, Majesticks (67-68-68-69)

4 (-11) – Joaquin Niemann, Torque (69-68-66-70)

5 (-10) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (67-68-71-68)

T6 (-9) – Josele Ballester, Fireballs (73-66-69-67); Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (72-68-70-65)

T8 (-8) – Cameron Smith, Ripper (69-72-69-66); Matthew Wolff, RangeGoats (68-68-74-66)

T10 (-7) – Dean Burmester, Southern Guards (72-70-67-68); Brendan Steele, HyFlyers (70-71-67-69); Dustin Johnson, 4Aces (71-69-68-69); Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (68-71-69-69); Talor Gooch, Smash (70-68-70-69)

* DeChambeau (par) defeats Lee (bogey) on 1st playoff hole

Team Top 3

1 (-27) – 4Aces GC (Pieters 65, Johnson 69, Kim 69, Detry 70; Rd. 4 total: -11)

2 (-22) – Ripper GC (Smith 66, Herbert 69, Smylie 70, Leishman 71; Rd. 4 total: -8)

3 (-21) – Legion XIII (Rahm 68, Hatton 69, McKibbin 69, Surratt 71; Rd. 4 total: -7)

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ROUND 4 NOTES 

DECHAMBEAU’S FINAL TEE SHOT: Under heavy rains in the playoff, Bryson DeChambeau had a conversation with himself before hitting his final tee shot that ended up in the water hazard but didn’t cost him the tournament.

“I didn’t want to hit the tee shot but I’m like, I’m not going to be that guy and wait it out. C’mon, you can hit the shot,’” DeChambeau recalled. “Right before I took the swing back, I saw the golf ball and there was so much water on the ball and I’m like, ‘OK, just try to throw it out to the right.’ 

“I tried to throw it out to the right, and I heeled it and it started just dead left and I’m like, ‘Oh, no.’” 

He told caddie Greg Bodine that “it wasn’t a bad swing. It just slipped off the face and went left. I told myself, I just want another chance. Just get down there, hit a 3-wood up there, get it up-and-down and hopefully he makes par and we can have another chance again.”

LEE & LEE MOVE UP: With his solo second, Wild Card Richard T. Lee moved to seventh in the season-long Individual Championship standings, putting him in excellent shape after four tournaments to chase one of the top 34 Lock Zone spots that guarantees a spot for the 2027 season.

With his solo third, Lee Westwood moved to 10th in points, an impressive position given that he’s played just the last two tournaments after returning from a wrist injury. A year after nearly suffering relegation – he finished 46th, just three spots from the Drop Zone – Westwood is also in good shape to chase a Lock Zone finish. 

WESTWOOD ON THE LONG HITTERS: Lee Westwood made his first league appearance in the final group of the final round, and he played with two of LIV Golf’s biggest hitters in Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann. 

“I was just really trying to play my own game because I'm out there with Bryson and Joaco, two of the longest hitters in the world,” Westwood said. “So, I'm playing first a lot and just trying to win my tournament, really, which made it a little bit easier because I just tried to hit as many fairways as possible and as close to the flag as possible to give myself chances. I know I'm not going to overpower this golf course playing with the two guys that I did.”

AK KEEPS WINNING TROPHIES: Anthony Kim has played LIV Golf’s last three tournaments with his new team 4Aces GC. He won the individual trophy in Adelaide and now the last two team trophies in Hong Kong and Singapore. 

“It’s been fun,” Kim said after his bogey-free 69 that left him tied for 17th. “I get to hang out with my family, and I get to play some practice rounds with the boys. Great group of guys. I’m excited to be on the team and looking forward to some more wins.” 

2022 VS. 2026: 4Aces GC won four consecutive regular-season tournaments in LIV Golf’s inaugural 2022 season (and eventually won the Team Championship). They started this season with two third-place finishes before winning the last two tournaments. 

Captain Dustin Johnson, the only remaining member of the 2022 team, was asked to compare this year’s streak to four years ago. “Given the talent in the league now and how deep it is and how difficult it is to win out here, I think it’s just as strong as the first year,” he said.

TOP 10 REPRESENTATION: The 14 players finishing in the top 10 at Singapore represented 11 different teams in addition to runner-up Richard T. Lee becoming the first Wild Card player to post a top-10 result. It’s the most representation of teams in the individual top 10 in any LIV Golf tournament.

Brendan Steele (T10) posted the first top-10 finish this season for HyFlyers GC and also his first top 10 since winning in Adelaide in 2024. 

RAHM’S TOP-5 STREAK: With a solo fifth, Jon Rahm has now finished inside the top five of each tournament this season, including his win last week in Hong Kong. He’s the only player who has finished inside the top 10 in all four tournaments thus far in 2026. Going back to last season, the Legion XIII captain has finished in the top five in eight consecutive LIV Golf regular-season tournaments.

NOTES & NUGGETS 

A total of 144 penalties by 55 players were taken over the course of the tournament; the only players without a penalty stroke in Singapore were Richard T. Lee and Thomas Detry 

In 2025, Anthony Kim had 10 rounds under par across 13 regular-season starts; through four events in 2026, he’s already posted 13 rounds (of a possible 16) under par   

Lee Westwood was the only player to gain strokes across all seven measured Strokes Gained categories for the week 

Richard T. Lee has shot nine consecutive rounds in the 60s, the league’s longest active streak and tied for 10th longest all-time 

Jon Rahm hit 63 of 72 greens in regulation, seven more than any other player and tied for the best by any LIV Golf player in a tournament since moving to four rounds this season 

Joaquin Niemann has led a LIV Golf tournament with seven holes to play on seven separate occasions; this was the first time he’s lost 

Bryson DeChambeau shot 12 under on the par 5s this week, his second-best par-5 score in any LIV Golf tournament 

Round 4 had the easiest scoring average of this week’s four rounds at 69.5 for the field (Round 1 - 71.3; Round 2 - 70.4; Round 3 - 71.1)

STATS LEADERS 

Round 4

Driving Distance: Adrian Meronk, 330.7-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Charl Schwartzel, 379.0 yards (5th hole)

Driving Accuracy: Thomas Pieters, Cameron Smith, Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Younghan Song, 85.71% (12 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Lee Westwood, Jon Rahm, Thomas Pieters, Laurie Canter, 88.89% (16 of 18)

Scrambling: Byeong Hun An (4 of 4), Ben Campbell (4 of 4), Lucas Herbert (4 of 4), Anthony Kim (3 of 3), Paul Casey (3 of 3), Thomas Pieters (2 of 2), 100%

Fewest Putts: Matthew Wolff, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Minkyu Kim, 26

Bogey-free rounds: Thomas Pieters (65), Paul Casey (66), Anthony Kim (69), Ben Campbell (69)

Cumulative

Driving Distance: Josele Ballester, 319.8-yard avg.

Driving Accuracy: Branden Grace, 78.57% (44 of 56)

Greens in Regulation: Jon Rahm, 87.5% (63 of 72)

Scrambling: Thomas Detry, 85.19% (23 of 27) 

Fewest Putts: Dustin Johnson, 102

Most Birdies: Carlos Ortiz, 16