DeChambeau, Crushers GC sweep titles at LIV Golf Korea

NCHEON, South Korea – Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau finally converted a 36-hole lead into a LIV Golf victory on Sunday. His teammate Charles Howell III, though, didn’t make it easy for him.

RELATED: Leaderboard | Standings

DeChambeau countered Howell’s final-round 9-under 63 with a 6-under 66 in a spirited back-nine final-group duel to win the individual title by two shots at LIV Golf Korea presented by Coupang Play. His Crushers made it a sweep of the trophies at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea by rallying past Smash GC to win the team title.

“Charles and I had a great battle out there,” said DeChambeau, who finished at 19 under. “He never wavered today. It was fun and we had a great time today, but it was intense. Super-intense.”

The individual victory is DeChambeau’s third in LIV Golf, but his first since 2023 – and his first after entering the final round with the lead. Recent Sundays have ended in disappointment, both in the previous two LIV Golf events in Miami and Mexico City in which DeChambeau led after 36 holes, as well as last month’s Masters in which he led with 16 holes left.

He entered Sunday with a healthy four-shot lead, but Howell – starting the day five back – opened with three consecutive birdies and was four under at the turn. Meanwhile, DeChambeau suffered his only bogey of the week at the par-4 sixth and made the turn at even par, his lead reduced to one.

While other players sought to make some noise – 4Aces GC’s Thomas Pieters birdied five of his first six holes while Smash’s Talor Gooch finished strong – the individual title eventually came down to the two Crushers teammates and close friends.

Both turned up the heat on the back nine, with DeChambeau making birdies on four of his next six holes while Howell strung together five consecutive birdies. With three holes remaining, the two were tied at 17 under. But Howell suffered his only bogey of the day after his tee shot found a fairway bunker at the 16th. DeChambeau followed by creating some much-needed breathing room at the 17th, rolling in a 48-foot birdie putt at the 17th before letting out a roar and pumping his fists, a celebration that had been building since his recent near-misses.

DeChambeau then managed to stay out of trouble – barely – with his tee shot at the par-5 18th, ending the round with a birdie and a big sigh of relief.

“I feel like I’ve been playing some great golf, but I just haven’t gotten the job done,” DeChambeau said. “That was a lot of tension. Just glad I was able to step up to the plate and get it done. … I was personally pretty nervous on the front nine for whatever reason. … Finally on 17, the bubble burst and I felt really good.”

For Howell, the performance confirms that he’s all the way back from the stress fracture in his left tibia that knocked him out of action for three months in the middle of last season. The solo second is his first podium result since winning in Mayakoba to start the 2023 season.

“I knew today would be a tough day to catch Bryson and even to try to beat him, but I gave it my best,” Howell said. “I definitely would’ve thought 9-under would have done it, and clearly it didn’t. … Any time you shoot 9-under par in the last group, and you still don’t win, it’s a tough day.”

Said DeChambeau: “I’m so proud of Chuckie, the way he fought out there today. Seeing that type of grit, oh my gosh, that’s why I have him on the team. That’s why I love every one of them.”

The other two Crushers also showed plenty of grit. Paul Casey opened with a 4-over 76 but shot 71-67 over the weekend to tie for 29th. Anirban Lahiri shot a 72 on Sunday, rebounding from his 79 the day before that included a horrible break when an approach shot bounced off the flagstick and rolled across the green into a water hazard, resulting in a double bogey and derailing his momentum.

As a team, the Crushers shot 20 under on Sunday, 12 shots better than any other foursome in the final round, to win by nine shots over Smash.

“I really wanted to get on that podium for the team,” Lahiri said. “I had a tough weekend, but Paul and I were both grinding out there.”

Added Casey: “Charles and Bryson won this for us. Our job was to not mess it up, if I’m being honest.”

DeChambeau was also honest when asked about his team’s first victory of this season.

“The future’s bright for the Crushers,” he said. “I’m just excited to be part of this story. This is so awesome. That’s what LIV is all about.”

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores now counting in every round in the team competition. (Click here for more on the new format). Here are the final results and scores for each team after Sunday’s Rd. 3 of LIV Golf Korea presented by Coupang Play.

1. CRUSHERS GC -35 (Howell III 63, DeChambeau 66, Casey 67, Lahiri 72; Rd. 3 score: -20)

2. SMASH GC -26 (Gooch 66, Koepka 70, McDowell 70, Kokrak 77; Rd. 3 score: -5)

3. TORQUE GC -18 (Pereira 69, Ortiz 71, Muñoz 72, Niemann 73; Rd. 3 score: -3)

4. RANGEGOATS GC -14 (Wolff 67, Uihlein 72, Watson 73, M. Kim 77; Rd. 3 score: +1)

T5. RIPPER GC -13 (Leishman 69, Smith 69, Jones 70, Herbert 72; Rd. 3 score: -8)

T5. LEGION XIII -13 (Rahm 70, Hatton 71, McKibbin 72, Surratt 72; Rd. 3 score: -3)

T5. STINGER GC -13 (Catlin 69, Oosthuizen 72, Schwartzel 73, Burmester 74; Rd. 3 score: E)

8. 4ACES GC -12 (Reed 65, Pieters 68, Johnson 74, Varner III 74; Rd. 3 score: -7)

9. MAJESTICKS GC -7 (Poulter 68, Stenson 70, Horsfield 71, Westwood 78; Rd. 3 score: -1)

10. FIREBALLS GC -5 (Garcia 69, Masaveu 69, Ancer 71, Puig 73; Rd. 3 score: -6)

11. HYFLYERS GC -2 (Ogletree 67, Tringale 67, Steele 75, Mickelson 78; Rd. 3 score: -1)

12. CLEEKS GC +4 (Kaymer 70, Bland 73, Kjettrup 75, Meronk 76; Rd. 3 score: +6)

13. IRON HEADS GC +8 (Kozuma 70, Jang 74, Na 75, Lee 78; Rd. 3 score: +9)

Wild Cards: C. Lee 70. A. Kim 74

ROUND 3 NOTES

HALFWAY POINT: LIV Golf Korea marks the end of the first half of the 2025 LIV Golf season. With his victory Sunday, Bryson DeChambeau moved into second place in the individual points standings behind Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, whose third win of the season last week in Mexico City clinched the LIV Golf exemption into the U.S. Open.

DeChambeau is just 0.19 points ahead of third-place Jon Rahm of Legion XIII, with Niemann leading by just over 20 points.

Legion XIII leads the team standings by more than 21 points ahead of Fireballs GC, with Crushers now in third by less than two points over Ripper GC. The top three teams in the standings after the final regular-season tournament in Indianapolis in mid-August will wrap up byes for the following week’s Michigan Team Championship.

ENCOURAGING RESULTS: Smash GC’s Talor Gooch, the 2023 LIV Golf Individual Champion, finished solo third in Korea for his first podium result since a tie for second early last season in Las Vegas. Gooch shot a final-round 6-under 66 to finish at 14 under.

4Aces GC teammates Thomas Pieters and Patrick Reed tied for fourth. For Pieters, who opened his final round with five birdies in his first six holes, it’s his best result since joining LIV Golf prior to the 2023 season. For Reed, who shot a bogey-free 65, it’s his best LIV Golf result in his last 10 starts.

RangeGoats GC’s Matthew Wolff finished in solo sixth, his best result since a third-place finish last year in Miami. Wolff had a streak of five consecutive birdies late in his round to shoot 67.

ANOTHER TOP 10 FOR RAHM: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm maintained his perfect streak of finishing inside the top 10 of every LIV Golf tournament that he’s completed since joining the league. Rahm tied for seventh at 8 under after shooting a final-round 2-under 70.

Rahm has now finished inside the top 10 in the 19 regular-season starts in which he’s played all three rounds. His only non-top 10 was a WD last year in Houston due to a foot injury.

POINTS FOR POULTER: Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter tied for 13th at 6 under to record his first points of the season. Poulter moved out of the Drop Zone and into the Open Zone at 45th in the season-long Individual Championship race. Stinger GC’s Branden Grace, who did not play in Korea due to injury, fell into the Drop Zone at 49th.

STRONG SHOWING FOR KOZUMA: Iron Heads GC’s Jinichiro Kozuma, making just his second start after missing the first five tournaments with a back injury, tied for seventh to lead his team in scoring. Kozuma joined Bryson DeChambeau and Charles Howell III as the only players to shoot at least 2 under in all three rounds.

400+ YARD DRIVES: Legion XIII’s Tom McKibbin had the final round’s longest drive on any hole with a 405-yard drive at the third hole. It was the second 400-yard drive of the week; Torque GC’s Mito Pereira had a 423-yarder on the same hole in the first round. The two drives at sea level are a vast difference from the 21 drives of 400 or more yards last week in the 7,900-foot elevation in Mexico City.

ROUND 3 STATS LEADERS

Driving accuracy: Sergio Garcia, 100% (14 of 14 fairways hit)

Driving distance average (for measured holes 3 and 16): Tom McKibbin, 349.3 yards avg.

Longest drive (includes all holes): Tom McKibbin, 405 yards, 3rd hole

Greens in regulation: Cameron Tringale, Luis Masaveu, Paul Casey, 83.33% (15 of 18 greens)

Scrambling: Patrick Reed (7 of 7), Brooks Koepka (7 of 7), Andy Ogletree (5 of 5), Cameron Tringale (3 of 3), 100%

Putting: Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen, 1.28 putts per hole

Bogey-free rounds: Patrick Reed (65), Brooks Koepka (70)