LIV Golf Watch: How players fared across the globe this week

Editor's note (Sunday, Nov. 30): Fireballs GC star David Puig won the BMW Australian PGA Championship in stellar fashion with a flawless 5-under 66 on Sunday.

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At the Japan Tour's Casino World Open, Iron Heads GC's Jinichiro Kozuma finished T25.

PREVIOUSLY REPORTED

Editor's note (Saturday, Nov. 29): Fireballs GC star David Puig will enter the final round of the BMW Australia PGA Championship tied for the lead after a stellar bogey-free 6-under 65 in Round 3 at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. The event kicks off the DP World Tour's Opening Swing and has plenty of big names aiming to hoist the hardware on Sunday.

"I just kind of played steady," Puig said. "You can't miss second shots here to the wrong side and the pins are really tucked in and then you've got to play to the fat part of the green. ... I think I did that pretty good and that made me have a bogey-free round, first of all, and not have much stress besides two or three holes in the middle."

Puig's 65 was tied for the lowest round of the day and he stands at 13-under overall along with Ricardo Gouveia and Anthony Quayle.

Chasing the lead group includes local favorite and LIV Golf star Marc Leishman of Ripper GC, who is two shots back after a 4-under 67 and Torque GC's Sebastian Munoz, who also shot 67. He is four shots off the lead and tied for 15th entering Sunday.

Further back and needing strong final rounds are Puig's Fireballs GC teammates Josele Ballester (T32) and Abraham Ancer (T43), who are seven and eight shots back, respectively. Torque GCs Carlos Ortiz is T51.
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At the Japan Tour's Casino World Open, Iron Heads GC's Jinichiro Kozuma is tied for 18th and seven shots off the lead entering the final round.
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And at the Fitch & Leedes PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour, Stinger GC's Dean Burmester missed the cut.
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PREVIOUSLY REPORTED

Editor's note (Friday, Nov. 28): Play was suspended due to darkness in Round 2 of the BMW Australia PGA Championship but the nine LIV Golf players in the field were able to complete their rounds at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. Fireballs GC's Josele Ballester and David Puig both shot 4-under 67s and are tied for ninth, along with local favorite Ripper GC's Marc Leishman who shot 3-under 68.

A host of other LIV Golf players will look to make weekend runs at the DP World Tour's Opening Swing, including Torque GC's Sebastian Munoz who is tied for 22nd after rounds of 68 and 69 and Fireballs GC's Abraham Ancer (T44), who shot 1-under 70 in Round 2.

Torque GC's Carlos Ortiz (T53) is 2 under after rounds of 71 and 69. Further back are Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann (even-par total), Ripper GC's Matt Jones (1-over total) and Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith (4-over total).
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At the Japan Tour's Casino World Open, Iron Heads GC's Jinichiro Kozuma is 5 under through two rounds but nine shots off the lead.
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And at the Fitch & Leedes PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour, Stinger GC's Dean Burmester had plenty of work to do in Round 2 to put himself in position to make a charge.
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PREVIOUSLY REPORTED

Editor's note (Thursday, Nov. 27): Play was suspended due to lightning in Rd. 1 at the BMW Australia PGA Championship but not before a host of LIV Golf players got off to good starts during the DP World Tour's Opening Swing. Torque GC's Sebastian Munoz was 4-under through 14 holes when play was halted and was tied for fourth, while Fireballs GC's David Puig and Josele Ballester were able to get their rounds in, firing a pair of 3-under 68s to stand tied for ninth.

Local favorite and Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith shot a 2-under 69 (T22), as Fireballs GC's Abraham Ancer and Ripper GC's Marc Leishman were 2-under through 15 holes. Also under par was Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, who was 1-under through 15 holes. Torque GC's Carlos Ortiz and Ripper GC's Matt Jones finished their rounds at even-par 71. Click here for full scoreboard.

At the Japan Tour's Casino World Open, Iron Heads GC's Jinichiro Kozuma shot a 3-under 69 and is T32 after Round 1. Click here for full leaderboard.

And at the Fitch & Leedes PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour, Stinger GC's Dean Burmester shot an even-par 72 and was well off the lead in the opening round.
Click here for full leaderboard.

PREVIOUSLY REPORTED

This week, 11 LIV Golf players will be in action, with nine teeing it up in the BMW Australian PGA Championship on the DP World Tour’s Opening Swing, one playing in the Casino World Open on the Japan Tour and one in the Fitch & Leedes PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour.

BMW AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

The BMW Australian PGA Championship will take place Nov. 27-30 at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. The event officially opens both the 2025-26 PGA Tour of Australasia season and the DP World Tour’s Opening Swing, which is new this season. The historic Royal Queensland is a 7,085-yard par-71 parkland course originally designed by Carnegie Clark and later renovated by Mike Clayton in 2008. Despite not being overly long, the course can play relatively difficult due to its deep and difficult bunkering with water in play on several holes. This is the fifth consecutive year that Royal Queensland will host the Australian PGA Championship. Each of the four previous winners at the course have been Australian players.

ABRAHAM ANCER. Ancer will be making his offseason debut this week as well as his debut at Royal Queensland. The Mexican has had success in Australia, winning the Emirates Australian Open in 2018 at The Lakes Golf Club.

JOSELE BALLESTER. Ballester should be extremely dangerous this week following his first ever professional win at last week’s Saudi International. The young Spaniard shot rounds of 66-65-66-65 to claim victory in just his 10th professional start. Ballester will be making his Australian PGA Championship debut.

MATT JONES. Jones missed the cut at last week’s Saudi International but finished T6 in his only other start of the offseason at the Link Hong Kong Open. The veteran will be making his first start at the Australian PGA since 2018 when he finished T30 at Royal Pines.

SEBASTIÁN MUÑOZ. Muñoz will be making his debut the Australian PGA Championship. His first start of the offseason took place last week at the Saudi International, where the Colombian finished T50.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN. Niemann has not quite looked like his dominant self so far this offseason. In three starts, he has a T20, T55 and a missed cut. The Torque GC star should find some strong vibes this week, as he finished 5th in the event last year and has also won in Australia at the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open.

MARC LEISHMAN. Leishman has played the Australian PGA three times, boasting finishes of T12, 3rd and T3. He arrives in Queensland in fantastic form, finishing in the top 11 in all three of his worldwide starts this offseason.

CARLOS ORTIZ. Like Muñoz, Ortiz will be making his Australian PGA Championship debut. The Mexican finished T50 at last week’s Saudi International, shaking off the rust after making his first start since the end of the LIV Golf season.

DAVID PUIG. Puig has been playing steady golf this offseason, finishing in the top 20 in three of his four worldwide starts, including a 16th-place finish at last week’s Saudi International. The Fireballs GC star is still seeking his first professional victory and may find some inspiration from teammate Josele Ballester getting in the winner’s circle last week.

CAMERON SMITH. Smith missed the cut at last week’s Saudi International and has struggled throughout 2025 but will be heading to one of his favorite courses in the world in Royal Queensland. The Queenslander has been phenomenal at the course throughout his career and boasts a 2023 victory at the event as well as a runner-up finish last season. If there’s anywhere the Ripper GC captain can find some form, it’s here.

CASINO WORLD OPEN

The Casio World Open is one of the most prominent tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO), held annually in November as one of the big events that wrap up the JGTO season. The tournament is played at Kochi Kuroshio Country Club in Geisei, Kōchi Prefecture and is a 72-par measuring 7,335 yards.

JINICHIRO KOZUMA. Kozuma finished T50 at last week’s Saudi International, continuing a stretch of less-than-stellar form over the LIV Golf offseason. Kozuma has missed five of seven cuts and his best finish of the fall has been a T43 at the Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters. Kozuma last played in the Casio World Open in 2019 (T23) and his best finish came in 2021 (T4).

FITCH & LEEDES PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

The Fitch & Leedes PGA Championship is set to take place at the prestigious St. Francis Links in South Africa's Eastern Cape. This event is a crucial part of the Sunshine Tour's “Triple Crown” and holds the distinction of being South Africa's second-oldest professional tournament. Last month, Stinger GC announced that they were helping to increase the prize pool for the tournament.

DEAN BURMESTER. Burmester will be representing Stinger GC in their home country this week fresh off a fantastic week at Riyadh Golf Club. Burmester finished 3rd in the event with rounds of 69-63-64-71. He won the Fitch & Leedes PGA Championship in 2021 with a long-range putt from off the green.

PLAYER NEWS

At last week’s PIF Saudi International, LIV Golf players made up the entirety of the top 10, with young Fireballs GC star Josele Ballester getting his first professional win.

In one of the golf world's biggest stories of the week, Anthony Kim had his best start since his return to professional golf in 2024 at last week’s Saudi International. The former Ryder Cup star finished T5, showing he can still compete with an elite field. The finish was Kim’s first top-20 result since he returned from a 12-year absence from the game.

Coming off a difficult season in 2025, Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith said he hopes to find some form this week in his home country while speaking to Australian Golf Digest. “I’m looking forward to [the Australian PGA and Open],” Smith said. “I feel like the game is in a good enough spot to compete. Obviously, Royal Queensland is a course that I love and have played well at. I think just being at home brings that [playfulness] back a little bit as well, and obviously having success here at [Royal Queensland] probably helps. I’m trying to go out there and not worry about it so much.”

Episode 4 of Behind the Aces has been released, with this episode focused on the story of Harold Varner III.

SuperSport will premiere an all-access documentary following Stinger GC called “Greens & Gold”. Produced by T&W (the Emmy-nominated team behind Chasing the Sun), the series promises raw locker-room moments, team banter and everything that makes the Stingers uniquely South African. The documentary airs Dec. 14 at 5 p.m. CAT on SuperSport in South Africa.

LIV Golf’s newest member, Victor Perez of Cleeks Golf Club, will be teeing it up in next month’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa over on the DP World Tour.

While playing with YouTube star Grant Horvat, Bryson DeChambeau discussed his wedge play, saying it’s holding him back from being the best player in the world.

"This is where if I can get better with these wedges, then I can get to the best player in the world," DeChambeau told Horvat. "But I’ve got to get better with them.

"The problem is I can’t hit it high, and then I try to steepen it and go down after it and just a massive divot. Got to figure that one out. That’s the thing that’s holding me back.”

Horvat and DeChambeau’s match, posted on the Crushers GC captain’s YouTube channel, has over 2 million views in just over a week.

A guest appearance from Majesticks GC Captain Ian Poulter delivered plenty of entertainment when he made an appearance on the extremely popular “Bryan Bros Golf” YouTube channel. “The Postman” took on the Bryan Brothers in an 18-hole match at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida.

In a feel-good moment, RangeGoats GC shared a video on social media highlighting their Goats Vs. Kids event in Chicago.