Rd. 3 recap: Hatton takes two-shot lead into Sunday at LIV Golf Andalucia; 4Aces GC tops team leaderboard

SOTOGRANDE, Spain – A Tyrrell Hatton victory at LIV Golf Andalucía would be a heartwarming result, given that he’s making his first start as a new father. A Thomas Detry win, meanwhile, would be a well-deserved one, a reward for his consistent high-end finishes in his debut season in the league.

Both players know, however, that it’s the third member of Sunday’s final group who will receive the strongest support from the Spanish fans. Sergio Garcia is Valderrama’s favorite son, and the Fireballs GC captain hopes to add to his already legendary ledger on his favorite course.

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“Pretty obvious who they’d want to win tomorrow – and it won’t be either of us two,” Hatton said while sitting alongside Detry during their post-round interview Saturday.

Legion XIII’s Hatton will take a two-shot lead into the final round after shooting a 4-under 67 to move to 10 under. 4Aces GC’s Detry also shot 67 to remain two shots back at 8 under. Garcia moved into solo third with a 68 – the only bogey-free round of the day – leaving him at 6 under.

LIV Golf’s other Spanish-born captain, Legion XIII’s Jon Rahm, is tied for fourth at 5 under, along with 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson, Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith and Torque GC’s Abraham Ancer. Garcia’s Spanish teammate David Puig is tied for eighth with RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson.

Johnson produced the 18th hole-in-one in league history en route to shooting a 7-under 64, the lowest round of the week by three shots. His 4Aces top the team leaderboard at 12 under, eight shots ahead of Legion XIII, and are in search of their fourth team title of the season

Garcia has four career wins at Valderrama and 17 top-10 finishes in his 18 starts. His last victory came two years ago at LIV Golf Andalucía when he rallied from seven shots entering the final round to catch Anirban Lahiri and force a playoff. He knows the course better than anybody else in the 57-player field, but he also knows that his fellow Europeans Hatton (from England) and Detry (from Belgium) are determined to spoil the Spanish party.

“Tyrrell is playing great, and Thomas Detry has been very solid all year,” Garcia said. “So, it’s not going to be easy at all, but we’ll see. Valderrama always has a surprise or two up its sleeve.”

Hatton, who won his first LIV Golf title two years ago in Nashville, has been rock-solid for 54 holes. He played the front nine Saturday in a bogey-free 3 under, his only blemish coming at the par-4 10th when he missed a 9-foot par putt. Otherwise, his putter – which he changed recently – has been a primary weapon this week.

“It’s the same shape as what I’ve been using for the last few years,” said Hatton, who missed last week’s tournament in Korea after the birth of his daughter. “It’s just got an insert, so the ball comes off a little bit quicker … I feel comfortable with it. Different grip. Hopefully it works well tomorrow.”

Detry, who has five top-10 finishes (including two top-3 podium results) in his first eight LIV Golf starts, has more than just a tournament title at stake Sunday. He’s currently projected to move into third place into the season-long points race, which would earn him an exemption in the Open Championship in July. He would also earn valuable World Ranking points that could set him up for a spot in the U.S. Open later this month.

“I don’t think I missed many shots, to be honest, down the stretch,” said Detry, who has family ties to Spain and speaks fluent Spanish. “I played really solid.”

It’s the looming presence of Garcia, though, which has the locals fired up for Sunday. Whether he can rally like he did two years ago will be the big question – and like most things involving Valderrama, it may very well be wind-dependent.

“If Tyrrell keeps playing the way he is playing and shoots 2 or 3 under par, it’s going to be very tough to shoot 7, 8 or 9 under on this course with the wind,” Garcia said. “Even without wind, it’s difficult, so with wind, it’s even more so. But the only thing we can do is go out there, give it our all, give 100%.”

Hatton expects nothing less. He’s also prepared to deal with the enthusiastic support for the Spanish hero.

“I’ll go out there and try my best, try not to worry about if the crowd are trying to be disruptive at times,” Hatton said. “If Sergio finishes first [at a hole] and there’s a lot of movement and they’re walking off, you might just have to take a little bit more time. That’s fine. It kind of happens everywhere around the world anyway. I’ve got enough experience now and I’ll just try to play my game.”

Said Detry: “I’ve known Sergio for a long time. I have great respect for him. But I’m definitely planning on beating him tomorrow. … It will be a fun day and a fun battle for everybody.”

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

1 (-10) – Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (67-69-67)

2 (-8) – Thomas Detry, 4Aces (68-70-67)

3 (-6) – Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (69-70-68)

T4 (-5) – Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (73-67-68); Dustin Johnson, 4Aces (76-68-64); Abraham Ancer, Torque (72-69-67); Cameron Smith, Ripper (69-70-69)

T8 (-4) – David Puig, Fireballs (69-71-69); Bubba Watson, RangeGoats (72-70-67)

10 (-3) – Branden Grace, Southern Guards (69-71-70)

Team Top 3

1 (-12) – 4Aces GC (Detry 68-70-67, Johnson 76-68-64, Kim 73-68-72, Pieters 70-74-70; Rd. 3 total: -11)

2 (-4) – Legion XIII (Hatton 67-69-67, McKibbin 73-72-71, Rahm 73-67-68, Surratt 73-71-77; Rd. 2 total: -1)

3 (-1) – Fireballs GC (Garcia 69-70-68, Puig 69-71-69, Masaveu 72-71-69, Ballester 78-75-70; Rd. 2 total: -8)

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ROUND 3 NOTES

DJ’S INTERESTING WEEK: 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson produced the lowest round of the first three days at Valderrama, a 7-under 64 that included a hole-in-one at the 186-yard par-3 third.

It was a strange round – he recorded everything from a “1” to a “6” on his scorecard – and reflected a strange week, as he rebounded from an opening 5-over 76 to move into contention in a tie for fourth at 5 under entering Sunday.

“I know it’s weird, but I didn’t play bad the first day,” said Johnson, who finished solo fourth last week at LIV Golf Korea when he shot 64-66 on the weekend. “It was a really easy 5-over. Then obviously came back and played really nicely the last two days.

“Even today, I know I shot 7 under, which is a really good score, but I played the par 5s even.”

As for the ace – the second this week and the 18th in LIV Golf history – Johnson said, “It’s always cool to make a hole-in-one. The previous two days I had hit really good shots; just did not turn out good. Today, when this one was in the air, I was like, this is as good a shot as I can hit.”

CAM GOES LEFT: Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith had a case of the “lefts” off the tee Saturday, as at least half of his 14 tee shots found the left rough or beyond, including trouble spots at the ninth and 11th holes.

“I’ve battled through that for a long time now,” Smith said. “I’ve learned how to deal with that. I’ve played a lot of shots from the trees in recent years.”

In a testament to Smith’s recovery ability, he shot a 2-under 69 and is tied for fourth at 5 under as he seeks to end a drought of 37 LIV Golf starts without a victory.

Amazingly, Smith ranks first in the field in Greens in Regulation this week despite ranking near the bottom (T55) in fairways hit.

“Glimpses of brilliance – and glimpses of some other stuff as well,” Smith said.

4ACES IN CONTROL: 4Aces GC entered this week as the season-long team points leaders, having won three of the first eight tournaments. They’ll enter Sunday in prime position to add a fourth win in 2026, as they lead defending LIV Golf Andalucía champions Legion XIII by eight shots.

The 4Aces shot a cumulative 11 under on Saturday, with Dustin Johnson (64) and Thomas Detry (67) doing the heavy lifting. Thomas Pieters contributed a 70 while Anthony Kim shot a 72.

Detry is confident that his team can continue playing top-quality golf.

“If we can each fight for every single putt and every single shot and make sure we don’t leak out stupid shots out there – because it’s definitely out there on the golf course – I think we’re in good position to win,” he said.

A win on Sunday would duplicate what the original 4Aces did in LIV Golf’s inaugural 2022 season, winning four times in the regular season. The 4Aces eventually won the Team Championship that year.

BOGEY-FREE FOR GARCIA: Sergio Garcia produced his first bogey-free round in 12 rounds at Valderrama during his LIV Golf career. Asked how many bogey-free rounds he’s recorded at his favorite course, Garcia replied: “I’m not sure of the exact total, but I’ve had a few. You know, I’ve played this course a few times.” Garcia has four wins and 17 top-10 finishes in 18 career starts at Valderrama.

RAHM IN TOP 4: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm put himself in position to chase his first title at Valderrama, as he’ll start the final round tied for fourth, five shots behind teammate Tyrrell Hatton. It’s the 16th time in Rahm’s LIV Golf career that he has entered the final round inside the top 4 of the leaderboard, and the sixth time this season. The current individual season-long points leader – and reigning two-time Individual Champion – is seeking his third win of the season.

QUICK HITS

• Tyrrell Hatton has the lead entering the final round for the second time in his LIV Golf career; the first came in Nashville in 2024 when he led by four strokes through two rounds and went on to win by six shots in the 54-hole tournament
• Thomas Detry (solo second) has now ended a round in a LIV Golf tournament inside the top 5 for the 15th time in 35 career rounds, and the top 10 for the 22nd time
• Detry ranks first in Strokes Gained Putting this week (+2.15 per round)
• Sergio Garcia (solo third) enters the final round of a LIV Golf tournament inside the top three for the 10th time in his career; when he won at Valderrama two years ago, he was in 11th place but rallied for seven shots down
• Dustin Johnson shot the lowest round of the week, a 7-under 64 while gaining +7.07 strokes on the field – that’s his third-best round as a LIV Golf player
• Johnson is looking for his fourth LIV Golf win; his previous three wins have all come in the U.S., and of his 31 career wins, just three have been outside North America
• As a team, the current team leaders 4Aces GC rank first this week in Strokes Gained Approach, first in Scrambling and first in Strokes Gained Putting
• The par-3 12th ranks as the hardest hole this week, giving up just 14 birdies through the first three rounds; Bubba Watson and Talor Gooch have each birdied the hole twice this week

STATS LEADERS

ROUND 3

Driving Distance: Sergio Garcia, 326.6-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Sergio Garcia, 342.8 yards (11th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 11 and 17.

Driving Accuracy: Louis Oosthuizen, 85.71% (12 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Thomas Detry, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann, 77.78% (14 of 18)

Scrambling: Sergio Garcia (6 of 6), Brendan Steele (6 of 6), Sam Horsfield (5 of 5), 100%

Fewest Putts: Ian Poulter, 22

Bogey-free rounds: Sergio Garcia (68)

CUMULATIVE

Driving Distance: Byeong Hun An, 322.5-yard avg.

Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, 66.67% (28 of 42)

Greens in Regulation: Cameron Smith, 66.67% (36 of 54)

Scrambling: Thomas Detry (20 of 23), 86.96%

Fewest Putts: Miguel Tabuena, 73

Low rounds: Rd. 1 – Tyrrell Hatton (67), Scott Vincent (67). Rd. 2 – Talor Gooch (67), Jon Rahm (67), Harold Varner III (67). Rd. 3 – Dustin Johnson (64)