With the LIV Tour in its third full season it’s fair to say that the LIV Adelaide has been the benchmark for all other LIV events to follow.
With almost over 100,000 fans in attendance throughout the week, the course has had a fantastic atmosphere and those in attendance for Sunday’s final are set to witness an epic showdown as this year’s LIV Adelaide event prepares for its final round.
Three players find themselves tied for the lead and Abraham Ancer, Sam Horsfield and Carlos Ortiz
Ahead will be hoping to come out on top. Ahead of what could be an epic day of golf, here is what you need to know.
Three way tie at the top of the leaderboard set to provide plenty of drama
The Grange Country Club is the perfect setting for drama to unfold and through the first two days of action it certainly hasn’t disappointed.
With birdie opportunities on almost every hole, three players have found their way to top of the leaderboard and there is a distinct Mexican flavour to the top of proceedings.
Both Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer have led the way for Mexican golf over recent seasons and both will be hoping to end the day on top.
Of the three leaders Ancer is the headline name. A winner of one LIV event already, Ancer will hope to use that winning experience to full effect and take advantage of any nerves that his playing partners may be feeling.
Through the first two days of play Ancer has been prolific on the greens with just the odd mistake costing him the opportunity of leading heading into the final round. If he can continue to give himself opportunities of posting birdies he is the man who the rest of the field may need to catch.
Carlos Ortiz is a name perhaps not known to most of the golfing world, but he is a classy player and was able to win the Houston Open when he was playing on the PGA Tour.
Yet to win since moving to LIV, this is the best opportunity that Ortiz has been able to give himself and after an up and down first round, he was able to steady the ship with a solid round of 68.
Able to keep the costly bogeys off his card, if Ortiz is able to play solid golf from tee to green he will have every chance of landing that elusive first LIV title.
The wildcard of the three leaders Sam Horsfield. A talented player when in college, Horsfield was starting to become a real name to watch when plying his trade on the European Tour.
A hugely talented ball striker, it was Horsfield who led the way after round one but he was brought back to the chasing pack in yesterday’s second round and was unable to match the 66 he posted in the first round.
An up and down 69 was enough to give him a share of the lead but with the pressure at its highest and for his team the Majesticks looking for their first winner since Henrik Stenson’s debut back in 2023, it will be fascinating to see how he handles the occasion today.
Big names will be looking to surge up the leaderboard during the final round
The three leaders currently enjoy a three stroke lead over the rest of the field but there are plenty of big names who will hope to use Sunday’s final round to chase them down.
The leading trio’s nearest challenger is Joaquin Niemann. Niemann is garnering a reputation for being a fast starter on Tour and he will hope to win another LIV title during the opening month of the season.
When Niemann decided to join the LIV ranks his loss was felt by all on the PGA Tour. A hugely talented player, Niemann showed on countless occasions last season that he is a player capable of winning the games best prizes. Heading into LIV’s final event of 2024 with a real shot of individual victory, it was only the inspired play of Jon Rahm that kept him from being crowned the individual champion.
This year he will be determined to go one place better and if he can get off to a quick start today he has every opportunity of being in the shake up by the time that the tournament reaches its conclusion.
Trailing Niemann by a shot is the current individual champion, Jon Rahm.
Since joining LIV at the end of 2023, the two time major winner is yet to finish outside of the top ten in any LIV event that he has been able to finish and it looks like he will keep that remarkable record continuing this week.
Although top tens come with plenty of money, Rahm won’t be interested with that stat and instead will have his eyes on something much bigger.
Only four shots off the lead, Rahm will hope to start fast and get the leading trio twitchy. Able to create scoreboard pressure, Rahm has the ability to light up the Grange Country Club. He has spoken all week of how he is loving life on LIV and how special a week the Adelaide event is. He would dearly love to cap it all off with his third LIV title.
Wherever Jon Rahm is on the leaderboard, you can be assured that Brooks Koepka won’t be too far behind. The five time major champion is arguably LIV’s biggest name and he would have been disappointed that his play last season was unable to result in him being much closer in the individual standings.
Nobody has won more LIV titles than Koepka but he will want to put down a major marker to his rivals that this season he means business. Koepka is obsessed with winning and he would have been disappointed that so far he has yet to win the individual crown. Hoping to end the season as the Tour’s top dog, he won’t be intimidated by having to make up five shots today.
Famed for being able to keep himself cool, calm and collected, look for him to make massive strides up the leaderboard in the final round and give himself a real opportunity of winning LIV title number six.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
