Talor Gooch heads into the final round of the LIV Golf Invitational in Boston after outplaying Joaquin Niemann with a birdie bomb at the penultimate hole on Saturday. Gooch collected six birdies and a bogey during his five-under-par 65 and led the field on 12-under.
After the game, Gooch shared the secret behind his successful step in advancing to the final round. He said that he already calculated some possibilities during his attempts against Niemann.
“Out here it’s about hitting the fairways,” Gooch said. “I know for me I’m going to score better from the fairways. If that means laying back, that’s what I’m going to do.”
On the opposite side, Niemann also had six birdies on his name, plus a bogey in par 65 that put him 11-under. Despite losing to Gooch, he said that he was thrilled with the experience.
Niemann is one of the six new recruits for this week’s tournament which also includes the British Open champion, Cameron Smith.
“It was an unbelievable round,” Niemann said.
He also admitted LIV gives a new experience in golf, which he described as “Golf, but louder”. He also asserted that the new concept would attract people to know more about golf.
“There’s some more meat on the bone out there,” Gooch said. “You don’t take good rounds for granted but you also aren’t satisfied. You know you can go get some more juice out of the squeeze, so hopefully we can do that tomorrow.”
One of the other players who partake in this year’s LIV tournament is Dustin Johnson. Of all three LIV Golf events, he always made it to the top 10. The 2016 U.S. Open champion, who is looking for his first win since the Saudi International in February 2021, said that he was in a good condition throughout the tournament.
“I’ve been playing solid I feel like every week. Each round I’ve felt like I’m doing the right things. Eventually it’s all going to come together,” said Johnson.
“The game is definitely in good form, and I like the direction it’s heading in.“
LIV Golf controversy
The LIV Golf sparked controversy since its inception as it is designed to rival the existing PGA Tour tournaments. The LIV Tour series is backed by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.
The controversy is largely due to the Prince’s track record regarding human rights issues, including the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
As a result, the PGA took action by suspending all players who have relations with LIV.
Of all players who are reportedly related to LIV, Phil Mickelson’s migration made the biggest headlines. The 2021 PGA Tour champion reportedly signed a contract worth $200 million to make his debut in the LIV series.
However, Mickelson has been struggling so far with the LIV Series as he finished 11 shots behind leaders Matthew Wolff and Gooch.
“I’m certainly frustrated because I’m playing well at home and I’m not bringing it out here; I feel I’m closer than it looks even though the scores have been atrocious,” Mickelson said.
“It’s the little things. I’m forcing it a little bit out here. Hitting a great shot on the very first hole today to 25 feet and three-putting [for bogey]. Just little mistakes like that, I’ll have to clean up.”