[Photo: Sarah Reed/Getty Images]
If ever a single day’s golf could validate LIV Golf’s decision to move to 72-hole tournaments, it was today at LIV Golf Adelaide. With two of the game’s heavyweights duking it out today and set for a return bout tomorrow, it’s a spine-tingling proposition to think fans will get to savour one more round of action.
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Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm engaged in a third-round duel that began with a light smattering of body punches before the American landed what appeared to be a knockout blow, only to have the Spaniard pick himself up off the canvas in spectacular fashion.
The pair will begin the final round tied for the lead at 19-under, five shots clear of the rest of the field. In the teams event, the all-Australian Ripper GC begins Sunday in second place, five shots behind Rahm’s Legion XIII squad and well in contention for back-to-back teams wins.
DeChambeau (64) and Rahm (66) authored one of the more memorable single-round duels in golf. Nine birdies in an 11-hole stretch at the Grange Golf Club gave DeChambeau a handy advantage before Rahm counter-punched with a flourish, highlighted by a hole-out eagle at the 18th to tie the lead.
DeChambeau’s third round began inauspiciously. He watched in horror as his chip shot on the opening hole failed to scale the greenside bank and wound up further from the flag than he’d started. Yet the two-time US Open champion settled by cooly chipping his next shot into the cup for a momentum-producing par save.
Four more pars followed before DeChambeau ignited, birdieing every hole from the sixth to 16th, other than the 11th and 15th. With every red number came inflated confidence. After the round, he described it as a “flow state”.
“There’s definitely a moment where I feel like I’m in a flow state,” DeChambeau said. “People call it the zone. People call it numerous things. But for me… it felt like I was doing exactly what I needed to do. It’s weird because you do feel like you’re in this, like, bubble almost, but you’re still able to control everything. Things are just kind of going your way. You’re rolling. No matter what happens or what people say, you kind of just stay in that zone.”
Rahm’s fortunes were also dealt a blow on the first hole when his tee shot finished against the base of a tee. He bogeyed there and the next to hand the lead to DeChambeau. Yet a mid-round revival put the two titans atop the leaderboard before a two-stroke swing at the par-5 13th hole in favour of DeChambeau gave him a four-shot lead.
Then Rahm lifted. Three straight birdies from the 14th hole fed into his last-hole heroics as a five-under-par stretch for the last five holes changed the complexion of the fourth edition of LIV Golf Adelaide.
“It was a really good number – 62 metres into the wind, trying to land it about six, seven short,” Rahm said after he’d been granted free relief from a TIO (temporary immovable obstruction) left of the fairway. “Obviously executed it pretty well, and the rest is what you all saw. I’m not really expecting to make it. I’m hoping to hit it close, but obviously ended up with the grand prize on that one.”
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Lurking in the shadows are the rejuvenated Anthony Kim (68) at 14-under and three players at 13-under, including Australia’s Cam Smith (64) and Lucas Herbert (67). Both men have discovered form quickly in the new LIV season but face a daunting task on Sunday.
“Giving six shots to both Bryson and Jon is probably not where you want to be on the last day, to be honest,” Smith said. “It’s going to take a lot. If I went out there and played similar to what I did today, I think I’m in with a chance.
“I don’t think it’s easy out there. I think you can definitely get on the back foot here quickly, particularly early in the round. Those first five holes, really, out here are pretty brutal. You have to hit every shot pretty good.
“We’ll see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully I can bring the same stuff as today.”
Kim’s ongoing resurgence is not lost on anyone, including the two leaders (who both referenced his return to form in their post-round media conference) nor the 40-year-old himself.
Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau discussing Anthony Kim’s progression and performance.
I don’t want to pull quotes from this, or summarize it, because they say it better than anyone could.
Just watch. Great stuff from them and Q from @thegolfeditor. pic.twitter.com/qEeUZl9UDr
— Tee Times (@TeeTimesPub) February 14, 2026
“[The goal] was always to be in the final group, giving yourself a chance to win a golf tournament, or else I wouldn’t have been practising and playing on this league,” Kim said. “But if you’d have asked me three years ago, I would have told you [that] you were on drugs.”
Yet quite rightly, the focus remains the two men atop the leaderboard.
For Rahm, he’s seeking a third individual LIV title but a first since September 2024, while victory tomorrow would be DeChambeau’s fourth individual title on LIV, and his first since May last year. A day ago, the 32-year-old lamented that he was wielding only his B-game. Based on today’s round, the man who has finished in the top-10 in six of the past eight major championships has clearly upgraded to his A-game.
FULL LIV GOLF ADELAIDE COVERAGE HERE