Australia’s Lucas Herbert surrendered half of his advantage during Saturday’s third round of LIV Golf Virginia, but his 4-under-par 68 still left him at 21 under, carrying a three-shot lead into the final round.
The 30-year-old Herbert holds a comfortable gap over Sergio Garcia, who is 18 under after a 65, as he pursues his first LIV title.
“I think, if you’d given me a three-shot lead going into Sunday at the start of the week, I’d have taken it in a heartbeat,” Herbert said. “You’ve got to put that in context, I think.”
The context is that Herbert was the only player among the top seven through 54 holes who failed to shoot 65 or better on Saturday.
Spain’s Josele Ballester delivered a spectacular performance, firing a 12-under 60 to set the course record at Trump National in Potomac Falls, Virginia. He narrowly missed tying LIV’s 18-hole record after missing a 25-foot birdie putt on his final hole.
“It’s been the first time in a while or first time this year that I kind of entered the flow zone,” Ballester said. “It seemed like everything was going easy or somewhat easy. I executed really well in all areas of the game. Towards the end when I felt the adrenaline and the pressure a little more, I still executed and made some good shots and some good putts.”
Bryson DeChambeau’s 12-under 58 at the 2023 LIV Golf Greenbrier event remains the league’s 18-hole record.
Despite the best round of his life, the 22-year-old Ballester trails Herbert by eight shots. He shares third place with DeChambeau (64), Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent (62), and South Africa’s Dean Burmester (65).
Spain’s Jon Rahm (12 under after a 65), Belgium’s Thomas Detry (11 under, 66), and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (11 under, 66) are the only other players within 10 strokes of Herbert.
Garcia, who scrambled for a par at No. 13 after removing his shoes and socks to hit from a pond, acknowledged Sunday’s final round won’t be a two-man battle.
“You can’t just think, oh, it’s just Lucas and I,” Garcia said. “Obviously if we play well, it will be him and I, but we still have to go out there and play well. There’s still 18 holes to go, and anything can happen out there.”
