LIV Golf United Kingdom Round 3 recap as Lucas Herbert leads Bryson DeChambaeu by three after Cameron Smith shoots historic back nine
Updated 25/07/2026 at 19:14 GMT+1
React to this story
Lucas Herbert will go into the final round of LIV Golf UK with a three-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau. Herbert began the day with a two-stroke advantage on the field and continued his forward momentum on Saturday.
LIV Golf highlights: Herbert leads DeChambeau as Smith makes history with back nine
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Australian, off the back of his excellent effort to finish in a tie for sixth at the Open Championship, carded a three-under 69 on Saturday to climb to 20-under.
Hot on his tail is DeChambeau, who went one better with a round of 68 at JCB Golf & Country Club.
Tyrrell Hatton is two shots further back at 15-under, while Cameron Smith made a huge charge up the leaderboard with a round of 66. The Australian appeared to be treading water at the turn, but a run of eight birdies in a row saw him climb to 14-under.
Ripper GC, thanks to the efforts of Herbert and Smith, lead the team competition at 41-under, nine shots in front of DeChambeau's Crushers GC.
HBO Max is the streaming home of TNT Sports - watch the latest round below.
LIV Golf United Kingdom 2026 live comments
To refresh the page, click here.
ICYMI
Teams Leaderboard
-41 Ripper GC
-32 Crushers GC
-29 Legion XIII
-19 Torque GC
-15 Southern Guards GC
-14 Majesticks Golf Club
Players Leaderboard
-20 Lucas Herbert
-17 Bryson DeChambeau
-15 Tyrrell Hatton
-14 Cameron Smith
-13 Harold Varner III, Abraham Ancer
-11 Byeong Hun An
Let's have the thoughts of Bryson DeChambeau
"[Lucas] is playing some incredible golf. He really isn't blinking much. I played some good golf. The birdies on [holes] 16 and 17 were huge going into tomorrow.
"I just wish a couple of things could have gone a different way. That's golf, but I'm looking forward to a good battle tomorrow. It's time to go and get it!"
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-a5043213-441d-40db-b683-22af7b45d6a9.jpeg)
Bryson DeChambeau
Image credit: Getty Images
Time to hear from leader Lucas Herbert
"I enjoy being in the lead," he tells TNT Sports. "It's been awesome playing with Bryson over the last couple of days, and I get to do it again tomorrow. There's great energy out there. I really enjoyed it. Playing under pressure brings the best out of me.
"The weather looks like it might be dicey tomorrow. It's probably going to be one of those days when you have to stay patient with what you're doing. I'm going to do my best to just stick to what I'm doing, and try to make as many putts as I can."
Let's get some reaction from the history-maker
A timely birdie for Herbert
The leader closes round three by succeeding where his opponents failed, as DeChambeau and Hatton both missed their birdie attempts.
Herbert slots his in to go 20-under and establish a three-shot overnight lead.
The fist-pump comes out after the ball disappears into the hole, he knows how important that was.
The joint-best back nine in LIV Golf history
DeChambeau moves within two
Back-to-back birdies for the two-time major winner!
That moves him just two shots behind Herbert going into the final hole of the day.
Varner III finishes with a bogey
It's been another decent round from the American, who cards 68 to head into the final day at 13-under.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-10e85ee8-4857-4d1d-831d-457d5971a64c.jpeg)
Harold Varner III
Image credit: Getty Images
A superb back nine from Smith
Not quite a ninth straight birdie, but the Australian neatly rescues par on the 18th to complete a wonderful second half of his third round.
He finishes at 14-under, currently five shots off the lead.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-d000c3b2-a053-42bf-97f8-f3d14f1641a1.jpeg)
Cameron Smith
Image credit: Getty Images
Three in it
DeChambeau closes the gap as he birdies the 16th, while Herbert cards his customary par.
Go for it, boys!
Historic moment
Cameron Smith ties the record for the most successive birdies during a single round in LIV Golf history!
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-8f21e72f-74aa-4649-9602-268d47ca84c6.jpeg)
Cameron Smith
Image credit: Getty Images
Make that eight
LIV Golf United Kingdom 2026 live commentsMagnificent seven
This surge from Cameron Smith is showing absolutely zero signs of slowing down.
A seventh successive birdie puts him at 13-under and within two shots on second place.
Home favourite
Hatton moves back into a tie for second, thanks to this stunning approach.
Six birdies on the spin for Smith
Where on earth has this come from?! He won't care in the slightest!
A stunning 49-foot birdie continues his scintillating back nine.
Unlucky 13
You can say that again, as far as Herbert's concerned.
He narrowly misses a 12-foot birdie, opening the door for DeChambeau to make no mistake from five feet and close the gap.
He certainly is
Five in a row for Smith
Birdies, that is. His rocky start is a distant memory, with the former Open champion now tied for fifth on 11-under.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-13a9e0cc-7171-4f3b-ad5e-3f7a9c8b236c-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
Cameron Smith
Image credit: Getty Images
Five the lead once more
DeChambeau also cards a par, but a birdie moves Herbert five shots to the good again at the summit.
Inches away
That's how close Hatton comes to leapfrogging DeChambeau to go outright second, as his 18-foot birdie attempt just comes up short.
Smith on the surge
A fourth straight birdie takes the Rippers captain to 10-under and a tie for eighth.
Varner III joins them
We now have a three-way tie for second, courtesy of a third straight birdie for Varner III on the 13th.
Hatton now tied for second
A sixth birdie of the day on the 11th moves the Englishman level with DeChambeau in second place.
Both their spirits are lifted, too, as Herbert drops his first shot of the day with a bogey.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-9406e16f-2cda-42d8-837d-6b420f41e65f.jpeg)
Tyrrell Hatton
Image credit: Getty Images
Sweet sensation
Once round three draws to a close, the excitement doesn't stop there for the fans at the JCB today.
Indeed, Chase & Status are performing here this evening.
But who will show backbone when it comes down to the clutch on Sunday, while not relying on blind faith?
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-1b385dcb-0c3f-4955-8e70-dab4e364e34c.jpeg)
Chase & Status
Image credit: Getty Images
Varner III goes tied-third
The American is now four-under for the day after back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th.
It moves him level with Hatton at 13-under.
Herbert goes five clear
The leader posts another par on the 10th.
It's a very important one, though, with DeChambeau and Hatton only able to bogey.
He stretches his advantage atop the leaderboard.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/25/image-73179014-7d98-4194-8b88-ea3b88805c0d.jpeg)
Lucas Herbert
Image credit: Getty Images
Back-to-back birdies
Following a difficult start to the day, Cameron Smith seems to be back on track after birdying the 10th and 11th.
Current state of play
Keep an eye on Caleb
A humdinger from Herbert
Herbert's stunning first-round 61 was always going to be tricky to replicate as the week went on.
Nevertheless, he's made it back-to-back birdies by superbly sinking from 40 feet.
It moves him four clear again after a par from DeChambeau, who is now just a shot clear of Hatton following the latter's birdie.
Another double-bogey
It's just not happening today for the Rippers' Travis Smyth, who's filling in for the injured Elvis Smylie this weekend.
The Australian hits his second double-bogey of the day, and is now five-over for the round.
That does have wider implications, though, as it sees the Rippers surrender top spot on the leaderboard.
Remember, they led by nine shots coming into Saturday.
Birdies all round on the eighth
DeChambeau drops one in from seven feet, and Hatton follows suit from six.
Crucially, Herbert then sinks his first of the day from eight feet to stay three shots clear.
Still three shots in it
Herbert maintains his advantage at the top of the leaderboard with seven straight pars.
Four on the bounce from DeChambeau following his earlier birdie keep him in touch.
Hatton drops a shot
It's the first lapse we've seen from him today.
A difficult sixth hole, during which he's always trying to recover, culminates in him missing a five-foot par putt.
He drops two shots behind second-place DeChambeau once more, and just one ahead of Varner III in fourth.
Superb recovery from Smith
Varner III with a cushion
The American's best performance of the season saw him finish fourth in Hong Kong.
He's currently on course to match that, with two birdies in the space of four holes giving him a two-shot advantage in fourth place.
Good stuff from the former Masters champion
No prizes for guessing who they're supporting
Consistency from Herbert
The leader makes his fifth successive birdie from as many holes to start round three.
While he isn't stretching his lead at the moment, he's certainly nursing it nicely.
Hatton on the charge
The Englishman plays a brilliant approach to set up another birdie on the fourth.
That's three in his opening four holes, and he's now just a shot behind DeChambeau.
All square
In terms of the team leaderboard, Rippers held a healthy nine-shot cushion coming into today.
However, that lead has completely disappeared thanks to a strong start from the Crushers, who have leveled after the opening five holes!
Marvellous from Masaveu
The Spaniard made a strong start with 68 on Thursday, but plummeted down the leaderboard with 75 on Friday.
Nevertheless, he's opened well today with two birdies in his first five holes - the latter a stunning 51-foot putt on the 14th.
No problem for Poults
DeChambeau closes the gap
The challenger makes his move with a birdie on the third, with leader Herbert only able to par.
DeChambeau closes the gap to three shots, while Hatton also sinks his second birdie of the day.
The latter is now just five off Herbert.
Another birdie for Uihlein
The 36-year-old sinks from 30 feet on the fourth for a second birdie from his opening three holes.
That puts him on 10-under and within three of second-place DeChambeau.
Back-to-back bogeys
Not the start Cameron Smith was hoping for, as he slips from eight-under to six-under after the opening two holes.
Brilliantly saved by Bryson
DeChambeau is in early trouble when he finds himself in the thick rough from his second shot on the first.
However, he manages to rescue par with a 19-foot putt, ensuring he doesn't lose further ground on Herbert.
The latter is also up and down in par, while Tyrrell Hatton starts with a birdie.
The eagle has landed
The first of the day is knocked in by Richard T. Lee, who holes from the edge of the green on the par-five third.
Dicing with death
Ever wondered what the Rippers team do to relax between rounds...?
Lovely strike
Another Spaniard starts well. Check out this tee shot from David Puig...
Rahm up and running
It's been a disappointing couple of days for the Individual Championship leader, who came into round three on one-under.
However, he opens with a birdie on the 11th, and hopes that will kickstart a charge up the leaderboard.
Uihlein chips in
The American moves into a tie for fourth place on nine-under as he chips in from the bunker on the second.
Shotgun start
The countdown is over, and it's time to get round three under way!
It's almost time
They say never meet your heroes
State of play
Round 2 highlights
To bring you up to speed, here's a reminder of the best bits from Friday...
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/07/24/image-c1da604c-3277-43e9-b177-4bd09c6a2fdc-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
Highlights: Herbert holds four-shot lead after Round 2
Video credit: TNT Sports
LIV Golf United Kingdom LIVE - Round 3
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to live text updates from day three of LIV Golf United Kingdom.
It's the 10th tournament of the 2026 season, played at the JCB Golf & Country Club in Rocester, Staffordshire.
How to watch and stream LIV Golf
You can watch every round of the LIV Golf season live on TNT Sports. It is available both live and on-demand on HBO Max.
Here is the TNT Sports schedule and TV guide.
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement