Tom McKibbin matched his opening 73 on day two of LIV Golf Miami on a Blue Monster course that gets increasingly difficult each day, and goes into the final round seven off the lead but sharing 11th.
But he’ll be disappointed not to be closer as, with three holes to play, he trailed by just two shots before carding a bogey and a double on 14 and 15 – his 16th and 17th – while leader Bryson de Chambeau signed off with two birdies to open up clear daylight at the top.
Prior to that, there’d been much to admire about how McKibbin navigated the strong winds, the highlight coming on the first – his fourth – where he made an eagle-three, which took him to -3 on the day.
Peril, however, lurks everywhere and he’d end the day with that eagle, four birdies, three bogeys and two doubles on his card, but he’s within touching distance of the top 10 and not yet out of the running for his first LIV victory.
DeChambeau’s two-under 70 leaves him leading by two shots over Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia. Another stroke back are HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson, 4Aces GC’s Patrick Reed and Ripper GC’s Marc Leishman. Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm and defending champion Dean Burmester of Stinger GC are tied for sixth.
It’s a stacked leaderboard, appropriate for a course that’s offering the sternest challenge in LIV Golf’s young history.
“What a test of golf out there,” said DeChambeau, the reigning U.S. Open champion who is seeking his third LIV Golf individual title. “This golf course, every single angle just produced the most testing golf shots out there that I’ve seen in a long time.”
Saturday’s field stroke average of 75.111 was more than three strokes above par, making it the second most-difficult round in LIV Golf, exceeded only by the Rd. 1 in 2024 Andalucia (+3.519 over par). Add Friday’s first round at Doral – the third most difficult day in LIV Golf – and the first two rounds this week have been the hardest 36 holes the league has ever seen.
Ripper GC leads with a collective nine-over in the team leaderboard, thanks in large part to Lucas Herbert’s second-round three-under 69, the only individual score shot in the 60s on Saturday. 4Aces GC is second at 11-over, while the Fireballs and Crushers are at 12-over. The last-place Cleeks GC are at 46-over.
No team has ever won a LIV Golf tournament with an over-par score.
“It’s just a difficult golf course,” said Garcia, whose Fireballs are seeking their fourth consecutive tournament title. “It’s the Blue Monster. That’s just not a name; it comes with something. You have to respect it.”
Graeme McDowell, who shot a seven-over 79 on day one, got off to a horror start when he triple bogeyed his opening hole but he recovered to play the final 17 in two-under, moving up to T37 on +8 overall.
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