MIGUEL Tabuena will need a strong finish, as usual, if he hopes to improve his position, currently tied for 52nd in the 57-player field, with one round left in LIV Golf’s UK leg on Saturday.
Tabuena shot a 1-over-par 73, his third straight over par round, and at 4-over was 14 shots behind leader Lucas Herbert who held off his pursuers with a 3-under-par 69 in the third round at JCB Golf & Country Club in Rocester, England.
READ LIV Golf suffers new blow with departure of Asian Tour
Tabuena, 31, who shot 73-74 in the previous two rounds, has a 220 total and may have to shoot an excellent final round to avoid another downtrodden finish in the league whose next season has been placed in serious doubt by recent developments.
First, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced that it was cutting its funding of the upstart league were it has poured in $5 billion over the past six years.
Then came the shocker that the Asian Tour, its lifeline for legitimacy with its pathways to LIV’s lineup through the International Series, decided to partner with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, thereby abandoning its partnership with LIV.
There are only three more legs left in the LIV calendar, including the concluding team championship. But this one was reported to be in serious doubt after LIV player Martin Kaymer reported a 95% chance of cancellation amid ongoing league funding uncertainties.
Herbert’s 69 moved him to 20 under, three strokes ahead of Bryson DeChambeau who shot a 67 to go 17 under, and five shots ahead of third placer Tyrrell Hatton, who carded a 67 and was at 15 under.
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