Staff WriterRiyadh has seen its share of sporting firsts, but LIV Golf’s leap into 72-hole territory has arrived like a sandstorm in a china shop – noisy, unpredictable, and leaving half the field wondering what day it is. Under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club, the inaugural regular-season marathon is heading for a Saturday night shootout, with Elvis Smylie and Peter Uihlein locked at 16 under and a cast of star names charging behind like they’ve just remembered there’s only one trophy.
Smylie, Uihlein and a Format Change with Teeth
This is no ordinary week for ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh. The league’s first 72-hole regular-season event – part of the 2026 format overhaul – wraps up with a fourth round under the floodlights, not the old three-round sprint. That small detail is the only reason Smylie and Uihlein aren’t already sipping something cold and squinting through a playoff.
Instead, they’ve got 18 more holes to sort out the mess they created on Friday.
Uihlein, one of the original stalwarts who’s played in all 51 LIV Golf events without yet winning an individual title, knows he’d already be in sudden death under the old regime. He’s… delighted. Honest.
“Yeah, thanks for bringing that up,” laughed Uihlein, who has appeared in all 51 LIV Golf tournaments and is seeking his first league individual title. “I feel like 72 holes fits me a little better. If you would have told me at the beginning of the week, hey, you’d be tied for the lead after 54 and you have a chance to win, that’s where you’d want to be. I’d take it. Looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.”
He backed up the banter with a tidy 66, opened by four straight birdies, the kind of start that makes you think the flashlight in his bag is for checking pulse as much as lies.
Beside him at the top is 23-year-old Elvis Smylie, making his LIV Golf debut for Ripper GC and behaving as if someone forgot to tell him this is supposed to be hard. His bogey-free 7-under 65 looked about as stressful as a practice round, and he made it clear this isn’t just a nice week out in Riyadh.
“Without a doubt, I want to prove my worth in this league, and I want to establish myself as one of the best guys in this league,” the left-hander said. “The best way to do that is by going out and making a statement this week.”
So far, the statement reads: Dear LIV Golf, please send more 72-hole weeks.
Gooch, Rahm and the Heavy Artillery
Of course, a proper shootout in Riyadh needs hired guns, and LIV’s answer is Talor Gooch and Jon Rahm. Between them they’ve hoarded the last three season-long Individual Championships and collected 13 trophies apiece, which is either a sign of greatness or a worrying lack of trophy cabinets.
Gooch is a shot back at 15 under after three consecutive 67s, once again living out his favourite personal law: shoot 67 or better and everything else takes care of itself. So far, everything is minding its manners.
Rahm, the Legion XIII captain, is one of four players at 14 under, having added a second 67 of the week to his card. He’s joined there by Abraham Ancer, Torque GC’s new signing, Smash GC’s Jason Kokrak and 4Aces new boy Thomas Detry, who – like Smylie – is making his LIV debut in Riyadh and has decided the best way to blend in is to camp near the top of the board.
Ancer, who already owns a LIV title from the 54-hole era, is rather enjoying the longer test.
“I feel like 54 holes was good enough to figure out who’s playing the best golf,” said Ancer, whose 65 was highlighted by a 50-foot-plus eagle putt. “You just feel like it’s a little bit more of a sprint, have a little bit less time for you to make mistakes and come back from them. But then playing 72 holes, you feel like if you’re a steady player, that would maybe help you rise to the top of the leaderboard.”
Steady would be one word for it. Ruthless might be better.
Scoring Carnage in the Riyadh Rain
The script said Friday was supposed to be ugly. The wind picked up, the rain drifted in, and the players muttered dark things about conditions. Then they went out and produced the lowest scoring average of the week, nearly three-and-a-half shots under par, just to prove they have no respect for meteorology.
“It didn’t feel like it was easier than yesterday, but everyone went low,” said Uihlein, who opened his round with four consecutive birdies en route to a 66. “I’m expecting it to be a shootout, but we could come out here tomorrow and it’s blowing 15, 20 again, so you never know.”
Ancer had the same experience – disbelief, then resignation.
“I felt like the scores weren’t going to be low, and then I got off to a really hot start and I was like, ‘Ooh, I’m going to be way up there’, and then I’m like, ‘Damn, everybody is shooting really low.’ That was surprising. I guess it doesn’t matter what the weather does. It feels like we need to make a lot of birdies tomorrow.”
Translation: expect a final-round free-for-all in Riyadh where pars are treated like polite suggestions.
Team Race: Torque Lean, Ripper Roar, Smash Lurks
While the individual race is tighter than a three-putt for bogey, the team contest at LIV Golf Riyadh is shaping into its own drama.
Torque GC sit atop the pile at 46 under, powered by matching 7-under 65s from Mexican Olympic teammates Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz. Their third-round haul of -19 has them two clear of Smash GC at -44, with Ripper GC just one stroke further back at -43 after a rampaging -22 on Friday.
Team Top 3 after Round 3
- Torque GC (-46) – Ancer 65, Ortiz 65, Muñoz 69, Niemann 70
- Smash GC (-44) – Gooch 67, Kokrak 68, McDowell 68, Varner III 71
- Ripper GC (-43) – Herbert 65, Smylie 65, Leishman 68, Smith 68
Smash are chasing a fairytale first win for new captain Gooch, while Ripper – with a home crowd waiting next week at LIV Golf Adelaide – are building momentum like a freight train with an Australian flag on the front.
Smylie the Rookie, Rippers the Mate-Ship
For Smylie, this week in Riyadh has been less initiation and more family reunion. Slotting into an all-Aussie squad captained by his friend and mentor Cam Smith, alongside Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert, he already sounds like he’s found his golfing tribe.
“Yeah, we’ve had a lot of fun,” Smylie said. “I think what the Rippers stand for is a really strong mate-ship amongst the group, especially with all the staff members as well. I’ve known Cam for quite a long time now, and same for Leish and Herby. It’s just really cool being around them because golf can be quite an isolating sport. To be able to be in a team environment where you’re constantly learning off each, I’m really enjoying that part.”
Just in case you needed a reminder that destiny occasionally has a DJ, Smylie – named after Elvis Presley – will walk to the first tee on Saturday to the King’s classic, “A Little Less Conversation.” Given the way he’s swinging it in Riyadh, the field would probably prefer a little less scoring.
Uihlein’s Flashlight Trick Under the Riyadh Lights
Night golf brings romance, theatre, and – in Peter Uihlein’s case – hardware from a camping shop. For the second straight year in Riyadh, Uihlein and caddie Zach Guthrie have been using a flashlight to tame the shadows cast by the floodlights.
“The flashlight is used to just illuminate all or most of the other shadows and then just have one direct light source that allows me to read the greens a little bit easier,” Uihlein explained. “We’ll (also) use it in the fairway, out of the rough, just to see the lie, if it’s into the grain or how it’s sitting. Sometimes it’s dark and sometimes you’re sitting there looking at the ball in the rough and it’s like, man, it looks like it’s pretty buried – and then put a flashlight on it, and it’s like, no, it’s sitting up pretty nice. So, we’re using it quite frequently, to be honest with you.”
In other words, while everyone else is guessing, he’s running his own private floodlight inspection. He’s even tried to talk a few of his peers into joining the DIY illumination movement.
“I don’t know if they’re doing it,” he said. “But it might not have worked for them.”
If he leaves Riyadh with the trophy, expect a run on torches at the nearest supermarket.
New Faces, Old Friends and a Korean Captain Rising
The new 72-hole era hasn’t just given the field extra holes in Riyadh; it’s created fresh storylines all over the leaderboard. LIV Golf Promotions winner Richard T. Lee, the league’s first Canadian player, fired a 67 to reach 10 under and sit tied for 13th, alongside International Series champion Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe, who backed up with a 68. Both are chasing the best-ever finish by a LIV wild card, trying to better Chieh-Po Lee’s T12 at LIV Golf Hong Kong.
Then there’s 21-year-old Michael La Sasso, the youngest player in the league and now officially the proud owner of the week’s longest drive – a 341.2-yard missile on the 10th in Round 1. Making his professional debut with HyFlyers GC, he shot his lowest round of the week on Friday, a 5-under 67, to reach 7 under and a share of 31st. Not a bad way to start a career: new tour, new city, and already launching it past half the field in Riyadh.
Abraham Ancer also enjoyed a familiar face in his pairing – new Korean Golf Club captain Byeong Hun An, his old teammate from the 2019 Presidents Cup.
“He’s a great player,” Ancer said. “He’s fun to be around. I think he’s going to be a leader for the Korean Golf Club.”
An is doing more than supplying good vibes; he’s tied for 10th at 12 under and perfect in scrambling through three rounds.
Records, Streaks and Numbers That Might Matter Tomorrow
A few stats from LIV Golf Riyadh to impress your friends before Saturday’s finale:
- Dean Burmester leads the field in driving distance at 317.3 yards, with a cumulative average of 310.7 through three rounds.
- Elvis Smylie has hit 85.71% of fairways (12 of 14) and is making the desert look like a driving range.
- David Puig’s iron play has been laser-guided, with 88.89% of greens hit (48 of 54) over three days.
- Byeong Hun An hasn’t missed a single up-and-down all week, a perfect 17 of 17 scrambling.
Puig also set a LIV record with 76 consecutive par-4s at par or better, a streak that finally died an ugly death at the par-4 first on Friday. An errant tee shot, followed by an approach out of bounds, produced a double bogey that dropped him from solo third into a tie for seventh at 13 under. If you wanted proof that Riyadh gives and Riyadh takes away, that should do it.
Final Round in Riyadh: One More Lap
So here we are: a new 72-hole world for LIV Golf, a night-time amphitheatre in Riyadh, and a leaderboard that looks like someone shook a snow globe full of stars and rookies. Smylie and Uihlein share the lead at 16 under, Gooch lurks a shot back, Rahm and the rest circle at 14 under, and the team race is separated by three shots from first to third.
The weather might roar again. The lights will definitely blaze. The scores, if Friday was any indication, could go haywire. But one thing seems certain: when the dust settles on LIV Golf Riyadh, whoever survives this final-round shootout will have earned every step of this new 72-hole era.
