| BY LIV GOLF STAFF GAINESVILLE, Va. – Anirban Lahiri has celebrated seven team titles since joining LIV Golf as a member of Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC during the inaugural 2022 season. Now he’s on the verge of enjoying two trips to the top of the podium Sunday at LIV Golf Virginia presented by Maaden. Lahiri put himself in position for his first individual LIV Golf title with a bogey-free 7-under 64 in Saturday’s second round at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. At 11 under through 36 holes, he leads a trio of major winners – RangeGoats GC Captain Bubba Watson, Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer and Smash GC’s Graeme McDowell – by two shots. Tied for fifth at 7 under are LIV Golf’s top three players in points this season – Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, Crusher Captain Bryson DeChambeau and Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm – along with HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson. |
 Captain Phil Mickelson of HyFlyers GC hits his shot from the rough on the first hole during the second round of LIV Golf Virginia at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Saturday, June 07, 2025 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by LIV Golf)With Lahiri leading the way, the Crushers moved atop the second-round team leaderboard at 21 under, one stroke ahead of Smash. No other team is within seven shots of the lead as the Crushers seek to win for the second consecutive time this season.Due to the potential of inclement weather, the shotgun start time for Sunday’s final round has been moved up to 8:05 a.m. ET. It promises to be a wild shootout among a bevy of veteran stars. As much as Lahiri cherishes his team wins, he’d love to hoist two trophies. He’s been close on a number of occasions; he has five second-place finishes on LIV Golf. If he wins Sunday, it would be his first individual victory on any tour in 10 years to go with his Crushers team wins. “I haven’t felt it, but I’m pretty sure the best feel is to have both trophies,” said the 37-year-old veteran from India. “… I’m not going out there to prove anything to anyone. I just want to go out there and just play freely. Play like a kid.” He played like a man possessed for most of the second round, including a stretch of six birdies in nine holes. At one point, he held a four-stroke lead before the chase pack started to close in. It appeared Lahiri was opening the door when his tee shot with a 9-iron at the par-3 16th sailed right and into a drainage ditch, in which he received a free drop. He managed to save par by holing a 38-1/2 foot putt.  Graeme McDowell of Smash GC hits his shot from the 11th tee during the second round of LIV Golf Virginia at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Saturday, June 07, 2025 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by LIV Golf)The drama wasn’t over. At his final hole, the par-4 18th, he hit a loose shot into the waste area left of the fairway. His second shot settled into the rough, but a spectacular third shot allowed him to save par from 11 feet.“Golf is a really funny game,” Lahiri said. “You look back to a month ago. I hit one of the best shots of the year, hit a flag and make double. I stand on 16 and I hit a shank – I’ll say it out loud – and I still make par.” Although Lahiri has had plenty of opportunities to break his drought, his primary chasers are some of golf’s most distinguished players who are getting their first real shot of winning an individual LIV Golf title. Two-time Masters champ Watson shot a 6-under 65 and will play in the final group of a LIV Golf Sunday for just the second time. His last win of any kind was seven years ago. “I would love to lift a trophy one of these days at LIV,” Watson said, “but the other guys want to do that same thing.” Kaymer and McDowell each won majors in 2010, as did Mickelson. Along with Watson, they’ve shown that experience and veteran savvy are paying huge dividends on a course designed by celebrated architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. “As always here on LIV, it’s a great leaderboard,” said the 2010 U.S. Open champ McDowell after his 5-under 66. “I’m excited to be up there. Excited to give myself probably my first opportunity on LIV.” “It’s been a long time for me that I’ve won a tournament,” added Kaymer, a two-time major winner and former world No. 1 who shot a 4-under 67 on Saturday. “It’s nice to have the chance again to feel that heat tomorrow.” They’ll start early Sunday morning trying to chase down Lahiri, who hopes to use the lessons of his previous close calls to get the job done Sunday. “I’ve been guilty of playing a bit defensively, especially when I’ve gotten close,” he said. “… You have to go and attack and make as many birdies as you can. The one big learning from me is whether I’m three ahead or two back, I’m still going to try and birdie every hole.”TEAM SCORES LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores now counting in every round in the team competition. (Click here for more on the new format). Here are the results and scores for each team after Saturday’s Rd. 2 of LIV Golf Virginia presented by Maaden. 1. CRUSHERS GC -21 (Lahiri 64, Casey 66, DeChambeau 69, Howell III 71: Rd. 2 score: -14) 2. SMASH GC -20 (McDowell 66, Gooch 67, Kokrak 67, Koepka 70: Rd. 2 score: -14) 3. 4ACES GC -13 (Varner III 66, Johnson 69, Pieters 69, Reed 74: Rd. 2 score: -6) 4. TORQUE GC -12 (Ortiz 65, Niemann 68, Muñoz 69, Pereira 73: Rd. 2 score: -9) 5. STINGER GC -11 (Oosthuizen 65, Grace 67, Schwartzel 69, Burmester 72: Rd. 2 score: -11) 6. CLEEKS GC -9 (Kaymer 67, Meronk 68, Bland 70, Kjettrup 71: Rd. 2 score: -8) 7. RANGEGOATS GC -8 (Watson 65, Campbell 73, Schniederjans 73, Uihlein 74: Rd. 2 score: +1) 8. LEGION XIII -5 (Hatton 68, Rahm 68, McKibbin 70, Surratt 70: Rd. 2 score: -8) T9. HYFLYERS GC E (Mickelson 68, Steele 69, Tringale 71, Ogletree 72: Rd. 2 score: -4) T9. IRON HEADS GC E (Jang 69, Na 69, Lee 72, Kozuma 73: Rd. 2 score: -1) 11. FIREBALLS GC +4 (Masaveu 68, Ancer 70, Garcia 72, Ballester 73: Rd. 2 score: -1) 12. RIPPER GC +8 (Smith 70, Leishman 71, Herbert 73, Jones 75: Rd. 2 score: +5) 13 MAJESTICKS GC +12 (Horsfield 67, Stenson 69, Westwood 72, Poulter 76: Rd. 2 score: E) Wild Cards: Kim 72, C. Lee 76  Captain Bubba Watson of RangeGoats GC hits his shot from the sixth fairway during the second round of LIV Golf Virginia at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Saturday, June 07, 2025 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by LIV Golf)ROUND 2 NOTESKAYMER IN CONTENTION: Once ranked as the world’s top player, Martin Kaymer is now on the verge of winning his first golf tournament since the 2014 U.S. Open. The Cleeks GC captain enters the final round in Virginia in a share of second place, just two strokes off the lead. “Winning a golf tournament again would mean a lot,” Kaymer said. “It is difficult to win golf tournaments. I didn’t realize that when I was starting as a professional because it became normal to win one or two events,” said Kaymer, who turned 40 in December. “… I didn’t really think much of it. Obviously, you’re proud of it, but I didn’t really think how special it was.” Kaymer’s best finish in LIV Golf is a tie for ninth last year in Houston. This week, he’s wearing a bucket hat as part of his team’s new apparel partnership with Public Drip. He was the first-round co-leader with Bryson DeChambeau after opening with a 5-under 66. “Always helpful when you feel like you’re dressed well and it fits,” Kaymer said. “It’s something that I enjoy putting on in the morning. But it’s more about my game that got me to the number.” LAHIRI ENJOYS TOP CHALLENGE: Anirban Lahiri went toe-to-toe with LIV Golf points leader Joaquin Niemann and reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion Jon Rahm in a threesome that started on the opening hole Saturday. Lahiri shot the tournament’s lowest score, a 7-under 64, while Niemann and Rahm each shot 3-under 68s. “It was fun playing today with Jon and Joaquin, especially Joaquin,” said Lahiri, who is 11 years older than the 26-year-old Niemann, LIV Golf’s youngest captain. “He still plays like a kid, and I was just watching him go about his business, and it’s so much fun. It was great inspiration just even playing with them, seeing them just enjoying themselves out there. I want to do more of that tomorrow.” BUBBA’S HOT PUTTING: Bubba Watson had his best-ever finish on LIV two starts ago at Mexico City and now he’s in contention in Virginia. Watson’s improvement has been fueled in large part by a resurgence with the putter. The 46-year-old recently switched from a blade putter to a mallet, and it has paid immediate dividends. “Going to the mallet just gives me a heavier head, heavier hammer, as we call it,” he said. “It’s getting my balls to the hole and making me make more putts from 15 feet. There is probably something to it. You get comfortable and you watch other guys putt good with it, so you believe in it.” In 2023 Watson averaged a -0.74 stroke per round loss (50th on LIV Golf) and in 2024 a -0.48 stroke per round loss (52nd). So far in 2025, he’s averaging a +0.85 stroke per round gain on the field and ranks 4th in strokes gained putting (4th). He also ranked 1st in strokes gained putting at the Masters. The drastic improvement has netted a +1.33 per round improvement on last season for Watson. EARLY START SUNDAY: The possibility of inclement weather moved up the shotgun start time for Sunday’s final round to 8:05 p.m. ET. Public parking lots will open at 6:30 a.m., with gates to the course at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club opening at 7 a.m. Live coverage in the U.S. will begin at 8 a.m. on FS2 and the FOX Sports App, with coverage switching to FS1 and the Fox Sports App at 10 a.m. OLLIE FOLLOW-UP: Reserve player Ollie Schniederjans followed his spectacular mid-round appearance on Friday with a 2-over 73 for RangeGoats GC on Saturday. The day before, Schniederjans was called in for relief duty when Matthew Wolff had to withdraw after eight holes with an injury, and did so admirably, making a birdie on his first hole of the day and playing his 10 holes in 4 under to help lead the RangeGoats to the first-round team lead. The RangeGoats dropped to seventh after shooting a collective 1 over Saturday. BALLESTER UPDATE: 2024 U.S. Amateur champ Josele Ballester is making his professional debut this week after joining Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC. The Spaniard shot a 3-over-74 in round one and followed it with a 2-over-74 in round two. Ballester is currently T46 on the individual leaderboard.2010 MAJOR WINNERS HAVE A DAY: The 2010 major winners were a collective 18 under in Saturday’s second round and are all inside the top 10 going into the final round. U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell (5-under 66) and PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer (4-under 67) are tied for second. Masters winner Phil Mickelson (3-under 68) is tied for fifth. Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen (6-under 65) is tied for 10th.ROUND 2 STATS LEADERS Driving accuracy: Talor Gooch, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit) Driving distance average (for measured holes 13 and 14): Dean Burmester, 344.8 yards avg. Longest drive (among measured holes 13 and 14): Tom McKibbin, 369.2 yards, 13th hole Greens in regulation: Bubba Watson, Joaquin Niemann, Carlos Ortiz, 94.44% (17 of 18 greens) Scrambling: Anirban Lahiri (4 of 4), Talor Gooch (2 of 2), Jason Kokrak (2 of 2), Bubba Watson (1 of 1), Carlos Ortiz (1 of 1), 100% Putting: Branden Grace, 1.33 putts per hole Bogey-free rounds: Anirban Lahiri (64), Carlos Ortiz (65), Talor Gooch (67), Jason Kokrak (67) |
