Niemann mixed seven birdies and two bogeys to ‌tie Westwood atop the leaderboard at 10-under-par 203 for the tournament, one stroke ahead of second-round leader ‌Bryson DeChambeau and Richard Lee of Canada.

Niemann is bidding to become just the second player to successfully defend a LIV Golf title after Brooks Koepka in Jeddah.

Australia's Marc Leishman (71) stands alone in sixth place at six-under par while compatriot Cameron Smith is tied for 16th on three under after a battling 69.

Fifty-two-year-old Englishman Westwood made birdies on three of the final four holes to finish ‌with a 68 at the Sentosa Golf Club, which played tougher than it did in the first two rounds.

"I would say it's a major championship-style golf course. It's very demanding," Westwood said. 

"Even though the rough isn't that thick, it asks you to hit a lot of fairways, and it's difficult to score from the rough. You don't have ‌as much control ‌on the golf ⁠ball."

Niemann agreed about the challenge the course presents.

"I've been hitting the ball ​really good. I think that's the key," Niemann said. 

"It's a really stressful golf course, I'll say. There's a lot of danger off the tee, a lot of water on second shots.

"One way or the other, I feel like I've been kind of like stress-free after I hit the shot. Once I get on the tee, there's some ⁠pressure there, and then once I hit the ball, it ‌goes ​right where I'm seeing with my eyes, so it feels satisfying."

DeChambeau followed his second-round 65 with a one-over 72, ​but he ‌wasn't dismayed despite bogeys at holes 8, 10 and 12.

"I played really well. The greens on 8, 9, ​10, 11 got really slow," he said. 

"For some reason, there wasn't as much wind around there and I guess the greens got slower in that area and I three-putted a few of ​them ​and that cost me some momentum. Other than ​that, I played great golf. I almost played just as ‌good as yesterday, just things didn't line up."

Lee, a LIV Golf wild card, birdied the final hole to record a 69 and tie DeChambeau.

Spain's Jon Rahm shot an even-par 71 to stay within striking distance of the leaders, three strokes off the pace. 

In the ​team competition, 4Aces are atop the leaderboard. Captain Dustin Johnson's round of 68 sent the team to ​16-under, two shots ahead of ⁠Ripper GC and Legion XIII, and put Johnson in a tie for seventh ​place with six others at 5-under.