Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau smiles at the day one post round press conference at the Hong Kong Golf Club on Friday. Image courtesy LIV Golf/Chris Trotman.
From a Correspondent
Hong Kong: Paul Casey enjoys being a global golfer, and in his professional career, he’s won 21 events in 13 different countries. But he’s never won in Hong Kong.
That could change this weekend after Casey grabbed the first-round lead at LIV Golf Hong Kong, firing a bogey-free 7 under par 63 while leading defending tournament champion Crushers GC to a share of the team leaderboard with Torque GC at Hong Kong Golf Club.
“I’ve always been a global traveller and enjoyed the challenge of trying to tick another country off on the win list,” said the 47-year-old Englishman.
“It’s something that always kind of excited me, to win around golf courses with history that are iconic. So, you can be assured that I’m trying very hard this week because I’d love to add this one to the list.”
Casey almost added it last year, making the three-man playoff eventually won by Fireballs GC’s Abraham Ancer.
Casey was knocked out after making a bogey on the par-4 18th playoff hole, and he was staring at bogey on that hole again Friday after finding the water with his approach shot.
Hot streak
But after saving par by holing his chip shot, he finished his round with three birdies in his last seven holes
“It’s got our full respect every time we play it,” Casey said about the 18th. “So to find the water, take a drop and chip in for par was huge.”
Casey enters Saturday’s second round with a two-shot lead over six players: Sergio Garcia (Fireballs) and Martin Kaymer (Cleeks GC), Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC), Luis Masaveu (Fireballs), Sebastián Muñoz (Torque) and Wild Card player Chieh-Po Lee.
Chieh was the LIV Golf Promotions winner from Chinese Taipei, and two Wild Card spots were added to the LIV Golf League lineup last season. Lee’s position on the leaderboard is the best position for a Wild Card player after any round.
Lee failed to finish inside the top 40 in either of his first two LIV Golf starts, but he returned home and told himself that he needed a change in mindset going into this week.
Familiar track
It helps that Hong Kong Golf Club is a familiar course him as a previous member of the Asian Tour.
“Today, I just felt more comfortable, not like the first two events,” Lee said.
Muñoz nearly grabbed the first LIV Golf individual win of his career in the season opener in Riyadh. He eventually tied for second but did not maintain that form the following week in Adelaide, finishing 45th.
He started Friday’s round with a bogey on the 15th hole before reeling off five consecutive birdies starting with the par-4 17th.
“Even though I started with a bogey, with a three-putt, I didn’t let it bother me,” Muñoz said. “I just gave myself chances and made the first one on 17, and then just kind of went on a roll for a little bit there.”
Among the six tied for eighth at 4 under is Casey’s captain Bryson DeChambeau, who is seeking his first professional win on a course under 6,900 yards. Hong Kong Golf Club played at 6,691 yards on Friday. He’s not surprised to see Casey atop the leaderboard.
“Paul, just being the ball-striker he is, the Popeye forearms and great iron player, he loves this place,” DeChambeau said. “It’s an iron player’s paradise.”
In the hunt
Still, DeChambeau wasn’t willing to concede the tournament to his teammate just yet. “I’m happy for Paul being at 7 under, but I’m going to come kick his ass here by the end of the week,” he said with a smile.
Don’t expect Casey to back down as he chases another checkmark on his global list. “I’ll not lie – there’s an element where you’re like, I want to beat him,” Casey said. “So, I think he feels that, too.”
DeChambeau’s attempt to win on a short course like Hong Kong Golf Club in fact will come down to whether he can dial in his wedges and he knows there is work left to do.
“My wedges are not great right now,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve got to figure that out. I think this golf course is really unique and cool.
“There’s a lot of holes you can get after it, but you’ve got to have your iron play just on point. If it’s not, you’re going to get penalised.
“It wasn’t terrible, obviously, but I just have higher expectations for myself. I just continue to work. I’ve got to keep working. It’s obviously not fully there yet.” (courtesy LIV Golf)
Round 1 scores
T1. Crushers GC -12 (Casey 63, DeChambeau 66, Howell III 67, Lahiri 72)
T1. Torque GC -12 (Muñoz 65, Niemann 67, Ortiz 68, Pereira 68)
3. Fireballs GC -11 (Garcia 65, Masaveu 65, Puig 68, Ancer 71)
T4. HyFlyers GC -9 (Mickelson 67, Ogletree 67, Steele 68, Tringale 69)
T4. Iron Heads GC -9 (Jang 66, Lee 66, Na 70, Schniederjans 70)
6. Majesticks GC -8 (Horsfield 66, Stenson 66, Poulter 69, Westwood 71)
7. RangeGoats GC -7 (Uihlein 65, Watson 67, Campbell 69, Wolff 72)
8. Ripper GC -5 (Herbert 67, Jones 69, Smith 69, Leishman 70)
9. Stinger GC -4 (Burmester 66, Schwartzel 69, Grace 70, Oosthuizen 71)
T10. Legion XIII -2 (Hatton 67, McKibbin 67, Rahm 69, Surratt 75)
T10. Cleeks GC -2 (Kaymer 65, Kjettrup 70, Bland 71, Meronk 72)
12. 4Aces GC -1 (Pieters 67, Varner III 68, Reed 69, Johnson 75)
13. Smash GC +3 (McDowell 68, Gooch 70, Koepka 72, Kokrak 73)
Wild Cards: Lee 65, Kim 75
Round 1 stats
Driving accuracy: Sebastián Muñoz, Danny Lee, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: David Puig, 345.4 yards avg.
Longest drive: David Puig, 357.2 yards, 13th hole
Greens in regulation: Luis Masaveu, Sam Horsfield, Harold Varner III, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: 11 players at 100%, led by Cameron Tringale, 7 of 7
Putting: Andy Ogletree, 1.22 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Paul Casey (63), Martin Kaymer (65), Danny Lee (66), Henrik Stenson (66), Thomas Pieters (67), Tyrrell Hatton (67), Cameron Tringale (69)
Also read: Neimann claims Adelaide win, Fireballs put in a late burst
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