Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka on his way to an opening 8 under par 62 on Friday at Bolingbrook Golf Course. Image courtesy LIV Golf/Jon Ferrey.
From a Correspondent
Bolingbrook: Brooks Koepka won the finale in each of LIV Golf’s first two seasons and is now chasing a third consecutive podium-topping finish at LIV Golf Chicago.
The Smash GC captain shot an 8 under 62 to grab a four-shot advantage after Friday’s first round on a challenging Bolingbrook Golf Club course with firm conditions and tricky winds.
Anirban Lahiri shot his steadiest round since losing to Sergio Garcia in the Valderrama title playoff to hold sole third place on 3 under 67, four behind the leader and one shy of teammate Paul Casey (66).
Koepka posted the only bogey-free round of the day, and his four-shot lead was just one short of the LIV Golf record for biggest lead after the opening round.
“A good player gets hot and they can shoot 62 pretty easy,” said Koepka. “There’s a bunch of guys out here than can do that. When it’s your day, it’s your day.”
With Crushers’ Casey in solo second, and Lahiri third, their captain, Bryson DeChambeau added a 68 as the 2023 team champions held a four-shot lead on the team leaderboard on 9 under for the day.
Positive momentum
Koepka entered this week with plenty of momentum, having won last month’s LIV Golf Greenbrier for his second victory of the year and record fifth of his LIV Golf career.
That win put him in position to make a run at the bonus-earning third place in the season-long points race that will be finalized upon the completion of LIV Golf Chicago.
Tyrrell Hatton is currently third in the season’s standings but Koepka can overtake the Legion XIII star with a win, provided Hatton finishes below third. Hatton left the door open after an opening 3-over 73 dropped him into a tie for 38th.
A year ago in the regular-season finale in Jeddah, Koepka successfully defended his tournament title by beating Talor Gooch in a playoff and finish third in the individual championship.
Koepka wasn’t aware of his position throughout last year’s tournament, but he knows what’s at stake this week. Even if he doesn’t win, there are scenarios in which he could move up with a second- or third-place finish.
Clear goal
His focus, though, is on the tournament trophy.
“I basically have to win to even have a chance,” he said, “so that’s what I’ve got to go do.”
The one thing Koepka can’t do, however, is win the individual title.
That battle is between Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm (195.17) and Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann (192.20), who are separated by less than three points and cannot now be caught.
Rahm and Niemann were in the same group on Friday, with Niemann shooting a 68 to Rahm’s 69. With the margins so slim, that difference of a single shot left Niemann projected to overtake Rahm for no. 1. The two players will be grouped again in Saturday’s second round.
“Look, there’s a lot of golf to play,” Niemann said. “It’s a good start, yes, but there’s still a nice long weekend to come, so looking forward to that.”
Rahm will win the title as long as he ties or finishes ahead of Niemann on the final leaderboard on Sunday. “We’ve got two more days,” Rahm said. “Hopefully we’ll keep it going and get a little better every day.”
Top form
That may not be enough to catch Koepka for the tournament title. The five-time major winner is in his best form of the season, and it showed on a day when others struggled.
He led the field in scrambling, converting all six chances, and his putter was red-hot, particularly in his last six holes when he made five birdies. He called it the best putting day he’s had “in a long time.”
“It was a bit of an odd day,” Koepka said. “The first seven, eight holes, I hit it absolutely terrible. I know what it feels like to be Cameron Smith. I think I made every putt I looked at, so it was nice to be like him for a day.”
And if Koepka continues to imitate LIV Golf’s best putter?
“Good luck,” said Casey. “Just give him the trophy now.”
Niemann will also be hoping to claim his third title of the season. He won two of the first three tournaments and led the points standings until Rahm overtook him last month in Greenbrier.
“It all depends how the weekend goes,” said Niemann, whose round was highlighted with a hole-out from 31 yards at the par-4 eighth. “If I’m in a position where I can win the tournament, I’m going to try to be aggressive and try to chase that.”
Rahm was a bogey-free 2 under through 15 holes until finding trouble with his chip shot from just off the 16th green, leading to his only bogey.
“I think it’s one of those days where my score is better than how I played today,” Rahm said. “It wasn’t my best by any stretch. … It’s a tricky golf course, and with the wind added, it’s not the easiest to shoot low when you’re not feeling your best.”
Bland penalised
In round one, the group of Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed and Richard Bland were officially warned by a rules official after their fifth hole (hole 10), where the group was out of position on the golf course as well as behind in relation to time par.
After their seventh hole of the day (hole 12) the group, who had further lost position on the course, was officially timed by a rules official.
As per LIV Golf League’s Pace of Play Policy, “A player has 40 seconds to play each stroke, with an additional 10 seconds if they are the first to play any stroke in the group”.
On the 12th hole, Bland’s second stroke was timed exceeding the allotted time per policy. He was immediately notified by an official and assessed a one-stroke penalty as well as fined $10,000. (courtesy LIV Golf media)
Day 1 counting scores
1 Crushers GC -9 (Casey 66, Lahiri 67, DeChambeau 68)
T2. 4Aces GC -5 (Johnson 68, Reed 68, Varner III 69)
T2. Smash GC -5 (Koepka 62, Gooch 71, McDowell 72)
4. Majesticks GC -3 (Poulter 68, Stenson 68, Westwood 71)
5. Fireballs GC -2 (Ancer 69, Garcia 69, Chacarra 70)
6. Stinger GC E (Oosthuizen 69, Burmester 70, Grace 71)
T7. RangeGoats GC +1 (Pieters 69, Uihlein 69, Watson 73)
T7. Torque GC +1 (Niemann 68, Ortiz 71, Muñoz 72)
T7. Cleeks GC +1 (Kaymer 69, Meronk 71, Samooja 71)
10. Ripper GC +2 (Herbert 68, Jones 71, Smith 73)
11. Iron Heads GC +4 (Kozuma 71, Vincent 71, Na 72)
12. Legion XIII +7 (Rahm 69, Hatton 73, Vincent 75)
13. HyFlyers GC +10 (Ogletree 72, Steele 73, Tringale 75)
Day 1 stats
Driving accuracy: Patrick Reed, Andy Ogletree, 78.57% (11 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Dustin Johnson, 382.4 yards avg.
Longest drive: Dustin Johnson, 396.7 yards, 1st hole
Greens in regulation: Patrick Reed, 77.78% (14 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Brooks Koepka (6 of 6), 100%
Putting: Ian Poulter, 1.17 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Brooks Koepka (62)
Also read: LIV Golf Chicago set for more than a few season-ending battles
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