Sebastian Munoz of Torque GC obliges a fan after his record run in the opening round of LIV Golf Indianapolis at Chatham Hills on Friday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Westfield, Indianapolis: Sebastian Munoz said he forgave himself for making a couple of bad shots that led to an early double bogey in his opening round Friday at LIV Golf Indianapolis.
He immediately bounced back with a birdie. Then another. Then another. Then the Torque GC veteran couldn’t stop making birdies.
Muñoz made 13 birdies in his last 14 holes at The Club at Chatham Hills to shoot a 12-under 59.
It’s the third sub-60 round in LIV Golf history and is believed to be the only sub-60 round on an elite professional golf tour to include a double bogey, according to the league’s data analysts.
“Awesome, awesome day,” Muñoz said.
Starting his round on the second hole, he birdied the fourth but followed it with a double bogey at the par-4 fifth. He then chipped in for birdie at the par-4 sixth, setting off a stretch of eight consecutive birdies that set a new LIV Golf record.
Record run
After a par at the par-3 14th hole, he finished his round with another five birdies, including a 3-foot putt on his last hole, the par-4 first. The 14 total birdies in his round is also a league record.
“I’ve done eight birdies in a row. I tied my personal record,” said Muñoz, whose previous low round on LIV Golf was 62 and previous career low, 60.
“But 13 out of 14, it’s insane. I’ve never sniffed that. Really proud of the way I handled the day, the start of the day, and how I just kind of sorted through.”
Muñoz’s historic round gives him a three-shot lead over 4Aces GC captain Dustin Johnson , with four other players – including Muñoz’s captain Joaquin Niemann – tied for third at 7 under after shooting 64s.
No surprise that Torque top the team leaderboard with a collective 23 under, four shots better than 4Aces GC.
Niemann himself appeared to be on 59 watch after an opening 6-under 28 on his front nine to set the early pace.
Step by step
Although he couldn’t sustain the momentum on his final nine, he did move one round closer to dethroning Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm as LIV Golf’s individual champion.
Niemann started the day with a lead of more than 12 points over Rahm in their battle for the season-long crown.
With Rahm shooting a 4-under 67 in the same group, Niemann increased his lead to a projected 27.18 points with two rounds remaining in the regular season.
“In a way, it feels kind of like a match play,” Niemann said. “… I think he’s a great competitor. He’s somebody that’s never giving up, and he’s a fighter.”
Rahm’s best chance of successfully defending his title from last year is to win the tournament and hope Niemann doesn’t finish second.
For now, both players are chasing Muñoz, who is seeking his first LIV Golf individual tournament win.
Hot putter
He credited the chip-in at the sixth as a way to forget the double bogey, and then his putter took over, as he rolled in three putts between 14-17 feet during his eight-birdie stretch.
He rolled in three more birdie putts between 15-21 feet from holes 16 to 18.
“That really made me believe that it was possible,” Muñoz said about breaking 60.
He still had to birdie his last hole, the 405-yard first. A perfect drive set up his downwind approach with his 50-degree wedge from 127 yards that he stuck to three feet.
His caddie Jose Campra convinced him to use his 3-wood off the tee.
“It’s one of the clubs I don’t really love in my bag but obviously it just required a little bit more focus, a little bit more trust,” Muñoz said. “We managed to pull through.”
Video-watch
Niemann, who had the league’s most recent sub-60 round (59 in the first round in last year’s season opener at Mayakoba), heard about Muñoz’s run of eight consecutive birdies and started following his teammate’s progress on the course videoboards.
“He’s a really hot player,” Niemann said. “We’ve seen that a lot of times. Obviously, he made it. It’s pretty cool, and it’s nice to have one of those runs. Now I can’t say that I’m the only one on the team with a 59.”
The field average of 68.519 in the first round is nearly 2-1/2 strokes under par at The Club at Chatham Hills.
A total of 17 eagles were made on Friday, including 10 at the 554-yard par-5 seventh, which played to a stroke average of 4.148. That made it the easiest hole in any single round in LIV Golf history.
“With this type of golf course, you’ve got to be able to put on the gas and get going,” said 4Aces star Patrick Reed after shooting a 7-under 64 that left him tied for third. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Round 1 scores
1. Torque GC 23 (Muñoz 59, Niemann 64, Pereira 68, Ortiz 70)
2. 4Aces GC -19 (Johnson 62, Pieters 64, Reed 64, Varner III 75)
3. HyFlyers GC -15 (Tringale 66, Mickelson 67, Ogletree 67, Steele 69)
T4. Crushers GC -14 (Casey 67, DeChambeau 67, Lahiri 67, Howell III 69)
T4. Legion XIII -14 (McKibbin 67, Rahm 67, Surratt 67, Hatton 69)
6. Fireballs GC -13 (Ancer 65, Puig 67, Garcia 69, Ballester 70)
7. RangeGoats GC -12 (Watson 66, Campbell 67, Wolff 68, Uihlein 71)
8. Majesticks GC -9 (Stenson 66, Poulter 68, Westwood 70, Horsfield 71)
9. Ripper GC -8 (Smith 64, Leishman 65, Herbert 72, Jones 75)
10. Stinger GC -7 (Grace 67, Burmester 68, Schwartzel 70, Oosthuizen 72)
11. Smash GC -4 (Gooch 68, Kokrak 68, McDowell 68, Koepka 76)
12. Iron Heads GC -2 (Lee 68, Kozuma 69, Jang 70, Na 75)
13. Cleeks GC +4 (Meronk 67, Kaymer 69, Bland 73, Kjettrup 79)
Wild Cards: C. Lee 71, Kim 73
Round 1 stats
Driving accuracy: Sebastián Muñoz, Anirban Lahiri, Ben Campbell, Lee Westwood, Kevin Na, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance average (for measured holes 7 and 17): Jon Rahm, 385.0 yards avg.
Longest drive (among measured holes 7 and 17): Joaquin Niemann, 406.2 yards, 7th hole
Greens in regulation: Sebastián Muñoz, Paul Casey, Danny Lee, Dean Burmester, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Caleb Surratt (6 of 6), Thomas Pieters (5 of 5), Talor Gooch (5 of 5), Abraham Ancer (4 of 4), Cameron Smith (3 of 3), Henrik Stenson (3 of 3), David Puig (3 of 3), Anirban Lahiri (3 of 3), Paul Casey (2 of 2) 100%
Putting: Sebastián Muñoz, 1.22 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Cameron Smith (64), Henrik Stenson (66), Caleb Surratt (67), Paul Casey (67), Talor Gooch (68)
Also read: Double playoff delight for Burmester and Stingers at Chicago
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