Dustin Johnson, captain of event leaders the 4Aces, drives off the first tee on day two of LIV Golf Dallas at Maridoe Golf Club on Saturday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
From a Correspondent
Carrollton, Texas: Since joining LIV Golf, Patrick Reed has 11 top five finishes, including five podium results. He’s celebrated seven team victories with the 4Aces GC, including the inaugural 2022 team championship.
He’s twice finished inside the top six in the season-long points race.
But he’s yet to win an individual LIV Golf title in his first 41 regular season starts, making him arguably the best league player without a win.
And Reed’s yet to win a professional tournament in his home state of Texas, where he was born and still resides.
He’s 18 holes away from changing both narratives on Sunday at LIV Golf Dallas presented by Aramco.
Thanks to a solid 4 under par 68 on a challenging Maridoe Golf Club course, Reed moved to 9 under and will take a three-shot lead entering the final round.
It’s his first 36-hole lead since joining LIV Golf for the league’s first US-based event in Portland in 2022.
Long wait
“To get my first LIV victory as well as doing it in my home state would mean a lot,” said the Houston resident who was born in San Antonio.
“But really, at the end of the day, instead of trying to focus on what happens on the 54th hole, it’s stay in the moment. Stay in the present.”
His 4Aces team also hopes to stay in the present as they seek their first victory since the 2023 tournament in London.
The Aces, led by Dustin Johnson, have a four-shot lead over Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII and Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, who have won the previous two LIV Golf team titles.
No other team is within 13 shots of the lead.
Reed, meanwhile, has plenty of pursuers, many of whom – like Reed himself – are hungry to win their first LIV Golf individual titles.
The Crushers’ Paul Casey shot a 5 under 67 and is tied for second at 6 under with Fireballs GC ‘s Abraham Ancer, who carded a second consecutive 69.
Close contest
In a four-way tie for fifth at 5 under are Cleeks GC’s Richard Bland, Fireballs’ David Puig, 4Aces’ Harold Varner III and Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton, who produced the low round of the day with a 65.
His captain Jon Rahm is solo eighth at 4 under.
Four of the top seven players have never won a LIV Golf tournament – Reed, Casey, Bland and Puig. And Puig is the only player who ranks inside the top 20 in driving distance average this season.
Maridoe, despite its 7,533-yard layout, is rewarding the shot-makers this week in the Texas heat.
“If you’re not in the fairway, you’re going to struggle,” Ancer said. “You’re going to make big numbers. Bogeys come really, really quickly, even if you’re in the fairway.”
Ancer should know. He had a rollercoaster round that included seven birdies – including four straight on his first nine – along with four bogeys and one up-and-down par after an approach shot bounced off the flagstick and rolled off the green at the 8th hole.
“I felt like I stayed in it mentally really well,” said the San Antonio resident.
Casey’s round had less drama and ended on a high note with three consecutive birdies. Hatton’s round, on the flip side, started with three straight birdies.
Reed also produced three consecutive birdies and was among the steadiest of performers, hitting 78% of his greens in regulation. His challenge on Sunday will be to stay focused on the task at hand.
“The golf game feels pretty solid,” Reed said. “Everything seems to be tight and where I want it to be.
“The biggest thing is going out there and not trying to press, not trying to force anything and really just go out and try to win the day as if it’s a Monday qualifier.”
And his chasers?
“Looking like the way he’s playing, he’s not going to go backwards,” Bland said. “We’ve got to go get him.” (courtesy LIV Golf)
Round 2 scores
1. 4Aces GC -12 (Reed 68, Pieters 71, Varner 72, Johnson 74; Rd. 2 score: -3)
T2. Legion XIII -8 (Hatton 65, McKibbin 71, Rahm 72, Surratt 72; Rd. 2 score: -8)
T2. Crushers GC -8 (Casey 67, Howell III 71, DeChambeau 72, Lahiri 73; Rd. 2 score: -5)
T4. Stinger GC +2 (Burmester 71, Grace 71, Oosthuizen 71, Schwartzel 74; Rd. 2 score: -1)
T4. Fireballs GC +2 (Ancer 69, Puig 69, Garcia 74, Ballester 76; Rd. 2 score: E)
6. Cleek GC +7 (Bland 69, Rottluff 70, Meronk 72, Kaymer 74; Rd. 2 score: -3)
7. Torque GC +14 (Niemann 66, Muñoz 70, Ortiz 70, Pereira 79; Rd. 2 score: -3)
T8. Ripper GC +15 (Leishman 70, Herbert 71, Smith 71, Jones 75; Rd. 2 score: -1)
T8. HyFlyers GC +15 (Steele 69, Tringale 73, Mickelson 74, Ogletree 78; Rd. 2 score: +6)
10. Majesticks GC +16 (Horsfield 72, Stenson 73, Westwood 75, Poulter 78; Rd. 2 score: +10)
11. RangeGoats GC +18 (Campbell 70, Watson 73, Uihlein 75, Schniederjans 78; Rd. 2 score: +8)
T12. Smash GC +22 (Gooch 70, Kokrak 74, McDowell 74, Carrera 77; Rd. 2 score: +7)
T12. Iron Heads GC +22 (Kozuma 70, Lee 76, Jang 79, Na 79; Rd. 2 score: +16)
Wild Cards: C. Lee 71, Kim 74,
Round 2 stats
Driving accuracy: Henrik Stenson, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance average (for measured holes 13 and 18): Joaquin Niemann, 355.7 yards avg.
Longest drive (among measured holes 13 and 18): Jon Rahm, 381.6 yards, 18th hole
Greens in regulation: Patrick Reed, Paul Casey, Ben Campbell, Sam Horsfield, Chieh-Po Lee, 77.78% (14 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Tyrrell Hatton, Richard Bland (6 of 7), 85.71%
Putting: Tyrrell Hatton, 1.17 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: none.
Also read: With Reed, Varner firing, 4Aces top LIV Dallas leaderboards
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