Patrick Reed tops on rough opening day at LIV Golf Miami

Patrick Reed’s 67 was by far the best score on a testing first day in LIV Golf Miami at Doral’s Blue Monster course on Friday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.

From a Correspondent

Miami: For 17 holes in Friday’s first round at LIV Golf Miami, Patrick Reed played perfect golf under difficult scoring conditions to sit atop the leaderboard.

While his final hole didn’t end the way he wanted, the 4Aces GC star remained upbeat after a brilliant performance on the Blue Monster.
 
Reed shot a 5 under par 67 for a two-shot lead at Trump National Doral. It’s the first time he’s held the solo lead after any round of his 37 career regular-season starts on LIV Golf.
 
His closest challengers own a combined 10 majors, as HyFlyers GC captain Phil Mickelson, Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau and Reed’s 4Aces captain Dustin Johnson all shot 69s.
 
Reed owned a five-shot lead late in the day before a double bogey on his final hole, the par-3 ninth, when his 4-iron sailed left and into the rough, leaving him with a tough lie.
 
But there were too many positive moments for Reed to be disappointed. Bogey-free through 17 holes, he was one of just nine players who managed to shoot under par during a day of firm greens and windy conditions.

The field’s scoring average was nearly 2.5 strokes over par.

Good record

“I know how hard this place can get,” said Reed, who won a World Golf Championships event at Doral in 2014. “When the wind blows here, it’s nerve-wracking. … There’s a reason why it’s called the Blue Monster. It’s a beast.”

Mickelson, a six-time major winner who has more experience playing at Doral than anybody else in the field, said the conditions were as difficult as he’s ever seen them.
 
“I look at what Patrick Reed did and just amazed because although we’ve seen low scores here on this course in the past, we haven’t really seen them under these conditions,” Mickelson said.

“That was an exceptional round that he played.”
 
There were 19 rounds of 76 or higher, with 12 of the 13 LIV Golf teams suffering at least one of those high scores. Individual points leader Joaquin Niemann, the Torque GC captain who has won two of the season’s first four events, shot a 78.

The only team escaping unharmed were DeChambeau’s Crushers, who shot a collective 2 under that included even-par 72s from Anirban Lahiri and Paul Casey and a 73 from Charles Howell III.

Bryson DeChambeau and his Crushers GC are past winners at LIV Miami and started well at Doral on Friday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.

Tough unit

“Love those boys. There’s a reason we won here in 2023,” said DeChambeau, referencing the Crushers’ Team Championship victory.

“They like this golf course. They like a tough, challenging golf course where you can strategically play and let everybody else kind of mess up on their own.”

The 4Aces, who won the Team Championship in 2022 at Doral, are in solo second at even par while Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC are in solo third at 5 over. The league-leading Fireballs are seeking a fourth consecutive tournament title.
 
A winner of seven LIV Golf team trophies, Reed will enter the weekend seeking his individual title. It would be a great momentum boost heading into next week’s Masters, in which he’s a past champion.

But he expects the Blue Monster to continue wreaking havoc this weekend.
 
“We’ve got a lot of golf left,” Reed said. “36 holes around this place is nothing. It’s a freaking eternity.” (courtesy LIV Golf)

Round one scores

1. Crushers GC -2 (DeChambeau 69, Casey 72, Lahiri 72, Howell III 73)
 
2. 4Aces GC E (Reed 67, Johnson 69, Varner III 72, Pieters 80)
 
3. Fireballs GC +5 (Garcia 70, Masaveu 72, Ancer 74, Puig 77)
 
4. Ripper GC +7 (Leishman 71, Smith 73, Jones 74, Herbert 77)
 
5. Legion XIII +8 (Surratt 72, McKibbin 73, Rahm 73, Hatton 78)
 
6. Stinger GC +10 (Schwartzel 70, Burmester 72, Grace 77, Oosthuizen 79)
 
T7. HyFlyers GC +11 (Mickelson 69, Tringale 73, Steele 75, Ogletree 82)

T7. Iron Heads GC +11 (Jang 74, Na 74, D. Lee 75, Song 76)
 
9. Torque GC +12 (Muñoz 70, Ortiz 74, Niemann 78, Pereira 78)
 
10. Smash GC +13 (Koepka 73, Kokrak 73, Gooch 76, McDowell 79)
 
T10. RangeGoats GC +13 (Uihlein 72, Wolff 75, Watson 76, Campbell 79)
 
12. Majesticks GC +16 (Horsfield 75, Poulter 75, Stenson 76, Westwood 78)
 
13. Cleeks GC +22 (Kaymer 75, Kjettrup 78, Meronk 78, Bland 79)
 
Wild Cards: Kim 74, C. Lee 76

Round one stats

Driving accuracy: Phil Mickelson, Sebastián Muñoz, Cameron Tringale, Henrik Stenson, 78.57% (11 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Wolff, 337.6 yards avg.
Longest drive: Dean Burmester, 384.5 yards, 1st hole
Greens in regulation: Sebastián Muñoz, 83.33% (15 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Phil Mickelson, 83.33% (5 of 6)
Putting: Charl Schwartzel, 1.33 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: none

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