Patrick Reed of 4Aces GC celebrates his hole-in-one at the Watering Hole during the first round of LIV Golf Adelaide on Friday. Image courtesy LIV Golf/Jon Ferrey.
From a Correspondent
Adelaide, South Australia: Patrick Reed set off an early celebration in Friday’s opening round at LIV Golf Adelaide with an ace.
Majesticks GC’s Sam Horsfield and a couple of Torque GC teammates then followed with the lowest scores on a challenging day at The Grange Golf Club.
Horsfield moved atop the individual leaderboard with a 6 under par 66, while Torque took the team lead at 8 under thanks to a pair of 67s by captain Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz.
Defending champion Ripper GC received massive support from their Australian fans but struggled through the day and now must play catch-up this weekend. They’ll start Saturday’s second round 11 shots behind Torque.
It was Reed who produced the day’s biggest shot, making a hole-in-one at the Watering Hole less than 20 minutes after the shotgun start.
His 8-iron at the 151-yard par 3 set off a scene reminiscent of two years ago when Chase Koepka delivered LIV Golf’s first ace at the famous party hole. Reed’s ace is the ninth in league history.
Party time
“It’s awesome to give the fans what they want,” said Reed, making his fifth competitive ace (and sixth overall) of his career. “That’s why we want to be out here: Golf, but louder.”
Reed was playing with his 4Aces teammates Varner and Thomas Pieters, as all non-captains were in the same groups as their teammates. Reed had the ace, Pieters had a birdie, and Varner had a par on the 12th hole.
“That was cool and an awesome moment,” Reed said. “For us to go 1, 2, 3 on that hole was pretty fun.”
Reed’s hole-in-one was one of the few highlights of his 1-over 73; the rest of the day belonged to a variety of other competitors, among them multiple major winners Dustin Johnson (68), Bryson DeChambeau (68) and Brooks Koepka (69), each inside the top 10 of the leaderboard.
But it was Horsfield who emerged with the solo lead, thanks to shooting the only bogey-free round of the day.
Clean run
In fact, Horsfield has made just one bogey in his last 60 holes going back to last week’s LIV Golf Riyadh, in which he tied for 12th. He’ll enter this weekend in search of his first LIV Golf title.
“I feel like I’m playing really, really good,” said the English-born Horsfield.
Sam Horsfield of Majesticks GC, the day one leader at LIV Golf Adelaide who was bogey free on the day. Image courtesy LIV Golf/Pedro Salado.
“Played solid last week. It’s just nice to see that momentum from last week carry over and be able to put a low one out there today and try to do more of the same this weekend.
“It’s an amazing game,” Horsfield said. “Two years ago here, I was probably the most upset and pissed off I’d been for a long time on a golf course, and now I’m here leading after the first round. It’s an amazing game, and hard work and perseverance can bring you a long way.”
Ortiz had the solo lead until a couple of late bogeys, and his captain Niemann also shared the lead temporarily until suffering his only bogey of the day on his next-to-last hole.
Still, it was a productive afternoon for both players, who combined to win three individual titles a year ago.
“It’s unbelievable,” Ortiz said of the atmosphere in Adelaide. “The people here are great. The music is even better. This is probably my favourite tournament I’ve ever played on.”
Devastating blow
Crushers GC and India star Anirban Lahiri was in a share of the lead at 5 under after 16 holes but saw his chances destroyed with a quadruple-bogey 9 at the Par-5 10th hole.
It took him seven shots to reach the green including a penalty drop fourth by which time the Crushers had slipped off the team lead as well as they finished in a tie for fifth place after day one.
Niemann tied for third in Adelaide a year ago, and in 2023, he won the Australian Open. He said the enthusiastic Australian golf fans are definitely a factor in how well he performs down under.
“The Australian crowd is really good. They kind of like me a little bit, I think, and you can feel the energy,” Niemann said. “There’s a few guys following around, really energized, enjoying my shots, enjoying when I was making a putt. So that gets me going.”
DeChambeau was 4 under through his first nine holes but two poor swings resulted in a double-bogey 7 at the par-5 ninth. Thanks to a hot putter, though, he battled back down the stretch to stay close to the leaders and give himself a shot at his first individual LIV Golf title since 2023.
“Certainly, this is one of the best LIV events if not the best LIV event on our schedule, and it’s a joy coming back here with the fans and the people and the atmosphere,” DeChambeau said. “This is what LIV Golf is about.” (courtesy LIV Golf)
Day 1 scores
1. Torque GC -8 (Niemann 67, Ortiz 67, Pereira 72, Muñoz 74)
T2. Fireballs GC -6 (Ancer 68, Puig 70, Garcia 71, Masaveu 73)
T2. Legion XIII -6 (Hatton 70, McKibbin 70, Rahm 70, Surratt 72)
T2. 4Aces GC -6 (Johnson 68, Varner III 70, Pieters 71, Reed 73)
T5. Stinger GC -5 (Schwartzel 69, Burmester 70, Grace 72, Oosthuizen 72)
T5. Crushers GC -5 (DeChambeau 68, Lahiri 71, Casey 72, Howell III 72)
7. Majesticks GC -2 (Horsfield 66, Stenson 69, Poulter 74, Westwood 77)
8. HyFLyers GC E (Ogletree 70, Tringale 71, Mickelson 72, Steele 75)
T9. Smash GC +3 (Koepka 69, Kokrak 73, McDowell 73, Gooch 76)
T9. Iron Heads GC +3 (Lee 70, Jang 71, Na 71, Ormsby 79)
T9. Ripper GC +3 (Herbert 71, Smith 72, Leishman 73, Jones 75)
12. Cleeks GC +4 (Bland 69, Meronk 71, Kaymer 73, Kjettrup 79)
13. RangeGoats GC +5 (Watson 70, Campbell 73, Uihlein 73, Wolff 77)
Wild Cards: Lee 72, Kim 73
Round 1 stats
Driving accuracy: Kevin Na, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: David Puig, 327.6 yards avg.
Longest drive: David Puig, 345.2 yards, 17th hole
Greens in regulation: Yubin Jang, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Sam Horsfield, 4 of 4 (100%)
Putting: Brooks Koepka, 1.22 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Sam Horsfield (66)
Also read: Meronk breaks through at Riyadh as Legion XIII sweep to win
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