Brooks Koepka of Smash GC tees off during the first round of LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club on Friday. Image courtesy Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf.
By a Correspondent
Singapore: After suffering a “little low point” in Australia, Torque GC’s Sebastián Muñoz produced his best round of the 2024 season on Friday to take the first-round lead at LIV Golf Singapore.
Muñoz’s 6 under par 65 gives him a one-shot advantage over Smash captain Brooks Koepka, Cleeks captain Martin Kaymer, Iron Heads captain Kevin Na, RangeGoats’s Thomas Pieters, Cameron Tringale of the HyFlyers and Fireballs’ Abraham Ancer.
Another eight players were two shots back at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course, including Muñoz’s captain Joaquin Niemann, the current individual points leader.
The team leaderboard was just as crowded. Fireballs and Smash shared the lead on 11 under par, with Cleeks, RangeGoats and Stinger GC just one shot back.
Off-colour day
Current team points leaders and 2023 champions Crushers GC finished the day tied for last place with Majesticks GC with a counting score of 1 over.
Paul Casey had the team’s best score with a 2-under 69, and Anirban Lahiri also broke par with a 70.
But captain Bryson DeChambeau shot a 2-over 73 – the highest counting score by any player on Friday – and Charles Howell III shot a non-counting score of 76.
Both DeChambeau and Howell immediately went to the practice green after their rounds.
For Muñoz, Friday’s low round was a relief after his struggles in the first round at Adelaide. He had five bogeys, including three straight, in his final 10 holes to shoot a 1-over 72. It was his fourth score over par in his previous five rounds to that point.
“Kind of hit me hard,” Muñoz recalled. But his Torque teammates gathered together to offer support. “We kind of had a deep talk,” he said. “… Just having good, solid teammates can help you a lot.”
Muñoz bounced back with two solids rounds to finish up in Adelaide, then fed off that momentum Friday in Singapore, setting the tone with birdies on two of his first three holes.
“Really happy where the game is right now and kind of trending,” Muñoz said.
Koepka, celebrating his 34th birthday, found his putting stroke that has been mostly absent this season.
He opened with five birdies in his first seven holes, and then saved par with a 12-footer after his birdie attempt had rolled off the green. A three-putt on the par-4 16th was his only blemish.
“Thought I putted OK,” Koepka said. “Speed was off, but the ones that I needed to make, I felt like I made.”
On point
Pieters has found his form recently with a tie for ninth in Miami and a tie for 14th in Adelaide. His bogey-free 66 that included an eagle at the par-5 18th is his sixth consecutive sub-par round.
“Putting a lot of work in it over the last few months,” Pieters said. “I just had a rough time last year personally, and I finally found the time and the focus to kind of re-focus on my game. Been working on every aspect, and it’s kind of showing now.”
Ancer also continued his hot stretch that includes his first LIV Golf individual win two months ago in Hong Kong. He dropped an early shot but then found his rhythm the rest of the way, including a stretch of three consecutive birdies to finish up his first nine holes.
After finishing 47th out of 48 players in Singapore last year, Ancer is happy with the strong start to this week.
“I was not in the same spot with my swing last year,” Ancer said. “Not playing confident at the time. Feel a lot better today. Big difference.”
Kaymer was coming off his best LIV round, an 8 under 64 on Sunday in Adelaide, and continued to show positive signs with his 66.
Na, like Muñoz, played well in the last two rounds in Adelaide after a tough start and was bogey-free for his first 15 holes on Friday. (courtesy LIV Golf)
Round one counting scores
T1. Fireballs GC -11 (Ancer 66, Chacarra 67, Garcia 69)
T1. Smash GC -11 (Koepka 66, Gooch 68, McDowell 68)
T3. RangeGoats GC -10 (Pieters 66, Wolff 68, Uihlein 69)
T3. Cleeks GC -10 (Kaymer 66, Meronk 67, Bland 70)
T3. Stinger GC -10 (Burmester 67, Oosthuizen 67, Grace 69)
6. Torque GC -9 (Muñoz 65, Niemann 67, Ortiz 72)
T7. Ripper GC -8 (Herbert 67, Leishman 67, Smith 71)
T7. Legion XIII -8 (Hatton 68, Vincent 68, Rahm 69)
9. HyFlyers GC -7 (Tringale 66, Steele 68, Mickelson 72)
10. Iron Heads GC -5 (Na 66, Vincent 70, Lee 72)
11. 4Aces GC -4 (Johnson 67, Reed 71, Varner III 71)
T12. Crushers GC -1 (Casey 69, Lahiri 70, DeChambeau 73)
T12. Majesticks GC -1 (Poulter 70, Horsfield 71, Westwood 71)
Friday stats
Driving accuracy: Louis Oosthuizen, 92.86.% (13 of 14 fairways hit)
Driving distance: Joaquin Niemann, 330.4 yards avg.
Longest drive: Joaquin Niemann, 345.4 yards, 5th hole
Greens in regulation: Abraham Ancer, Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann, Matthew Wolff, 88.89% (16 of 18 greens)
Scrambling: Graeme McDowell (6 of 6), Jon Rahm (6 of 6), Scott Vincent (6 of 6), Paul Casey (4 of 4), Brooks Koepka (4 of 4), Thomas Pieters (3 of 3), Adrian Meronk (3 of 3), Matthew Wolff (2 of 2), 100%
Putting: Marc Leishman, 1.33 putts per hole
Bogey-free rounds: Thomas Pieters (66), Adrian Meronk (67), Graeme McDowell (68), Scott Vincent (70)
Also read: Singapore’s Serapong tees off the second half of LIV Golf season
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