ROSTER: Jon Rahm is used to the competition after most rounds of LIV Golf this season. But for the first time since entering the league, he has a complete lead.
With a bogey-free 8-under 63, Rahm has a two-stroke lead over Abraham Unser and Andy Ogletree after the first round at JCB's LIV Golf UK. Meanwhile, his Legion XIII tops the team leaderboard by one shot, edging out Smash GC, HyFlyers GC, and Fireballs GC.
Friday's round was the 29th that Rahm has completed at LIV Golf. He was in the top 5 after 13 of those rounds, including the lead after the first round in Jeddah.
Ram was in the top 10 six more times. He has finished in the top 10 in each of his nine completed tournaments — in Houston he had to withdraw due to a foot infection — and is currently second to Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann in the season standings.
It's an impressive display of consistency that Rahm hopes will lead to his first individual LIV Golf title this week at JCB Golf & Country Club.
“Obviously, there's not much to say but good things,” said Rahm, who entered the week tied for seventh at the Open, his best major finish of the year. “Played very good golf all day. On days like this, it seems effortless.”
Rahm played in the same group with his teammate and former Ryder Cup partner, Tyrell Hutton, along with another Legion XIII player, Caleb Surratt, as the LIV Golf captains were paired with their top two teammates in the first round.
Not only did Rahm go low — the 8-under score matches his lowest LIV Golf round relative to par — but Hutton shot a 66 to bounce back from an opening double bogey. The duo pushed Legion XIII to a 12-point deficit, which also included Kieran Vincent's 72 points. Legion XIII won three team titles during its first season and is second in points behind Crushers GC.
“It was the first time I played with teammates at LIV Golf,” said Rahm, who had six birdies in the final nine holes to break out of the group. “I wasn't sure how it would go. I was a little curious.”
Hutton said: “We've shared some pretty cool stages over the last few years and we usually play well when we play together. So it was nice for both of us to play some good golf and get some momentum going into the weekend.”
Ancer, a playoff winner earlier this year in Hong Kong, finished with a bang. The Fireballs star birdied four of the last five holes during a brilliant putting round that saw him lead the way.
Ogletree's best finish in his first full season of LIV Golf is third in Adelaide. He's been battling a wrist injury that could require surgery in the offseason and has forced him to make some adjustments to his swing to ease the pain.
“I've had a lot of days where I've played 13 and 14 really good holes and then kind of held myself back because of a bad stretch,” the HyFlyers player said. “I was in it all day today and played some good golf.”
Hatton and Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith are tied for fourth, while a group of seven players — including Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka and local Sam Horsfield of Majesticks GC — are four shots off the lead in a tie for sixth.
On a course that was unfamiliar to most players and expected to be reluctant to give up low scores, 35 of the 54 players on the course broke par, with an average shot more than one shot under par.
This was no surprise to Ram. “You can't say it's surprising when the best players in the world show up on the course,” he said.
Standings and scoring for Friday's opening round:
The top three scores from each team count in the first two rounds and all four in the final round. The team with the lowest total after three rounds wins the team title.
1. LEGION XIII -12 (Ram 63, Hatton 66, Vincent 72)
T2. FIREBALLS GC -11 (Anser 65, Garcia 68, Puch 69)
T2. SMASH GC -11 (Koepka 67, McDowell 67, Gooch 68)
T2. HYFLYERS GC -11 (Ogletree 65, Tringale 67, Mickelson 70)
T5. RIPPER GC -9 (Smith 66, Herbert 69, Jones 69)
T5. RANGEGOATS GC -9 (Wolff 67, Uihlein 68, Watson 69)
7. STINGER GC -8 (Oosthuizen 67, Burmester 68, Schwartzel 70)
8. TORQUE GC -6 (Muñas 68, Niemann 69, Pereira 70)
T9. Crushers GC -5 (Casey 67, Lahiri 69, Kathleen 72)
T9. CLEEKS GC -5 (Meronk 68, Bland 69, Samoja 71)
11. MAJESTICS GC -4 (Horsfield 67, Stenson 70, Westwood 72)
12. 4ACES GC -1 (Warner 69, Johnson 71, Reed 72)
13. IRON HEADS GC Even (Na 70, Vincent 70, Kozuma 73)
