LIV Golf Mayakoba: Day One
Historic day for Joaco: It took nearly two full seasons to see LIV’s first sub-60 round when Bryson DeChambeau shot 58 in August 2023. One round into 2024, we have already seen a 59. Joaquin Niemann had 10 birdies and an eagle en route to a bogey-free first-round 59. At one point, Niemann was knocking on the door of 57, which would’ve been the lowest round ever across professional golf. Niemann’s -12 has helped propel Torque to the top of the team leaderboard as well. Teammate Sebastian Munoz shot a 2-under-par 68 to find himself tied for 9th after day one.
The Top 10: Rounding out the top three after day one are Patrick Reed and Sergio Garcia, shooting 64 and 65 respectively. Reed was bogey-free as well with seven birdies. Garcia had eight birdies but two bogeys are the difference between Garcia and second place. Tied for fourth is a trio of Jon Rahm, Laurie Canter, and Richard Bland. Rahm was impressive in his LIV debut, finishing the day at 6-under with seven birdies. Canter, playing as a wild card, had an early bogey but rallied to shoot a 55 on the next 15 holes. Bland is picking up where he left off last season on his last day as a 49-year-old, recording seven birdies. Dustin Johnson and Dean Burmester find themselves tied for seventh both shooting a 4-under-par 67. Joining Munoz in a tie for 9th are Charles Howell III, last year’s winner at Maykoba, and Ripper GC’s Marc Leishman. The three finish the day with 68s to round out the top ten. Howell III scored an eagle on his fifth hole of the day while Leishman recorded four birdies.
Solid start for the Cleeks: Seeing the podium only once in 2023, the Cleeks find themselves in second place after day one. Richard Bland leads the pack while debutant Kalle Samooja ended the day in 12th, shooting a first-round 69. Missing time to injury in 2023, Martin Kaymer finished day one -1 in a tie for 18th place. Adrian Meronk in his LIV debut shot 4-over-par to find himself in 49th. Not much to worry about though, Meronk is coming off an illness that forced him to withdraw from last week's PGA Farmers Insurance Open.
The Debutants: Rahm and Samooja were impressive in their debuts. Meronk is coming off an illness. Time to see how the rest have done. Ripper GC’s Lucas Herbert was -1 in a tie for 18th along with seven other players. Legion XIII’s Caleb Surratt in his professional debut finds himself scoring an even 71 in a tie for 26th after day one. Joining Surratt in a tie for 26th is Iron Heads Jinicharo Kozuma. Surratt’s teammates Tyrell Hatton and Kieran Vincent are at +1, good for a tie of 32nd.
