Talor Gooch will take a four-shot lead into the second round of LIV Golf’s first event in Australia after shooting a 10-under 62 at The Grange in Adelaide.
The 31-year-old American started with a par on his opening hole in the shotgun-start format — the par-3 12th — but then had 10 birdies, including five in a row. Gooch, who has an Australian caddie, said his round of 59 “came into the head at one point” during his bogey-free round and has a new love for sandbelt golf after his first experience of it.
“If anyone says they‘re not surprised at 10-under, they’re lying to themselves,” Gooch said. “If there‘s no wind, there’s going to be some low scores out there. There are some birdies out there if you’re on your game, but if you’re not, as you can see in the scores, it’s not a cake walk.”
England’s Richard Bland and South African Dean Burmester shot 66s to lead the chasing pack in a tie for second, while five players are tied fourth on five under – Pat Perez, Danny Lee, Brendan Steele, Bernd Wiesberger and Graeme McDowell. Local favourite Cameron Smith shot an opening 69 and is tied with Brooks Koepka in 17th place.
Smith said the atmosphere created by the 75,000 sell-out crowd gave LIV ‘a lot of confidence and a little momentum’ and the Adelaide event was the benchmark for the fledgling tour. “This is probably the best atmosphere and the best crowd that we‘ve had. So it’s pretty cool to call that in Adelaide,” Smith said.
To view the full leaderboard and team scores, and watch round one highlights, visit www.livgolf.com.