Many individuals would have backed a Spaniard to win this week’s LIV Golf occasion in Miami. Only a few would have predicted it to be Sergio Garcia.
The 2017 Masters champion is considered one of 13 gamers from the Saudi-backed circuit going to Augusta Nationwide subsequent week the place golf’s greatest gamers will lastly reconvene once more.
And of that bunch, it was Garcia and one other Masters veteran in Bubba Watson who confirmed indicators of kind lower than per week earlier than the season’s first main championship.
Jon Rahm would have been fancied greater than his compatriot right here in South Florida however a promising first spherical fizzled out because of a double-bogey seven on the tenth.
Earlier than that the reigning Masters champion acquired off to a flying begin as he seeks his first win on LIV since his $500million defection final yr.
Sergio Garcia has a share of the lead at LIV Miami after a strong five-under par spherical on Friday
The Spaniard has a brand new putter within the bag and it paid off with a strong efficiency on the greens
Two birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes put Rahm on target for a elegant begin however that double bogey – and one other dropped shot on the fifteenth – stemmed the stream as he completed two off the lead.
By definition, the Blue Monster course at Trump Doral is notoriously troublesome to tame and the opening 18 of 54 holes has left the weekend properly poised.
Garcia posted a five-under 67, giving him a three-way share of the lead alongside American duo Talor Gooch and Peter Uihlein.
The 44-year-old determined to refurbish the putter he used 25 years in the past when he was a rookie and placing it in his bag this week was a call that gave him instantaneous outcomes.
Garcia’s scorecard was faultless. His spherical contained 13 pars and 5 birdies, the final of which on his ultimate gap of the day handed him a slice of the lead.
Gooch had the lead till a bogey on his ultimate gap, the par-4 second gap within the shotgun begin. Uihlein dropped just one shot, on the par-4 18th, in his spherical of 67.
Watson, whose easy, left-handed swing remains to be considered one of golf’s best sights, is amongst a congested group of 4 who sit one shot again.
The 2-time Masters champion would have been degree with Garcia and Co on the prime too, had he not bogeyed the 18th – the one blemish on his scorecard.
Watson is aware of this course effectively as a three-time runner-up when it hosted a World Golf Championship occasion on the PGA Tour. He can be determined to slay the Blue Monster for good this weekend.
Jon Rahm’s promising spherical fizzled out because of a double-bogey seven on the tenth gap
Brooks Koepka is degree with Rahm at three-under par, with the 2 paired collectively on Saturday
Dustin Johnson is hoping to safe one other Inexperienced Jacket subsequent week and opened with a 70
Tyrrell Hatton remains to be new to the LIV Golf scene and chasing his first win this week in Miami
Like Rahm, Brooks Koepka can be closely fancied to win at Augusta subsequent week and he additionally got here away with a three-under spherical. These two will play collectively on Saturday in a repeat of final yr’s thrilling Masters finale.
Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann are all a part of the Masters contingent and so they completed underneath par to stay touching distance of the main trio.
Adrian Meronk, the participant of the yr in Europe in 2023, produced a gradual even-par spherical.
It was not an excellent day, nevertheless, for former Open champion Cameron Smith.
The Australian, as soon as a dominant drive on the PGA Tour, completed three-over thanks to 5 bogeys and a double bogey.
Phil Mickelson, in the meantime, was even worse. The three-time Masters champion completed a shot additional again on four-over, together with his card together with a six and a seven.
It was additionally an sad homecoming for Anthony Kim.
The American is taking part in in his first event within the USA since Might 2012 after his 12-year disappearance from skilled golf attributable to battles with habit and a number of surgical procedures. Like Mickelson, he shot a four-over 76.
