ROCESTER: Jon Rahm has been used to staying in contention after his LIV Golf season but for the first time since joining the league he is leading the way.
Rahm is two strokes ahead of Abraham Ancer and Andy Ogletree after the first round at LIV Golf UK by JCB, shooting an 8-under 63 without a bogey, while his Legion XIII leads the team leaderboard by one stroke over Smash GC, HyFlyers GC and Fireballs GC.
Friday's round was Rahm's 29th finish in LIV Golf. He was in the top five after 13 rounds, including a tie for the lead after the first round in Jeddah.
Rahm has six top-10 finishes in the nine tournaments he's entered (he withdrew in Houston due to a foot infection). He's had a string of top-10 finishes and currently sits second behind Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann in the season's overall standings.
Rahm has been impressively consistent and will hope to make the most of his career by claiming his first LIV Golf individual title this week at JCB Golf & Country Club.
“There’s not much to say but good things,” said Rahm, who started the week tied for seventh at The Open Championship, his best major finish of the year. “He played great golf all day. On a day like this, it feels like he’s not putting in any effort.”
Rahm is in the same group as teammate and former Ryder Cup partner Tyrrell Hatton, along with fellow Legion XIII player Caleb Surratt, while the LIV Golf captain is grouped with the top two teammates in the first round.
Not only did Rahm shoot low, at 8 under – the lowest score in LIV Golf compared to par – but Hatton also shot a double bogey 66 in the opening round. The pair helped Legion XIII post a 12 under total, including Kieran Vincent's 72. Legion XIII has won three team events in its debut season and sits second in the standings behind Crushers GC.
“This is my first time playing with my teammates in LIV golf,” said Rahm, who birdied six of his final nine holes to move ahead of the pack. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a little curious.”
“We’ve had some great times together over the last few years and we generally play well together, so it’s good for both of us to have some fun and motivated golf ahead of the weekend,” Hatton said.
Unser, who won the playoff earlier this year in Hong Kong, finished the tournament in style. The Fireballs star birdied four of the final five holes in a superb putting round in which he led the field.
Ogletree's best finish in his first full season in LIV golf was a tie for third at Adelaide. He has been battling a wrist injury that could require surgery this off-season and has forced him to tweak his swing to alleviate the pain.
“There are days when I play 13 and 14 holes and then I don’t play well,” the HyFlyers member said. “Today I played my heart out all day and played great golf.”
Hatton and Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith are tied for fourth, while a group of seven golfers, including Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka and Majesticks GC local Sam Horsfield, are four strokes behind the leader and tied for sixth.
On a course where most players were unfamiliar and expected to reluctantly take a low score, 35 of the 54 players on the course scored below par, with an average stroke more than one under par.
It's no surprise for Rahm. “You can't really say it's a surprise when the best player in the world shows up on the pitch,” he said.
Scoreboard and tally for Friday's opening round:
The three best scores of each team will count towards the first round and all four scores will count towards the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds will win the team championship.
1. LEGION XIII -12 (Rahm 63, Hutton 66, Vincent 72)
T2. FIREBALLS GC -11 (Uncer 65, Garcia 68, Puig 69)
T2. SMASH GC -11 (Kopka 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. Rangoats GC -9 (Wolves 67, Uilen 68, Watson 69)
7. Stinger GC -8 (Oosthuizen 67, Burmester 68, Schwartzel 70)
8. TORQUE GC -6 (Muñoz 68, Niemann 69, Pereira 70)
T9. CRUSHERS GC -5 (Casey 67, Lahiri 69, Catlin 72)
T9. CLEEKS GC -5 (Meronk 68, Blend 69, Samuja 71)
11. MAJESTICKS GC -4 (Horsfield 67, Stenson 70, Westwood 72)
12. 4ACES GC -1 (Warner 69, Johnson 71, Reed 72)
13. Ironheads GC Event (Na 70, Vincent 70, Kozuma 73)
