ROCESTER: Jon Rahm is used to being in contention after most rounds of LIV golf this season. But for the first time since he joined the league, he has total control.
Thanks to a bogey-free 8-under 63, Rahm has a two-stroke lead over Abraham Ancer and Andy Ogletree after the first round at JCB's LIV Golf UK. Meanwhile, his Legion XIII sits atop the team leaderboard by one shot over Smash GC, HyFlyers GC and Fireballs GC.
Friday's round was the 29th that Rahm has completed in LIV Golf. He was in the top 5 after 13 of those rounds, including a tie for the lead after the first round in Jeddah.
Six other times, Rahm has been in the top 10. In each of the nine tournaments he's completed — he had to withdraw in Houston because of a foot infection — he's had a top-10 finish, and he's currently second to Torque GC Captain. Joaquin Niemann in the season-long points standings.
It's an impressive display of consistency that Rahm hopes will culminate with his first LIV Golf individual title this week at JCB Golf & Country Club.
“Nothing to say obviously, but good things,” said Rahm, who entered the week tied for seventh at The Open Championship, his best major finish of the year. “I played really good golf all day. With days like this, it almost feels effortless.”
Rahm played in the same group as his teammate and former Ryder Cup partner Tyrrell Hatton along with fellow Legion XIII player Caleb Surratt as the LIV Golf captains were grouped with their first two teammates for the first round .
Not only did Rahm drop — the 8-under score matches LIV Golf's lowest round against par — but Hatton shot a 66, recovering from an opening double bogey. The duo fueled Legion XIII's 12-under total, which also included a tally of 72 from Kieran Vincent. Legion XIII won three team titles during its inaugural season and is second in the points standings behind Crushers GC.
“It was the first time I played with a teammate in LIV Golf,” said Rahm, who had six birdies in the final nine holes to pull away from the pack. “I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I was a little curious.”
Hatton said: “We've shared some pretty great stages over the last few years and we generally play well when we play together. So it was nice for both of us to have a good round of golf and get some momentum going into the weekend.”
Ancer, the playoff winner earlier this year in Hong Kong, finished with a flourish. The Fireballs star birdied four of his final five holes during a brilliant round in which he led the field.
Ogletree's best finish during his first full LIV Golf season is a tie for third in Adelaide. He battled a wrist injury that could require offseason surgery and forced him to make some swing adjustments to ease the pain.
“I've had a lot of days where I've played really good 13 and 14 holes and then just kind of held back,” the HyFlyers member said. “Today, I was in it all day and played solid golf.”
Hatton captain and Ripper GC Cameron Smith are tied for fourth, while a group of seven players – including Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka and local resident Sam Horsfield of Majesticks GC – are four shots off the lead in sixth place.
On a course unfamiliar to most players and expected to give up low scores with restraint, 35 of the 54 players in the field broke par, averaging more than one stroke under par.
It was no surprise to Rahm. “You can't really say surprising when the best players in the world show up at a course,” he said.
Standings and Score Counts for Friday's Opening Round:
The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds, while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.
1. LEGION XIII -12 (Rahm 63, Hatton 66, Vincent 72)
T2. FIREBALL GC -11 (Ancer 65, Garcia 68, Puig 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. COUPLE GC -6 (Munoz 68, Niemann 69, Pereira 70)
T9. CRUSHERS GC -5 (Casey 67, Lahiri 69, Catlin 72)
T9. CLEEKS GC -5 (Meronk 68, Bland 69, Samooja 71)
11. MAJESTICKS GC -4 (Horsfield 67, Stenson 70, Westwood 72)
12. 4ACES GC -1 (Varner 69, Johnson 71, Reed 72)
13. IRON HEADS GC Even (Na 70, Vincent 70, Kozuma 73)
