Martin Kaymer (-7) and Adrian Meronk (-7), teammates in the Cleeks and two of the twelve players from LIV Golf who will play the US Open at Pinehurst next week, along with Caleb Surrat (-7), from Legion XIII, share the first place in the classification after the first 18 holes of the LIV Golf in Houston, held this Friday at the Golf Club named after the famous Texan city. An entertaining day of competition, with a receptive field and good results, in which the four Spaniards of the Saudi tour have taken positions in search of the first victory of ours this season in LIV.
The best of all of them was Sergio García (-5), the only one of the four who does not yet have his place guaranteed in the major of the USGA (although he hopes to enter as the first reserve of the Dallas preview) and who focuses all his efforts on achieving a good result this weekend with the aim of winning his first LIV Golf tournament after several shots at the pole. The one from Borriol, who started his round at 18, went from less to more, with a bogey on his third hole, the 2nd of the course, to which he reacted with birdies at 4, 6, 8, 12 and 15, as well as a great eagle at the par five of 13. A bogey at 16 prevented him from being in the fourth place tied, but with his 67 today, he will face the last two rounds from the 6th place shared, only two strokes from the leaders.
Eagle for @TheSergioGarcia 🦅
He's now 5-under and 1 back 📈#LIVGolf @fireballsgc_ pic.twitter.com/KnjD9xn77W
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 7, 2024
Just behind, one stroke from the 2017 Masters winner, appears David Puig (-4), in a great moment of play. On Monday he sealed his passport for Pinehurst in the previews and today he has shown that he is a real birdie-making machine, with no less than eight in his round. Unfortunately, he has not been able to minimize the mistakes as much as he would have liked, and with four bogeys he has placed 13th tied, with a card of 68 strokes three from the first place and also with intact options to fight for the victory during the weekend.
.@JonRahmOfficial full sends this drive on the drivable par 4 💪 #LIVGolf @LegionXIIIgc pic.twitter.com/vmIpQuFJpy
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 7, 2024
Completing the Spanish poker are Eugenio López Chacarra (-3) and Jon Rahm (-3), both penalized by a double bogey at 18. It was, without a doubt, the most difficult flag of the day at the Houston Golf Club, where no less than 10 bogeys and four double bogeys were seen. The Madrid and Basque players, with 69 strokes this Friday, share the 15th place in the table with eight other players and will seek a productive moving day that allows them to go out on Sunday with options to fight for what would be the second victory on the tour for Chacarra and the first for Rahm (who had a scare with a foot problem at hole 7), before the US Open.
Is there anything @b_dechambeau can’t do? 🤣#LIVGolf
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 7, 2024
Other favorites such as Joaquín Niemann (-5), Patrick Reed (-5), who plays at home, Dustin Johnson (-5) or Bryson DeChambeau (-3), who did the TV camera work when interviewing the Chilean, have also shown a good level of play in these first 18 holes. By teams, the Cleeks (-17) lead with authority, with two of their four members sharing the lead and Samooja contributing his three under par. Three strokes behind are the Torque (-14) of Ortiz, Niemann, Muñoz and Pereira, and five behind are four teams among which appear the Legion XIII (-12) of Rahm thanks to the great start of Surratt, tied in the first place.
