Bryson DeChambeau praised Australian fans after long-driving his way into contention behind leader Sam Horsfield on a blockbuster opening round at LIV Golf Adelaide that saw a Patrick Reed ace bring the house down.
Just 10 minutes into the first day’s play, former Masters champion Reed made a hole-in-one at the party hole par-3 12th, causing a rumble around the grounds as 5,000 fans on the hole showered the American with beer cups. Dubbed the “Watering Hole,” the arena-style par 3 was Reed’s second hole of the day after a shotgun start had him begin at No.11
“Yeah, it was unreal,” Reed said. “My throat still hurts from it. The crazy thing was the adrenaline afterwards. I was shaking going back to the tee and just couldn’t kind of calm down and settle into the round after that point. It’s one of those things that you don’t really expect.”
LIV officials were still crunching numbers but said Friday’s attendance was a league record for a single day since launching the 54-hole league almost three years ago.
DeChambeau drove his tee shot just short of a greenside bunker at the 385-metre, par-4 16th at The Grange, one of several bombed drives he used to compile a four-under-par 68 that left him just two shots back of first-round leader, England’s Horsfield. He led Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz by one shot (67).
Joining DeChambeau (68) at four-under was Abraham Ancer and two-time major winner Dustin Johnson.
The two-time US Open winner first played golf in Australia in 2015 as an amateur at the Australian Masters and Open, when he was the US Amateur champion. Asked how big LIV Golf Adelaide can be, just three years into its timeline but expecting a crowd over 100,000 for three days this week, DeChambeau said there was no limit.
“I mean, I think God knows that; I don’t know exactly what it’s going to be like,” he said. “I know it’s going to continue to be bigger and better each and every year. Certainly, this is one of the best LIV events, if not the best live event on our schedule, and it’s a joy coming back here with the fans and the people in the atmosphere. This is what we all thought [LIV Golf] was going to be every single week and it’s gonna get there. We’re gonna work to continue to make that happen. But this is what we want every single week. It’s a lot of fun playing.
“I think this type of golf is much more of a links style, type of golf, but with an Australian flavour and flare, which I thoroughly enjoy. Hard, firm and fast. You can do some fun stuff out here. You get some 430 yard drives if you get the right wind with the right bounce, for me, at least so that’s fun. And then it can be really brutal, too.”
Niemann is also a lover of golf Down Under having won the 2022 Australian Open. He played his way into contention with a five-under-par 67 at The Grange.
“The fans always treat me really good; I enjoy playing in front of these Aussie crowds,” Niemann said. “They give some extra energy; I enjoy hitting golf shots in front of them. The courses are a little firmer down in Australia and I like the shots you have to hit.”
Lucas Herbert, a recent winner of the NSW Open last year, was the best of the Australians after round one at one-under (71). His Ripper GC teammates struggled on a hot and windy day, with Smith even-par, Marc Leishman at one-over and Matt Jones at three-over.
