A pair of former Masters champions is atop the leaderboard at LIV Golf Chicago as Dustin Johnson and Spaniard Sergio Garcia each shot 4-under-par 67 in the first round Friday in Bolingbrook, Ill.
Garcia, whose round began at the 17th hole at Bolingbrook Golf Club, used a run of four birdies at Nos. 11-14 to jump to 6 under for his day. But he finished with back-to-back bogeys to give up the solo lead.
“Yeah, obviously you never want to finish bogey-bogey,” Garcia said. “… I think at the end of the day, 4 under is a very good score. I would have taken it at the beginning of the day with the conditions and the wind and everything, so I’m not disappointed about that.”
Johnson also started his round at No. 17 and overcame two early bogeys to climb to 4 under.
Johnson has contended that his scores this season aren’t reflecting the quality of his play.
“I feel like I’m always close, and it only takes a couple shots here or there where my game just clicks back and I start playing good again,” Johnson said. “Got off to a little bit of a shaky start today but then started hitting some quality shots and rolled in a couple putts and kind of turned it around and finished off with a nice solid day today.”
They hold a one-stroke lead over six players, which include a host of high-profile names: Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Spaniard Jon Rahm, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and South Africa’s Dean Burmester.
Mickelson’s day resembled Garcia’s: He had a strong start, with four straight birdies at Nos. 12-15, but that was partially undone by bogeys at Nos. 17 and 18.
“I’m not really pleased with the finish. I need to be able to finish these rounds a little bit better. But I played well, hit a lot of good shots, and I really enjoy the golf course,” Mickelson said.
Another seven players are two off the pace at 2-under 69: Andy Ogletree, Talor Gooch, Spaniard Josele Ballester, Chile’s Mito Pereira, Australian Lucas Herbert and South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace.
As for the team competition, the South African outfit Stinger GC combined to go 6 under par Friday, good for a one-shot lead over Garcia’s Fireballs GC. Stinger is comprised of Burmester, Schwartzel, Grace and captain Louis Oosthuizen.
–Field Level Media
