Jinichiro Kozuma shot a 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead Friday at LIV Golf Adelaide in Australia.
Kozuma started on the 15th hole at The Grange Golf Club, recorded birdies on four of the first five holes and was 8-under after 11 holes. The native of Japan was one of just five players to finish the round without a bogey.
Kozuma is in his first full season with LIV Golf, and holds a first-round lead for the first time in the nine tournaments he has played. He will enter Saturday’s round a stroke ahead of Carlos Ortiz of Mexico and his Iron Heads GC teammate, Danny Lee of New Zealand.
Another shot back at 7-under are Peter Uihlein, Andy Ogletree, Mito Pereira of Chile and Anirban Lahiri of India.
Tied for eighth place at 6-under are Matt Jones of Australia and Brendan Steele.
Kozuma credited his putter for his strong opening round.
“Today my putting was really good,” he said. “It was really hot. I had some troubles here and there, but my putting was there to help me get through pars, and it was all about the putting today.”
He also cited his family members, attending their first LIV Golf event, for their support.
“I wanted to play really well in front of my family and impress all the family,” he said. “I guess I got to do that, and I’m really happy about that.”
Kozuma and Lee teamed to put Iron Heads in second place, a shot behind Ortiz’s Torque GC squad, which finished the day at 20-under, the lowest first-round score this year by any team. Captain Joaquin Niemann shot a 67, and Pereira chipped in with his bogey-free 65.
“It was actually really fun,” Ortiz said. “I started good and finished solid. It was really nice playing with these guys. They holed out two holes in a row, so it felt like we were getting some momentum our way. Really happy the way I played, and just get it going. It’s really nice playing in front of Australians and the crowds were awesome today.”
Eight LIV players have yet to record a point in the individual standings – earned with a top 24 finish – in the first five tournaments this season, and Kozuma, Lee, Pereira and Ogletree are among them.
Kozuma and Lee said they must play their game without points dominating their thoughts.
“I haven’t been playing well, so I’d like to get some points. But I don’t want to think too much about the points,” Kozuma said. “I want to just enjoy where I’m at right now and play.”
Lee agreed.
“You can’t get too caught up in that kind of stuff,” Lee said. “I feel like that’s only putting a lot of pressure on yourself, so you’ve just got to let it go and keep your head down and just keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
–Field Level Media
