Gooch fires 10-under 62 to lead Liv event in Adelaide, Australia

The all-European Cleeks GC also had a day worth celebrating, as they grabbed the lead at 16 under thanks to Richard Bland’s 66 and the 65s from Graeme McDowell and Bernd Wiesberger. Those three played in the same group, as all non-captains were grouped with their teammates for the first time.

“Obviously fun to kind of all play together for the first time in the first round,” McDowell said. “I feel like we kind of pushed each other along and had a good time.”

As for the all-Australian Rippers GC? It was certainly a day to remember in terms of atmosphere, but the results left them with plenty of work to do. They are tied for 11th at 4 under, with Captain Cameron Smith producing the best score, a 3-under 69.

“It was a pretty epic day,” Smith said. “… It was incredible every hole, the support going on to the tee, off the green. To be honest, it was pretty tiring. But no, it was a really good day. I’m looking forward to doing it again over the weekend.”

He’ll need some low scores to catch Gooch. The RangeGoats GC member was 4 under when he reached the par-4 fourth, then reeled off five consecutive birdies. With two par 5s in his remaining three holes, Gooch couldn’t help but think of shooting 59. “I for sure wanted to be the first 59 on LIV,” he said. “That would’ve been a cool history book to have.”

He made par on the first par-5, the ninth, then birdied the par-5 10th to get to 10 under. He’ll gladly take that and the four-shot lead.

“If anyone says they’re not surprised at 10 under, they’re lying to themselves,” Gooch said. “10 under is never an expectation of what you think is going to happen.”

Bland and Stinger GC’s Dean Burmester are his closest pursuers after shooting 66. Five players are another shot back, including LIV Golf Tucson winner Danny Lee of Iron Heads GC.

TEAM COUNTING SCORES

Here are the standings and counting scores for Friday’s opening round of the team competition at LIV Golf Adelaide. The three best scores from each team count in every round for their total team score. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.

1. CLEEKS GC (-16): Richard Bland 66, Graeme McDowell 67, Bernd Wiesberger 67

2. STINGER GC (-14): Dean Burmester 66, Louis Oosthuizen 68, Charl Schwartzel 68

T3. IRON HEADS GC (-13): Danny Lee 67, Kevin Na 68, Scott Vincent 68

T3. RANGEGOATS GC (-13): Talor Gooch 62, Bubba Watson 70, Harold Varner III 71

5. HYFLYERS GC (-11): Brendan Steele 67, Cameron Tringale 69, James Piot 69

6. 4ACES GC (-10): Pat Perez 67, Peter Uihlein 68, Patrick Reed 71

7. SMASH GC (-9): Jason Kokrak 68, Brooks Koepka 69, Chase Koepka 70

8. CRUSHERS GC (-7): Charles Howell III 69, Anirban Lahiri 69, Paul Casey 71

9. FIREBALLS GC (-6): Sergio Garcia 68, Abraham Ancer 69, Carlos Ortiz 73

10. MAJESTICKS GC (-5): Henrik Stenson 68, Lee Westwood 71, Ian Poulter 72

T11. TORQUE GC (-4): Joaquin Niemann 70, David Puig 70, Mito Pereira 72

T11. RIPPER GC (-4): Cameron Smith 69, Marc Leishman 71, Matt Jones 72