Bryson DeChambeau and Talor Gooch share the lead at 7-under at LIV Golf South Korea after the opening 18 on Friday.
DeChambeau was bogey-free at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea, dropping a birdie putt on the final hole to complete the first round atop the leaderboard alongside Gooch, the 2023 individual champion on the circuit who has been rounding into form of late.
Gooch rode separate streaks of three consecutive birdies over an eight-hole stretch and helped Smash GC grab the team lead. The Brooks Koepka-led crew posted a cumulative score of 10 under to lead DeChambeau and Crushers GC by one shot.
"Yeah, it was a tough start to the year," Gooch said. "The game was pretty rusty. It's been nice these past couple events to show some life and get some good golf going again. Hopefully this round kind of kick-starts a good rest of the season and we can kind of channel some of that 2023 season again."
DeChambeau described his round as "grueling," but he wielded a hot putter to make up for what he felt was shaky iron play.
"I'm excited for the weekend," DeChambeau said after watching his 65th shot of the first round, a 10-foot putt, find the bottom of the cup. "It's going to be a fun battle."
South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen is tied for third place. He shot 66 on Thursday, and his Stinger GC is fourth in team scoring behind Rangegoats GC.
Also at 6 under is England's Richard Bland. They're two shots clear of LIV Mexico winner JoaquÃn Niemann (Torque GC) of Chile, who is part of a four-way tie for fifth.
Two players carded holes-in-one Friday: South Africa's Dean Burmester at the 208-yard par-3 13th and Australia's Marc Leishman at the 172-yard, par-3 fifth hole.
