Players teed off at 4:15 p.m. ET (1:15 p.m. local) in a shotgun start for the second round of the LIV Golf Invitational Portland event. We’ll have live updates throughout the day.
The golf can be streamed on LIVGolf.com, Facebook and YouTube.
ROUND 1 LEADERBOARD
Leaders Fight Through Nerves
Carlos Ortiz and Pat Perez shared a moment on the putting green Thursday before teeing off in their first LIV Golf event.
“We’ve played so many tournaments together, and I said, ‘this is the most nervous I’ve been in a while,'” Ortiz said. “He’s just like, ‘I’m the same way.'”
The nervous energy turned out fine, as Ortiz shot 5-under 67 to take the first-round lead and Perez shot 69. They’ll play Friday with Dustin Johnson (4 under) in the “final” group of the second round, which in the shotgun format means they get the No. 1 tee at Pumpkin Ridge.
Perez and Johnson are close friends, and Perez credits the world No. 17 with bringing him aboard at LIV Golf. They’re also teammates on the 4 Aces GC, chasing a $3 million team prize. Johnson is the team captain.
“For me, I really want to play well for Dustin. That’s kind of my thing,” Perez said after his first round. “I have a little more pressure because he brought me out, so I have a little more pressure to play well.”
Hole Assignments and Groups for Round 2
Here are the groups for Round 2. Everyone tees off at 1:15 p.m. local time in the shotgun start. The Round 1 leaders are on the first hole, with the next pursuers on the second and third holes, then players grouped by scores are on the 18th, 17th, 16th and 15th holes. So everyone at even par or better are
- Hole 1: Carlos Ortiz -5, Dustin Johnson -4, Pat Perez, -3
- Hole 2: Branden Grace -3, Hideto Tanihara -3 Brooks Koepka -2
- Hole 3: Wade Ormsby -2, Hennie du Plessis -2, Louis Oosthuizen -1
- Hole 18: Martin Kaymer -1, Yuki Inamori -1, Jinichiro Kozuma -1
- Hole 17: Scott Vincent -1, Patrick Reed E, Matthew Wolff E
- Hole 16: Justin Harding E, Sihwan Kim E, Matt Jones E
- Hole 15: Bryson DeChambeau E, Talor Gooch E, Abraham Ancer +1
- Hole 4: Sam Horsfield +1, James Piot +1, Chase Koepka +1
- Hole 5: Adrian Otaegui +2, Richard Bland +2, Charl Schwartzel +2
- Hole 6: Peter Uihlein +2, Hudson Swafford +2, Phil Mickelson +3
- Hole 8: Ryosuke Kinoshita +3, Shaun Norris +3, Ian Poulter +3
- Hole 9: Kevin Na +3, Sergio Garcia +3, Laurie Canter +3
- Hole 10: Ian Snyman +4, Jediah Morgan +4, Lee Westwood +4
- Hole 11: Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra +4, Travis Smyth +5, Phachara Khongwatmai +5
- Hole 12: Bernd Wiesberger +5, Turk Pettit +6, Blake Windred +7
- Hole 13: Graeme McDowell +7, Itthipat Buranatanyarat +7, Sadom Kaewkanjana +10
Carlos Ortiz Leads After Round 1
Carlos Ortiz, one of the new LIV Golf members this week, has the early lead at Pumpkin Ridge after a round of 5-under 67. The Mexican had seven birdies and two bogeys.
One shot behind is Dustin Johnson at 4 under. Two back at 3 under is another newcomer in Pat Perez, along with Branden Grace and Hideto Tanihara.
Brooks Koepka, also making his LIV debut, shot 2 under 70.
Johnson’s 4 Aces GC team is leading at 7 under, thanks to he and Perez. They are two shots ahead of the all-South African Stingers GC, the team winners at the first LIV Golf event in London, and the Japanese foursome Torque GC.
Friday’s second round will be another 1:15 p.m. local/4:15 p.m. ET shotgun start.
What About Phil?
Phil Mickelson is 2 over on his round with two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey, which is good for T26.
Mickelson finished T33 in the first LIV Golf event, 10 over at the Centurion Club. He missed the cut by eight shots two weeks ago at the U.S. Open.
Three Teams Tied at the Top
In the team competition — no small part of LIV Golf given the $5 million team purse — three groups are tied at 6 under.
The all-Japanese team Torque GC is one of them, with Hideto Tanihara and Jinichiro Kozuma near the top of the individual leaderboard. The top two scores count in Round 1.
The new American team of Dustin Johnson, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed is also 6 under. And the South African team of Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Hennie du Plessis and Louis Oosthuizen are at 6 under too, looking to back up their team title from London.
The winning team shares $3 million.
Dustin Johnson In the Hunt
At No. 17 in the world, Dustin Johnson is the highest ranked player in LIV Golf. He’s showing it Thursday.
Johnson bogeyed his opening hole but has four birdies since then to get to 3 under, sitting one shot off Jinichiro Kozuma’s pace at 4 under.
Johnson finished eighth in the LIV Golf opener in London, six shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel. He was four shots back after the first round and never a threat, but this week he figures to be in the conversation longer.
Who is Hideto Tanihara?
Hideto Tanihara is alone atop the leaderboard at 4 under, with four birdies in his first 10 holes at Pumpkin Ridge.
The Japanese player is 43 years old and ranked 188th in the world. He has 16 wins on the Japan Golf Tour. He finished T5 at the 2006 British Open, but hasn’t played in any major since a missed cut at the 2018 British Open.
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He’s on an all-Japanese team this week called Torque GC, with Ryosuke Tanihara, Yuki Inamori and Jinichiro Kozuma. They led the team competition midway through the first round.
Rating the Players
A new little wrinkle on the broadcast this week are bio pages for players including video game-like ratings of their driving, iron play, short game and putting.
LIV Golf broadcast
Given that Patrick Reed didn’t play in the first LIV event, it would make sense that the ratings shown mirror his PGA Tour stats. And this year, indeed, Reed was 189th in strokes-gained: off-the-tee and 43rd in strokes-gained: putting.
A Birdie Run for Brooks Koepka
LIV Golf newcomer Brooks Koepka had a shaky first hole at Pumpkin Ridge, bogeying the opening par-5, but has rattled off three straight birdies from holes 5-7 to grab a share of the early lead at 2 under.
Koepka’s previous three events were all majors — a missed cut at the Masters, a T55 at the PGA Championship and solo 55th two weeks ago at the U.S. Open. When asked about his health Tuesday, he declined to say he felt perfect.
“You’re never 100 percent,” Koepka said. “I mean, I got a surgically repaired knee. How can you be 100 percent?”
Carlos Ortiz Hot Early
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz is among the newcomers in LIV Golf and has birdied three of his first four holes, taking the early lead at 3 under.
Ortiz, 31, won in Houston in 2020 for his lone PGA Tour win. He finished second at Mayakoba in November but since then on Tour missed eight cuts in 15 events with a high finish of T33 in Phoenix. He’s ranked 119th in the world.
‘Is It In Omaha?’
Viewers watching the broadcast found out that Talor Gooch once played in the Little League World Series. Analyst Jerry Foltz explained for non-baseball fans that the Little League World Series is a pure sporting event and a must-see on television.
Then play-by-play man Arlo White, an Englishman, asked “is it in Omaha?”
Foltz politely corrected him. The College World Series is played in Omaha, Nebraska. The Little League World Series is in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Welcome to LIV
Brooks Koepka, Abraham Ancer and Matthew Wolff, all LIV Golf newcomers, are paired together. They began on the 630-yard par-5 1st hole, the longest on the course, and Ancer and Koepka made bogeys while Wolff parred.
As for other newcomers, Pat Perez birdied his first hole, the par-3 3rd. Bryson DeChambeau, starting on the 469-yard par-4 18th hole, opted for an iron instead of driver off the tee and made a par. Patrick Reed, playing alongside Phil Mickelson and LIV Golf London winner Charl Schwartzel, parred his first hole, the par-4 2nd.
Carlos Ortiz birdied his first hole, the 9th.
Air Horn Signals Start
At 1:15 local time, an air horn signaled the beginning of the shotgun start.
The first shot shown on the broadcast belonged to LIV Golf newcomer Brooks Koepka, who hit the fairway at the par-5 opening hole.
Next shown was Dustin Johnson, teeing off at the par-4 18th hole. His drive landed right of the fairway near a creek. Then Phil Mickelson, starting off the 2nd tee, hit his drive well left.
Bryson DeChambeau’s opening LIV Golf tee shot on the 18th hole was with an iron, finding the fairway.
Notable Teams This Week
With a number of new players joining LIV Golf in Portland, some of the four-man teams are new. And some aren’t.
The team champions of the inaugural event, Stinger GC, will remain intact. The South African foursome of Charl Schwartzel, Hennie du Plessis, Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen shared the $3 million first place team prize. Schwartzel, du Plessis and Grace finished 1-2-3 overall as well.
Another team of four countrymen from the first event remains intact, as Englishmen Laurie Canter, Sam Horsfield, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood comprise Majesticks GC.
A new team of four Americans is 4 Aces GC, with Dustin Johnson, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed, with the latter two making their LIV Golf debuts this week.
On Smash GC, newcomer Brooks Koepka is teamed with little brother Chase Koepka, plus Richard Bland and Adrian Otaegui.
In the team format, the two best scores in Rounds 1 and 2 are combined with three scores from Round 3 for a total team score. The top three teams are paid from the $5 million team purse.
Hole Assignments and Groups for Round 1
Here are the groups for Round 1. Everyone tees off at 1:15 p.m. local time in the shotgun start. After Round 1, players will be paired by score for the remaining two rounds.
- Hole 1: Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Abraham Ancer
- Hole 2: Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Phil Mickelson
- Hole 3: Ian Poulter, Louis Oosthuizen, Pat Perez
- Hole 4: Richard Bland, Lee Westwood, Matt Jones
- Hole 5: Adrian Otaegui, Hennie du Plessis, Phachara Khongwatmai
- Hole 6: Jinichiro Kozuma, Sadom Kaewkanjana, Jediah Morgan
- Hole 8: Hudson Swafford, Sam Horsfield, Sihwan Kim
- Hole 9: Shaun Norris, Carlos Ortiz, Ryosuka Kinoshita
- Hole 10: Laurie Canter, Hideto Tanihara, Wade Ormsby
- Hole 11: Ian Snyman, Blake Windred, Branden Grace
- Hole 12: Turk Pettit, James Piot, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra
- Hole 13: Chase Koepka, Travis Smyth, Itthipat Buranatanyarat
- Hole 15: Justin Harding, Yuki Inamori, Bernd Wiesberger
- Hole 16: Sergio Garcia, Peter Uihlein, Martin Kaymer
- Hole 17: Kevin Na, Talor Gooch, Scott Vincent
- Hole 18: Graeme McDowell, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau