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Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau and teammate Charles Howell III battled for the individual title in LIV Golf’s first visit to Korea last year outside Seoul, with DeChambeau finishing with two late birdies for the win.
It’s a different course and location this week at Asiad Country Club, but the two again find themselves at the top of the LIV Golf Korea leaderboard after Thursday’s first round – only this time they have company.
DeChambeau and Howell share the first-round lead with HyFlyers GC’s Scott Vincent after each shot a 5-under 65. Three players are tied for fourth, one shot back – Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter (who is playing with a torn meniscus) and 4Aces GC’s Thomas Pieters.
Four more players are tied for seventh at 3 under – Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith, Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, Southern Guards GC’s Charl Schwartzel and the Majesticks’ Laurie Canter.
Meanwhile, the home favorites Korean Golf Club produced arguably their best performance of the season. Younghan Song and new addition Doyeob Mun each shot 68 to join a large group tied for 11th while the team is tied for fifth at 3 under.
For DeChambeau, he’s happy that he and Howell could rekindle their efforts from last year, when they shared the lead going into the final three holes in what proved to be a riveting battle among teammates.
“I guess Charles and I love Korea,” he said.
Howell was happy too, although he knows DeChambeau – already a two-time winner this season on LIV Golf and second to Jon Rahm in the season-long points race – will be tough to dethrone.
“Team-wise, it’s wonderful. Individual-wise, it’s terrible,” Howell said. “Team-wise, I love him up there at the top. Individually, I wish he was at the bottom. Obviously Bryson, more weeks than not, he plays extremely well, and if my name is near his, I’m usually doing something pretty good.”
DeChambeau had the solo lead for most of Thursday’s round as he birdied six of his first 10 holes. But he fell back to the pack with bogeys at the 13th when he three-putted after his approach flew 12 yards too long, and the par-5 15th when he found the water.
“Being 6-under through 10, I felt like something special was happening,” DeChambeau said. “I simmered off but still played some great golf. Surprised that I didn’t go deeper.”
Howell’s round was ignited by an eagle 2 from 108 yards on the par-4 second. “When the ball disappeared, I thought I had one-hopped it over the green, but obviously the cheering said otherwise,” he said. “I’ll take those. They don’t happen often.”
Vincent posted the only bogey-free round of the day, a continuation of a recent surge that started when he moved from an independent Wild Card to the HyFlyers’ lineup as a replacement for captain Phil Mickelson. He finished solo 4th in Mexico City and tied for 8th in Virginia, the team’s two best individual performances this season.
Now he shares the lead for the first time after any round in his LIV Golf career.
“I don’t know what it is, but the second I joined them, my game just went up,” said Vincent, who earned his spot this season after winning the 2025 International Series season-long title. “It’s been amazing.”
The Crushers won the team title last year in Korea and are on top of the team leaderboard after shooting a cumulative 10 under. The team is playing without one of its regular members, Paul Casey, who suffered an injury and has been replaced by reserve Travis Smyth. Smyth shot a 2-over 72 while Anirban Lahiri shot a 68.
The recently rebranded OKGC is solo second at 7 under, with the HyFlyers and Fireballs are tied for third at 5 under.
TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS
Individual Top 10
T1 (-5) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65); Charles Howell III, Crushers (65); Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (65)
T4 (-4) – Ian Poulter, Majesticks (66); Joaquin Niemann, Torque (66); Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (66)
T7 (-3) – Cameron Smith, Ripper (67); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (67); Charl Schwartzel, Southern Guards (67); Laurie Canter, Majesticks (67)
Team Top 3
1 (-10) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 65, Howell III 65, Lahiri 68, Smyth 72)
2 (-7) – OKGC (Kokrak 68, McDowell 68, Varner III 68, Gooch 69)
T3 (-5) – HyFlyers GC (Vincent 65, La Sasso 68, Steele 70, Tringale 72)
T3 (-5) – Fireballs GC (Garcia 67, Masaveu 68, Puig 70, Ballester 70)
ROUND 1 NOTES
KOREAN GC FUELED BY FANS: After a recent stretch of disappointing results, Korean GC hoped to use a lineup shuffle and the support of their home fans to turn things around. So far, so good.
Newcomer Doyeob Mun, who currently leads the KPGA Tour in points this season, shot a 2-under 68 in his first LIV Golf round to grab a share of 11th. He was joined there by teammate Younghan Song, while captain Byeong Hun An shot even-par 70 and Minkyu Kim a 71 as the team settled into a tie for fifth – their best position after any first round this season.
“The fact that I played my first tournament of LIV Golf here in my home ground was really, truly an honor,” Mun said. “Looking at the fans, I really felt less nervous, more comfortable. I really want to thank them for coming out today.
“During the next three days I’m really going to bring my ‘A’ game and also have a lot of fun.”
Considering that Korean GC has struggled in first rounds this season, it was an excellent start to a very important week for the club. The team hopes to deliver a victory to their supporters just like the all-Australian Ripper GC did earlier this year in front of 115,000 fans in Adelaide.
“I remember how huge the oceans of galleries were during the Adelaide tournament,” Song said. “Considering we’re in Busan where the people are known for being very passionate, not only am I interested in playing a good game with my team members at KGC, I’m looking forward to seeing all those passionate Busan people come out to cheer us on.”
POULTER’S TORN MENISCUS: Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter produced a 4-under 66 despite playing with a torn meniscus in his left leg that he suffered at the previous LIV Golf tournament in Virginia.
Poulter said he had just finished a gym session before the first round and was about to walk up a flight of six stairs. He opted to take two stairs at a time, and when he made the hop up, he felt something pop.
“As soon as it happened, I didn’t think I was going to play an hour before tee-off,” Poulter said. “So it was that crazy.”
Amazingly, he finished a season-best T18 in Virginia, then went for an MRI when he returned home. That’s when he was diagnosed with the tear and told that he would need surgery after the season. He took a week off before getting prepared for Korea.
Even so, Poulter said the injury does not impact his actual swing.
“Bizarrely, I have no sensation throughout the golf swing that there’s anything wrong with it,” said Poulter, who also began using a new set of well-performing McLaren irons. “I sense it when I’m walking downhill, steep downhills. I’m just edging it a little bit. But look, I’m going to have to strengthen that leg. It’s not affecting my golf in any way, shape or form.
“I just have to remind myself that I can’t go and play paddle tennis or do anything stupid or hop up steps like I did a couple of weeks ago. Walking in straight lines and being super-sensible is not something I’m used to doing.
“Look, I feel good. I feel great. The body feels good. We’ll deal with that at some stage.”
DIFFERENT TYPE OF COURSES: While Crushers teammates Bryson DeChambeau and Charles Howell III are in familiar territory atop the LIV Golf Korea leaderboard, they agreed that this year’s course at Asiad Country Club has few similarities to last year’s Jack Nicklaus Golf Course Korea in Incheon.
“This course is a bit shorter, a bit more position golf,” Howell said. “Last year was a bit more open off the tee. You could hit a lot of drivers. This place, quite a bit more thinking. If you drive the ball in the rough here, it’s really difficult to get it close to the flags. The green complexes are big, but with all the massive slopes in them, if you miss the fairway, it’s either a tough two-putt from 60 feet or some type of fiddly chip.
Added DeChambeau: “It’s actually completely different. It’s funny, we’re just coincidentally playing great golf here. Yeah, the Jack Nicklaus golf course was a different test, and this one is quite different than that golf course last year.
“It’s just a ball striker’s golf course, and that’s what Charles thrives on and that’s what I’ve been working towards to get better at, and it paid off today.”
RAHM KEEPS STREAK GOING: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, the reigning two-time LIV Golf Individual Champion and current points leader, entered Thursday on a streak of 38 consecutive rounds of par or better in LIV Golf.
That streak was in jeopardy for most of the day, as he was 3 over through 13 holes and had yet to post a birdie. But he ended his round with three birdies in his final five holes, including a birdie putt from 14 feet on his final hole, to shoot an even-par 70.
Rahm, who has never finished lower than 11th in any LIV Golf tournament that he’s completed, is part of a 11-way tie for 27th.
STATS LEADERS
Round 1
Driving Distance: Josele Ballester, 317.3-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Doyeob Mun, 363.7 yards (11th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 11 and 12.
Driving Accuracy: Charles Howell III, Tom McKibbin, 86.71% (12 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Harold Varner III, 88.89% (16 of 18)
Scrambling: Scott Vincent (7 of 7), Josele Ballester (5 of 5), 100%
Fewest Putts: Scott Vincent, Thomas Pieters, 24
Bogey-free rounds: Scott Vincent (65)
This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.
