LIV Golf Miami: Crushers, 4Aces’ Reed survive a tough day on the Blue Monster

MIAMI – For 17 holes in Friday’s first round at LIV Golf Miami, Patrick Reed played perfect golf under difficult scoring conditions. While his final hole didn’t end the way he wanted, the 4Aces GC star remained upbeat after a brilliant performance on the Blue Monster.

Reed shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-shot lead at Trump National Doral. It’s the first time he’s held the solo lead after any round of his 37 career regular-season starts on LIV Golf.

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His closest challengers own a combined 10 majors, as HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson, Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau and Reed’s 4Aces Captain Dustin Johnson each shot 69.

Reed owned a five-shot lead late in the day before a double bogey on his final hole, the par-3 ninth, when his 4-iron sailed left and into the rough, leaving him with a tough lie.

But there were too many positive moments for Reed to be disappointed. Bogey-free through 17 holes, he was one of just nine players who managed to shoot under par during a day of firm greens and windy conditions. The field’s scoring average was nearly 2.5 strokes over par.

“I know how hard this place can get,” said Reed, who won a World Golf Championships event at Doral in 2014. “When the wind blows here, it’s nerve-wracking. … There’s a reason why it’s called the Blue Monster. It’s a beast.”

Mickelson, the six-time major winner who has more experience playing at Doral than anybody else in the field, said the conditions were as difficult as he’s ever seen them.

“I look at what Patrick Reed did and just amazed because although we’ve seen low scores here on this course in the past, we haven’t really seen them under these conditions,” Mickelson said. “That was an exceptional round that he played.”

There were 19 rounds of 76 or higher, with 12 of the 13 LIV Golf teams suffering at least one of those high scores. Individual points leader Joaquin Niemann, the Torque GC captain who has won two of the season’s first four events, shot a 78. The only team escaping unharmed was DeChambeau’s Crushers, who shot a collective 2 under that included even-par 72s from Anirban Lahiri and Paul Casey and a 73 from Charles Howell III.

“Love those boys. There’s a reason we won here in 2023,” said DeChambeau, referencing the Crushers’ Team Championship victory. “They like this golf course. They like a tough, challenging golf course where you can strategically play and let everybody else kind of mess up on their own.”

The 4Aces, who won the Team Championship in 2022 at Doral, are in solo second at even par while Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC are in solo third at 5 over. The league-leading Fireballs are seeking a fourth consecutive tournament title.

A winner of seven LIV Golf team trophies, Reed will enter the weekend seeking his individual title. It would be a great momentum boost heading into next week’s Masters, in which he’s a past champion. But he expects the Blue Monster to continue wreaking havoc this weekend.

“We’ve got a lot of golf left,” Reed said. “36 holes around this place is nothing. It’s a freaking eternity.”

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores now counting in every round in the team competition. (Click here for more on the new format). Here are the results and scores for each team after Friday’s Rd. 1 of LIV Golf Miami.

1. CRUSHERS GC -2 (DeChambeau 69, Casey 72, Lahiri 72, Howell III 73)

2. 4ACES GC E (Reed 67, Johnson 69, Varner III 72, Pieters 80)

3. FIREBALLS GC +5 (Garcia 70, Masaveu 72, Ancer 74, Puig 77)

4. RIPPER GC +7 (Leishman 71, Smith 73, Jones 74, Herbert 77)

5. LEGION XIII +8 (Surratt 72, McKibbin 73, Rahm 73, Hatton 78)

6. STINGER GC +10 (Schwartzel 70, Burmester 72, Grace 77, Oosthuizen 79)

T7. HYFLYERS GC +11 (Mickelson 69, Tringale 73, Steele 75, Ogletree 82)

T7. IRON HEADS GC +11 (Jang 74, Na 74, D. Lee 75, Song 76)

9. TORQUE GC +12 (Muñoz 70, Ortiz 74, Niemann 78, Pereira 78)

T10. SMASH GC +13 (Koepka 73, Kokrak 73, Gooch 76, McDowell 79)

T10. RANGEGOATS GC +13 (Uihlein 72, Wolff 75, Watson 76, Campbell 79)

12. MAJESTICKS GC +16 (Horsfield 75, Poulter 75, Stenson 76, Westwood 78)

13. CLEEKS GC +22 (Kaymer 75, Kjettrup 78, Meronk 78, Bland 79)

Wild Cards: Kim 74, C. Lee 76

ROUND 1 NOTES

CRUSHERS-4ACES SHOWDOWN? Trump National Doral hosted the LIV Golf Team Championship in the first two years. The 4Aces won in 2022; the Crushers won in 2023.

Those two are atop the team leaderboard after Friday’s first round, with the Crushers at 2 under and the 4Aces at even par. No other team is within four shots.

“I’d love to go head-to-head against the Aces,” said Crushers Captain Bryson DeChambeau. “They won in 2022, and they deserve another good showing here this week.”

The Aces haven’t won any tournament since 2023, but they entered Miami after posting their first podium result of the season, third place in Singapore.

“We played well in Singapore,” said 4Aces Captain Dustin Johnson. “Obviously we had a little bit of a lead going into Sunday and fell a little bit short. But it was a solid week for us, and I think everybody is starting to play pretty well. But still two more rounds.”

The Aces were the only team on Friday to post two rounds in the 60s, with first-round leader Patrick Reed shooting 67 and Johnson adding a 69. That allowed the team to survive Thomas Pieters’ 80.

PHIL MAKING MORE NOISE: With three points finishes – including his LIV Golf career-best solo third in Hong Kong – HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson continued his resurgence Friday with a 3-under 69, one of just four players to post a score in the 60s.

It’s an encouraging sign for the 54-year-old Mickelson, especially heading into the Masters next week. Mickelson has won three of his six majors at Augusta National.

“It’s fun for me to play well,” he said. “It’s fun for me to have a chance earlier in Hong Kong. It’s fun for me to be up on the leaderboard. I’m really enjoying this.”

NO BIRDIES FOR YOU: The 207-yard par-3 ninth and 460-yard par-4 11th allowed no birdies on Friday – and yet neither hole was the most difficult of the day.

The par-4 18th ranked as the hardest with a stroke average of 4.648, thanks mostly to eight double bogeys and four triples/worse. The field shot a collective 35 over.

Overall, there were 49 doubles or worse recorded on Friday.

“I believe it’s one of the most challenging golf courses in professional golf, so the cream usually rises to the top,” said Bryson DeChambeau.

Asked what the one challenge he likes about the Blue Monster, DeChambeau replied: “I don’t like any of it, but it’s a great challenge for next week.”

RAHM’S RECORD STREAK ENDS: Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm saw his LIV Golf record streak of consecutive rounds under par end on Friday with a 1-over 73. Rahm had entered the week with 21 consecutive sub-par rounds dating back to last year. Rahm is tied for 16th.

ROUND 1 STATS LEADERS

Driving accuracy: Phil Mickelson, Sebastián Muñoz, Cameron Tringale, Henrik Stenson, 78.57% (11 of 14 fairways hit)

Driving distance: Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Wolff, 337.6 yards avg.

Longest drive: Dean Burmester, 384.5 yards, 1st hole

Greens in regulation: Sebastián Muñoz, 83.33% (15 of 18 greens)

Scrambling: Phil Mickelson, 83.33% (5 of 6)

Putting: Charl Schwartzel, 1.33 putts per hole

Bogey-free rounds: none