LIV Golf Korea Round 1: Bryson DeChambeau and Talor Gooch Share the Lead on a Two-Ace Day

LIV Golf landed in South Korea for the first time, and the opening act came down to two Americans who solved Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in very different ways.

Bryson DeChambeau and Talor Gooch each shot 7-under 65 on Friday to share the first-round lead at LIV Golf Korea in Incheon. DeChambeau did it without a single bogey and capped it with a 10-foot birdie on his final hole. Gooch did it in bursts, piling up six birdies in an eight-hole stretch. Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen and Cleeks GC's Richard Bland sit one back at 66, and a group at 4 under includes Crushers GC's Anirban Lahiri, Iron Heads GC's Jinichiro Kozuma, Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann and Dean Burmester, who had the wildest card of the day. In the team race, Gooch's Smash GC leads at 10 under, one clear of DeChambeau's Crushers.

From Thin Air to Sea Level

The storyline coming in was the altitude swing. Last week's event in Mexico City was played at just under 8,000 feet, where the ball flies farther and, crucially for DeChambeau, straighter. Incheon sits at sea level, and the ball moves a lot more in the heavier air.

DeChambeau handled the adjustment by plotting his way around rather than overpowering the place. He got up and down on all five of his scrambling chances and never gave a shot back. "It was a tough, grueling round of golf," he said, per LIV Golf. He also noted that his natural shot shape gets exaggerated at sea level, which made Mexico City's straighter ball flight a welcome luxury that he no longer has this week.

It was the second straight week DeChambeau held at least a share of the 18-hole lead, and LIV Golf counts it as his fifth top-five opening round in his last seven starts worldwide. The fast starts are not the question with the Crushers captain anymore. Closing them is the story he will be asked about until it changes.

Gooch Finds the Fairway Every Time

Gooch's 65 was built on control. The Smash GC man hit all 14 fairways to lead the field in driving accuracy, and stacked two separate runs of three straight birdies between the second and ninth holes. He also went five for five scrambling.

Gooch described his early-season form as rusty, per Business Today. On Friday it looked anything but.

Two Aces, One Eagle and a Rough Hour on 11

The highlight reel belonged to Burmester. The Stinger GC South African made a hole-in-one at the 205-yard 13th, then holed out from off the green for eagle at the par-5 18th. "A hole-in-one and an eagle in one day, that doesn't happen very often," Burmester said, per LIV Golf.

About an hour after Burmester's ace, Ripper GC's Marc Leishman matched it at the 172-yard fifth. It was only the second time in LIV history that two aces have come in the same round, and it pushed the league's all-time total to 12, four of them this season.

Not every big number was a good one. Iron Heads GC's Yubin Jang made a sextuple bogey at the par-4 11th after three balls found the water. To Jang's credit, the rest of the round went 2 under over the final 16 holes, and the scorecard settled at 76.

Smash GC Sets the Team Pace

With all four scores counting every round in 2025, depth wins the team race, and Smash got it. Gooch's 65 led the way, Jason Kokrak added a 69, captain Brooks Koepka shot 71 and Graeme McDowell 73 for a 10-under total.

Crushers GC are one back at 9 under. DeChambeau's 65 and Lahiri's 68 did the heavy lifting, Charles Howell III shot 70, and Paul Casey's 76 was the drag. RangeGoats GC sit third at 8 under with a remarkably tidy card: Bubba Watson and Minkyu Kim, who is filling in for Ben Campbell, shot 69, and Peter Uihlein and Matthew Wolff each shot 71. Stinger GC are fourth at 7 under despite reserve John Catlin's 73 in place of the injured Branden Grace, and Cleeks GC round out the top five at 6 under.

The big names had a slower day. Jon Rahm shot 72, and Legion XIII opened at even par in ninth. Sergio Garcia's 76 left Fireballs GC 12th at 5 over, and Phil Mickelson's 75 contributed to HyFlyers GC sitting last at 8 over.

The Numbers Worth Knowing

Mito Pereira of Torque GC produced the longest drive of the day, a 422.6-yard missile on the third hole, and averaged 369.7 yards on the two measured holes. Ian Poulter needed just 1.22 putts per hole. Kozuma joined DeChambeau as the only players to go bogey-free, and Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood each hit 15 of 18 greens.

Niemann, who arrived as the winner in Mexico City a week ago, opened with a quiet 68 and is three back. Given how he has played this season, quiet is not the same as harmless.

Saturday's Setup

Gooch put the team math simply. "If we go shoot 10-under par for the next two days, that would be a great game plan," he said, per LIV Golf. In a 54-hole event, there is not much runway for a slow middle round, and Saturday decides who is actually chasing on Sunday.

For DeChambeau, the scoreboard looks familiar: a share of the lead, a clean card and a lot of golf left. The top five teams are separated by four shots, and the first trip to Korea has already delivered two aces. Day two has a high bar to clear.

The full first-round breakdown, including every team score, is in the LIV Golf Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: LIV Golf (Round 1 recap), Business Today. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: LIV Golf.