LIV Golf UK Round 1: Lucas Herbert Fires a Bogey-Free 61 to Lead Bryson DeChambeau by Three

Lucas Herbert left Royal Birkdale with a share of a major record and no trophy. Four days later, at JCB Golf & Country Club, the Australian found a new outlet for that form and put up the lowest number of a career.

Herbert posted a bogey-free 11-under 61 on Thursday to take a three-shot lead after the first round of LIV Golf UK by JCB. Bryson DeChambeau is alone in second after a 64, Tyrrell Hatton and Harold Varner III are tied for third at 6 under, and Herbert's Ripper GC sits four clear in the team competition at 19 under.

Eleven Under, No Blemishes

The numbers tell most of the story. Herbert made nine birdies and an eagle, turned in 5-under 31, and never dropped a shot on a course that LIV described as firm with a breeze that refused to settle on a direction. The signature moment came at the par-5 10th, where a 47 and a half foot eagle putt dropped and turned a good round into a historic one. Four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine followed, and with two holes left Herbert had a real look at 59 before closing with a pair of pars.

It was not a putting fluke. Herbert led the field in driving distance at 320.9 yards per drive and still rolled in more than 120 feet of putts, a brutal combination for everyone chasing. The 61 is a career-best round and Herbert's lowest score in relation to par. "First time I've had 11, so that's kind of cool," Herbert said, a gloriously understated reaction to an 11-under round.

The Birkdale Hangover, Reversed

Context matters here. A week ago Herbert shot a record-tying 62 in the second round of The Open at Royal Birkdale and slept on the 36-hole lead before finishing tied for sixth. Plenty of players would carry that kind of near miss around for a while. Herbert, who already has a LIV title this season after a wire-to-wire win in Virginia two months ago, simply kept swinging the same way.

DeChambeau Brings His Own Fireworks

DeChambeau, the Crushers GC captain, also arrived from Birkdale with something to prove. The two-time winner this season tied for 14th at The Open after a two-stroke penalty in the second round, and on Thursday DeChambeau made four straight birdies and added an eagle at the par-5 sixth on the way to a 64. "I wish we could have gone to battle last week. It wasn't that way," DeChambeau said of the Open. Three shots back of Herbert with 54 holes to play, the duel DeChambeau wanted may have simply arrived a week late.

Hatton matched Varner with a 66, keeping Legion XIII and the newly minted OKGC in the conversation. Byeong Hun An, captain of Korean Golf Club, shot 67. Behind him sits a nine-player pileup at 4 under that includes Marc Leishman, Ian Poulter, Abraham Ancer, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri, Caleb Surratt, Luis Masaveu, Scott Vincent and wild card Bjorn Hellgren. Surratt had the best ball-striking day in the field, hitting 85.71 percent of fairways and 17 of 18 greens.

A Rare Off Day for Rahm

The most surprising number on the board belongs to Jon Rahm. The season points leader opened with a 1-over 73, only the third over-par round in 37 regular-season rounds this year for the Legion XIII captain, according to LIV Golf. With three rounds to go and Herbert already 12 shots clear, Rahm will need something closer to the usual weekly output on Friday.

Elsewhere, South African Martin Vorster made a LIV debut in place of the injured Louis Oosthuizen and shot an even-par 72 for Southern Guards GC. Vorster became the 109th different player to tee it up in a LIV event.

Ripper Sets the Team Pace

Under this season's format, all four scores count every round and the lowest 72-hole total wins, so one great card only goes so far. Ripper got more than one. Herbert's 61 led the way, Leishman added a 68, captain Cameron Smith a 69 and Travis Smyth a 71 for a 19-under total. Smyth, a reserve called up earlier this season, is filling in for the injured Elvis Smylie.

Crushers are second at 15 under behind DeChambeau's 64 and a pair of 68s from Howell and Lahiri, with Paul Casey's 73 the only drag. OKGC and Legion XIII share third at 8 under, each led by a 66. Korean Golf Club is fifth at 4 under. At the other end, Torque GC is the only team over par after a 78 from Sebastian Munoz.

Friday's Question

Leads after 18 holes at a 72-hole event are fragile things, and DeChambeau has shown all season the ability to erase a deficit in a hurry. But Herbert has spent the last week hitting the ball as well as anyone on the planet, and Ripper has the depth to back up its star. Round 2 will show whether the 61 was a peak or a platform.

Full first-round details are in the LIV Golf Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: LIV Golf (Round 1 recap), Golf News Net (final results with round scores). More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Chris Trotman/LIV Golf.