Sebastian Muñoz (Torque GC) shot an opening first round of nine under par 62 in the LIV Golf Orlando in Florida, US.
Muñoz was eight under par after 11 holes and it seemed that the Columbia star was on ’59 Watch.’
In this shotgun start format Muñoz hit a good shot on hole seven, only to three putt, for his momentum to drop.
Muñoz takes a two shot lead into the weekend of this 54 hole event, the third LIV Golf League of the year, boasting a prizefund of $25 million, $20 million for the Individual Event and $5 million for the Team Event.
Richard Bland (Cleeks GC) is in solo second with a 64, and Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka and Tucson winner Danny Lee are tied third on 65.
Great day
‘Great day,' said Muñoz, who began his round with an eagle at the par-5 14th. ‘Felt really in control of my driver, irons, putting. … Everything felt kind of easy today.’
Smash GC leads the team leaderboard with a cumulative 14 under, one stroke better than Torque. Chase Koepka and Matthew Wolff supported their captain with counting scores of four under 67.
Smash GC is one of three teams that have yet to finish inside the points (top eight) through the first two events. Majesticks GC (third place at 11 under) and Cleeks GC (tied for 4th at 10 under) are the other two.
‘It’s nice to see the team finally playing well,’ Brooks Koepka said. ‘Chase played well and then Matt has been doing what he’s been doing. Just nice to see us actually compete, and hopefully we’re there on Sunday.’
The Koepka brothers were both born and raised in Florida. Brooks Koepka said he played some junior events at Orange County National two decades ago, but it’s his younger brother Chase who has more experience on the Crooked Cat course.
‘He’s had Q-school here so many times,’ Brooks said. ‘He was telling us what to do in the practice rounds, so that doesn’t happen too often, just because we’ve played so many different golf courses over the years. … It definitely helps, so I’ll take his advice.’
Englishman Bland, aged 50, began his round with a double-bogey but quickly bounced back with consecutive birdies and eventually finished with an eagle to climb into solo second.
‘I kind of righted the ship pretty quick,’ Bland said. ‘I played the front nine great. Whenever I kind of had a look, I made it.’
Leading First Round Team Scores (Par 71, 7,493 Yards)
Best three scores from each team
1 - SMASH GC (-14): Brooks Koepka 65, Chase Koepka 67, Matthew Wolff 67
2 - TORQUE GC (-13): Sebastián Muñoz 62, Mito Pereira 68, Joaquin Niemann 70
3 - MAJESTICKS GC (-11): Lee Westwood 66, Henrik Stenson 67, Ian Poulter 69
Leading First Round Individual Scores
1 - Sebastián Muñoz 62
2 - Richard Bland 64
3 - Brooks Koepka 65
- Danny Lee 65
5 - Harold Varner III 66
- Lee Westwood 66
