NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
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 of 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 find themselves back at the top of the LIV Golf Korea rankings 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 shooting 5-under 65. Three players are tied for fourth, one shot back – Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann, Majestic GC co-captain Ian Poulter (playing with a torn meniscus) and 4 Thomas-Pieters-Acessus.
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 Majesticks’ Laurie Canter.
Meanwhile, 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 in 11th place, while the team is tied for fifth at 3 under.
For DeChambeau, he’s glad he and Howell were able to revive their efforts from last year, when they shared the lead for the final three holes in what turned out to be a riveting battle among the teammates.
“I guess Charles and I love Korea,” he said.
Howell was also happy, though he knows DeChambeau – already a two-time winner this season at LIV Golf and second to Jon Rahm in the season-long points race – will be hard to unseat.
“Team-wise, it’s wonderful. Individually, it’s terrible,” Howell said. “Team-wise, I love him up there at the top. Individually, I wish he was at the bottom. Obviously, more weeks than not, Bryson is playing extremely well, and if my name is close to his, I’m usually doing something pretty good.”
DeChambeau held the solo lead for most of Thursday’s round as he birdied six of his first 10 holes. But he fell back into 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.
“When I was 6-under through 10, I felt like something special happened,” DeChambeau said. “I was simmering but still played some great golf. Surprised 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 went away I thought I had hit it over the green but obviously the cheers said otherwise,” he said. “I’ll take them. They don’t happen often.”
Vincent posted the only bogey-free round of the day, continuing 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 great.”
The Crushers won the team title last year in Korea and are atop the team leaderboard after shooting 10 under. The team is playing without one of its regulars, Paul Casey, who picked up an injury and has been replaced by reserve Travis Smyth. Smyth shot a 2-over 72, while Anirban Lahiri shot a 68.
The newly renamed OKGC is solo second at 7 under, while 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, Majestic (66); Joaquin Niemann, Torque (66); Thomas Pieters, 4 Aces (66)
T7 (-3) – Cameron Smith, Ripper (67); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (67); Charl Schwartzel, Southern Guard (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 DRIVEN 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 earn a share of 11th place. He was joined by teammate Younghan Song, while captain Byeong Hun An shot an even-par 70 and Minkyu Kim a 71 as the team tied for fifth – their best position after any first round this season.
“The fact that I played my first LIV Golf tournament here on my home course was really, really 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.
“Over the next three days I really want to bring my ‘A’ game and have a lot of fun too.”
Considering that the Korean GC has struggled in the first rounds this season, it was an excellent start to a very important week for the club. The team will be hoping to deliver a win for their supporters, just like the all-Australian Ripper GC did earlier this year in front of 115,000 fans in Adelaide.
“I remember how big the oceans of galleries were during the Adelaide tournament,” Song said. “Considering that we are in Busan, where people are known to be very passionate, I am not only interested in playing a good match with my team members at KGC, I am looking forward to seeing all the passionate Busan people come out to cheer us on.”
POULTER’S TORN MENISCUS: Majestic GC co-captain Ian Poulter produced a 4-under 66 despite playing with a torn meniscus in his left leg, which he suffered at the previous LIV Golf tournament in Virginia.
Poulter said he had just finished a practice session before the first round and was walking up a flight of six flights of stairs. He chose to take the stairs two at a time, and when he jumped 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 so crazy.”
Incredibly, 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 he would need surgery after the season. He took a week off before getting ready for Korea.
Still, Poulter said the injury doesn’t affect his actual swing.
“Bizarrely, I don’t feel during the whole golf swing that there’s anything wrong with it,” said Poulter, who also began using a new set of well-functioning McLaren irons. “I feel it when I go downhill, steep downhill. I edge it just a little bit. But look, I’m going to have to strengthen that leg. It doesn’t affect my golf in any way, shape or form.
“I just have to remind myself that I can’t go play paddle tennis or do something stupid or jump up stairs like I did a few weeks ago. Walking in straight lines and being super sane is not something I’m used to.
“Look, I’m fine. I’m fine. Body’s fine. We’ll deal with that at some point.”
DIFFERENT TYPES OF COURSES: While Crusher’s 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 bears few similarities to last year’s Jack Nicklaus Golf Course Korea in Incheon.
“This course is a little shorter, a little more positional golf,” Howell said. “Last year was a little more open off the tee. You could hit a lot of drivers. This place thinks a lot more. If you drive the ball in the rough here, it’s really hard 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 hard two-footed or a 60-fiddly type.
Added DeChambeau: “It’s actually completely different. It’s fun, we just happen to be playing great golf here. Yeah, the Jack Nicklaus golf course was a different test, and this one is totally 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 CONTINUES STREAK GOING ON: Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm, the reigning two-time LIV Golf Individual Champion and current points leader, went on a streak of 38 consecutive pars or better in LIV Golf on Thursday.
That streak was in jeopardy most of the day as he was 3 over through 13 holes and had yet to post a birdie. But he finished 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 he has completed, is part of an 11-way tie for 27th.
STATISTICS MANAGERS
Round 1
Driving distance: Josele Ballester, 317.3 yard avg.
Longest drive: Doyeob Mun, 363.7 yards (11th hole). Official measured drives taken on holes 11 and 12 only.
Driving precision: Charles Howell III, Tom McKibbin, 86.71% (12 of 14)
Greens in the regulation: Harold Varner III, 88.89% (16 of 18)
Scrambling: Scott Vincent (7 of 7), Josele Ballester (5 of 5), 100%
Fewer putts: Scott Vincent, Thomas Pieters, 24
Bogey-free rounds: Scott Vincent (65)
This piece was published by Mike McAllister in association with LIFE Golf.
