Tight battles mark Day 1 of LIV Golf Korea at Incheon, Anirban Lahiri in Top-10
Americans Talor Gooch and Bryson DeChambeau led after the opening day of LIV Golf Korea at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon with India star Anirban Lahiri showing some good form too.
- May 2, 2025,
- Updated May 2, 2025 7:52 PM IST
Anirban Lahiri fired a feisty 4 under par 68 to hold down a place on the top 10 after day one of LIV Golf Korea presented by Coupang Play in Incheon even as his Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau and fellow-American Talor Gooch lead the way at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Kora on Friday.
Teeing off from hole eight, Lahiri was into his stride quickly with two bridies in his first three holes. Though he would drop a shot on the back nine, a further birdies gave the Indian star a share of sixth place alongside Dean Burmester, Jinichiro Kazuma and series leader Joaquin Neimann three shots behind the leader.
Stinger GC’s Burmester was one of two players to record aces on the day, Marc Leishman of the all-Australian Ripper GC being the other. It was the second time in LIV Golf history that two aces were recorded in the same round.
While South African Burmester’s hole-in-one came at the 205-yard 13th, Leishman followed later with his ace at the 172-yard 5th. It brought the total to 12 aces in league history, and four in the 2025 season. Last year in Hong Kong, Niemann and Kalle Samooja recorded two aces in the final round.
For Burmester, it’s his second hole-in-one in competition and fifth overall since the first at the age of 24. His ace on Friday also resulted in a fan receiving a new BMW car and as a bonus he also holed out 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.
DeChambeau and Gooch headed Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen and Richard Bland of the Cleeks by a shot. At Mexico City too last week, DeChambeau shared the lead after 18 holes and the fifth time in his last seven starts, including the Masters where he’s been in the top 5 after the opening round.
“It was a tough, gruelling round of golf,” said the bogey-free DeChambeau, who tied for fifth place in Mexico. “I was proud of the way I stuck in there. I played some great golf today.” Also adjusting 8,000 feet in Mexico to sea level in Korea has been challenging.
“A unique test for me,” added DeChambeau. “I curve the ball a lot, so at elevation, it was nice for the ball to fly a lot straighter. Here, it’s curving a lot. So controlling my curvature, plotting around the golf course nicely.”
Now in his second season with Smash GC led by Brooks Koepka, Gooch posted six birdies in an eight-hole stretch and his iron play recalled the form he displayed in 2023 when he won three tournaments and the 2023 individual championship while playing with RangeGoats GC.
“It was a tough start to the year,” said Gooch later. “The game was pretty rusty. It's been nice these past couple of events to show some life and get some good golf going again. Hopefully, this round kind of kick-starts a good rest of the season and we can kind of channel some of that 2023 season again.”
Smash and Crushers also were at the top in the team event stand. While the former shot a cumulative 10 under, the Crushers trailed by just one shot with RangeGoats GC, who have Korean player Minkyu Kim in their lineup this week, in sole third on 8 under par.
“If we go shoot 10-under par for the next two days, that would be a great game plan,” Gooch said. “Great day for the team, and hopefully we can keep it going the next two days.”
Anirban Lahiri fired a feisty 4 under par 68 to hold down a place on the top 10 after day one of LIV Golf Korea presented by Coupang Play in Incheon even as his Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau and fellow-American Talor Gooch lead the way at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Kora on Friday.
Teeing off from hole eight, Lahiri was into his stride quickly with two bridies in his first three holes. Though he would drop a shot on the back nine, a further birdies gave the Indian star a share of sixth place alongside Dean Burmester, Jinichiro Kazuma and series leader Joaquin Neimann three shots behind the leader.
Stinger GC’s Burmester was one of two players to record aces on the day, Marc Leishman of the all-Australian Ripper GC being the other. It was the second time in LIV Golf history that two aces were recorded in the same round.
While South African Burmester’s hole-in-one came at the 205-yard 13th, Leishman followed later with his ace at the 172-yard 5th. It brought the total to 12 aces in league history, and four in the 2025 season. Last year in Hong Kong, Niemann and Kalle Samooja recorded two aces in the final round.
For Burmester, it’s his second hole-in-one in competition and fifth overall since the first at the age of 24. His ace on Friday also resulted in a fan receiving a new BMW car and as a bonus he also holed out 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.
DeChambeau and Gooch headed Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen and Richard Bland of the Cleeks by a shot. At Mexico City too last week, DeChambeau shared the lead after 18 holes and the fifth time in his last seven starts, including the Masters where he’s been in the top 5 after the opening round.
“It was a tough, gruelling round of golf,” said the bogey-free DeChambeau, who tied for fifth place in Mexico. “I was proud of the way I stuck in there. I played some great golf today.” Also adjusting 8,000 feet in Mexico to sea level in Korea has been challenging.
“A unique test for me,” added DeChambeau. “I curve the ball a lot, so at elevation, it was nice for the ball to fly a lot straighter. Here, it’s curving a lot. So controlling my curvature, plotting around the golf course nicely.”
Now in his second season with Smash GC led by Brooks Koepka, Gooch posted six birdies in an eight-hole stretch and his iron play recalled the form he displayed in 2023 when he won three tournaments and the 2023 individual championship while playing with RangeGoats GC.
“It was a tough start to the year,” said Gooch later. “The game was pretty rusty. It's been nice these past couple of events to show some life and get some good golf going again. Hopefully, this round kind of kick-starts a good rest of the season and we can kind of channel some of that 2023 season again.”
Smash and Crushers also were at the top in the team event stand. While the former shot a cumulative 10 under, the Crushers trailed by just one shot with RangeGoats GC, who have Korean player Minkyu Kim in their lineup this week, in sole third on 8 under par.
“If we go shoot 10-under par for the next two days, that would be a great game plan,” Gooch said. “Great day for the team, and hopefully we can keep it going the next two days.”