Mercurial Uihlein shares LIV Golf Hong Kong Day 2 lead with steady Casey and Garcia 

Overnight leader Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia and Peter Uihlein shared the individual lead on Saturday at LIV Golf Hong Kong with very contrasting rounds, the first two playing some steady golf and the third riding a roller-coaster on his way to a 6 under par 64. 

While Casey of Crushers GC fired his second bogey-free round of the week, and Fireballs captain Garcia matched Uihlein’s 64 but minus the drama, the RangeGoats GC star produced an eagle and eight birdies but also gave away four bogeys to finish on 11 under and keep the competition tight. 

Mito Pereira of Torque GC was also in a three-way tie for fourth place on 8 under 132 three strokes behind the trio partly thanks to a hole-in-one on the day. HyFlyers captain Phil Mickelson (65) and Torque teammate Sebastian Munoz (67) kept the Chilean company. 

“I just watched the Peter Uihlein show today,” said Casey (66), who was playing in the same group as the American and enjoyed the show. “It was impressive stuff. I'm happy that I'm sitting here tied for the lead. … If Pete had not made a bogey today, he’d be about five shots ahead because of his firepower.” 

“I kind of just view it as entertainment. Obviously I don't like making bogeys, but I guess the adversity that kind of comes with it, I enjoy that. I enjoy the moment,” added Uihlein. 

Pereira’s ace on the 149-yard hole 2 was the 10th in LIV Golf history and his contribution besides Munoz’s 67 and a pair of 68s from team captain Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz carried Torque GC into the team lead on 23 under par, two strokes up the road from Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII and Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC. 

Torque and Legion XIII are past LIV Golf tournament winners, but the HyFlyers have yet to break through as a team. Mickelson is also in the running for individual honours which would be his first since the 2021 Players Championship where he made history as the oldest golfer to win a men’s major. 

Mickelson, LIV Golf’s most decorated player with 57 career wins and a World Golf Hall of Famer, knows he is running out of time against every-younger fields and he has worked himself into contention with a 67-65 sequence for his best position after any LIV Golf round. 

“Tomorrow I've got to make seven birdies and have no bogeys, and I've got a shot at winning this tournament,” the 54-year-old left-hander said. “Minimizing the mistakes allows me to not have to make as many birdies and to play a much easier style of game. I should say less stressful style. That's what I'm looking at doing." 

“I've been fighting it the last three years trying to play the way I've always played, and as the courses get longer and the players get longer and I'm not staying with it,” Mickelson said, adding “I just have to find another way to play golf courses.” 

Mickelson, however, added that while he would love to be an individual winner, a team victory on Sunday would be even sweeter. “The experience of sharing it with teammates … I think that would probably mean a little more, which is very unusual to say in a game that's such an individual sport.” 

Uihlein and Englishman Casey are also in search of their first LIV Golf individual title. “I've had four runners-up, so getting that first win would be awesome. I think that's kind of the goal at the start of every year is to get a win. To get a team win would be nice as well, but an individual win would be fantastic,” Uihlein said. 

Casey, who has won 21 titles in 13 different countries and lost out in a three-way playoff last year at LIV Golf Hong Kong, said, “Every win is special, from the most recent to the very first that I ever had. Hopefully, I can answer that again tomorrow.” 

The bog movers on the day in the team standings were Jon Rahm and his Legion XIII, up into a tie for second place from tenth overnight with a 21 under run on Saturday. Of the 72 holes on the day, Rahm was the only one to drop a shit in his 6 under 64. The team’s star was the youngest member, 20-year-old Caleb Surratt, who bounced back from an opening 75 to shoot an 8-under 62. 

Tom McKibbin shot 66 and Tyrrell Hatton a 67 to round out the team’s day. They will seek their second title of the season, having already won the season opener in Riyadh.