Sedate start to LIV Golf 2024 for Lahiri as Chile’s Neimann sets Mayakoba record

On a day 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm made his debut as captain of the Legion XIII team, LIV Golf’s youngest team captain scripted a little bit of magic with his record-setting pace, only the second sub-60 total in the short history of the parallel league after Bryson DeChambeau’s 58 at Greenbrier last year.

In setting the El Camaleon course record, Niemann also became the second player in LIV Golf’s first 23 events to card a sub-60 round to hold a four-shot lead over the field. Last year, Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau shot a 12-under 58 at Greenbrier. “It was an amazing round,” said the 25-year-old Niemann. “I played solid since the beginning, and I never stopped playing good.”

On the individual leaderboard, Patrick Reed (64) of the US was one stroke ahead of Spain’s Sergio Garcia going into the weekend. They will be on the lead group on Saturday along with the young Chilean while Rahm will be in the flight just ahead in shared fourth place along with England’s Laurie Canter and Richard Bland on 5 under 66s.

Riding on Niemann’s bogey-free round, Torque were atop the team standings on 13 under, with Cleeks GC tied for second five strokes adrift as were Reed’s 2022 season toppers 4Aces. The all-South African Stingers and the Aussie lineup of the Rippers shared fourth place on 6 under totals. 

Meanwhile, tweaks have been introduced for the 2024 season dealing with the starting field, counting scores, points distribution, season-long individual standings and qualification for the team championship.
 
Fields will now be of 54 players as against 48 till last year comprising of 13 teams plus two wild cards and each team will have the top three scores counted for the first two days with all four totals contributing on the final day at each event. Points for players finishing with the same score will be added up and distributed evenly and tiebreakers will only be used to determine podium positions.

Individual points will again be awarded to the top 24 finishers and prize money payouts have been adjusted to account for the six players added to the field. Season long individual standings will retain the Lock Zone for positions 1 to 24, with updated cut-offs for the Open Zone (25-48) and Drop Zone (49 and below) to reflect the increased field size. Players finishing in the top 24 at the end of the regular season secure their 2025 spot in the League. 

Players finishing 25-48 who are out of contract will need to be re-signed by their team or picked up by another team. Players finishing 49 and below are relegated out of the League and qualify for the 2024 LIV Golf Promotions tournament. In the team championship, the top 12 teams after the full season will be seeded and the squad finishing in 13th place will not compete but will still attend.

“Competition updates for 2024 reflect a natural evolution of the LIV Golf League format and illustrate our commitment to further enhancing an exciting product for the players and the fans,” said LIV Golf’s David Benne. “League leadership will continue to work with our world-class players and teams to strengthen LIV Golf competition as we move the sport into the future. We’re looking forward to the League’s season opener this week and a thrilling year ahead.”

Day 1 team scores

1.Torque: -13 (Niemann 59, Muñoz 68, Pereira 73)
T2. Cleeks: -8 (Bland 66, Samooja 69, Kaymer 70)
T2. 4Aces: -8 (Reed 64, Johnson 67, Varner III 74)
T4. Stinger: -6 (Burmester 67, Oosthuizen 70, Schwartzel 70)
T4. Ripper: -6 (Leishman 68, Smith 69, Herbert 70)
6. Crushers: -5 (Howell III 68, Casey 70, DeChambeau 70)
T7. Legion XIII: -4 (Rahm 66, Surratt 71, Hatton 72)
T7. Fireballs: -4 (Garcia 65, Ancer 72, Puig 72)
9. Iron Heads: -3 (Vincent 69, Na 70, Lee 71)
10. Smash: -1 (Koepka 69, McDowell 71, Gooch 72)
11. RangeGoats: E (Watson 69, Pieters 72, Wolff 72)
12. HyFlyers: +1 (Tringale 69, Ogletree 72, Mickelson 73)
13. Majesticks: +4 (Stenson 71, Horsfield 72, Poulter 74)

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