Bryson Dedanbo and Tara Gooch share the lead at Liv Golf Korea’s 7-under after opening 18 on Friday.
Dechambeau was bogey-free at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea, where he dropped a birdie putt on the final hole and completed the first round on the leaderboard alongside Gooch, the 2023 individual champion who was rounded to a recent shape.
Gooch helped Smash GC grab the team’s lead with separate streaks of three consecutive birdies on an eight-hole stretch. The Brooks Koepka-LED crew posted a cumulative score of 10 and a cumulative score of 1 to introduce one DeChambeau and Crushers GC.
“Yeah, it was a tough start to this year,” Gooch said. “The game was pretty rusty. This past couple event was good to show life and play good golf again.
Deccanbeau described his round as “stricken,” but he swung his hot putter around to make up for what he felt was an unstable iron play.
“I’m excited for the weekend,” Deccanbeau said he saw the 65th shot of the first round, a 10-foot putt, and found the bottom of the cup. “It’s going to be a fun battle.”
South Africa’s Louis Ostuzen is tied to third place. He shot 66 on Thursday, and his Stinger GC is fourth in team scores behind Range Goat GC.
Also, at 6 Under, it is the Richard brand of England. They are two shots of Joaquínniemann (Torque GC), the winner of Chile’s Liv Mexico, part of the fifth four-way tie.
Two players drilled holes on Friday. 208-yard par 3, 13th place in South Africa’s Dean Barmester and 172-yard par 3 fifth hole for Australia’s Mark Leishman.