Despite rumours to the contrary, the first round of LIV Golf Mexico City did get underway on Thursday and Belfast’s Tom McKibbin, looking to bounce back from failing to make the cut at Augusta last week, posted a three-under-par 68 to sit six-strokes back from 18-hole leader Victor Perez.
23-year-old McKibbin, representing Legion XIII, carded three birdies on the front nine with his best work coming at the short par-4 second hole as McKibbin drove the green to make a three.
A bogey came at the par-4 11th, after a wayward tee ball saw the left hand side tree line, forcing him to punch out.
McKibbin got one back at the par-5 11th, reaching the green in two and made birdie to post a respectable round at Club de Golf Chapultepec.
It was a bit of a topsy-turvy round for Graeme McDowell as the 46-year-old had to work hard to post an even-par 71 in a round that saw a lot of squares and circles on his scorecard.
Three bogeys, a double, and five birdies sees McDowell T29.
The leader, Victor Perez holds a three-stroke lead ahead of the pack, with McKibbin’s Legion XIII teammate Jon Rahm in second place at six-under.
Perez carded 11 birdies, as the Frenchman seems to finally be adapting well to the environmental change of LIV.
“Definitely a different atmosphere, different vibe,” said Perez, who had never been inside the top 10 after any of his previous 20 LIV Golf rounds.
“It’s about getting more comfortable, and I think the first event, I was really struggling with the energy of the place and the music. I was almost too amped up on the first day and really struggled and it almost got worse through the week. So, it wasn’t good,” he added.
Hunting Perez, Rahm is looking to quickly get over his disappointing T38 finish at the Masters last week with a win in Mexico City.
“Sometimes after having a bad week and kind of understanding what I did wrong, I’d almost rather have a week after so I can back at it again as fast as possible and prove myself wrong or right, however you want to look at it,” said the Legion XIII captain. “I was happy that we were playing this week, for sure.”
Bryson De Chambeau posted an even-par 71 to share T29 alongside McDowell. A win for De Chambeau will see him become the first LIV Golf player to win three consecutive individual tournament titles, and will certainly help him forget his bunker disaster at the 18th in Augusta.
On the team leaderboard, Legion XIII lead by three strokes at nine-under thanks to both McKibbin and Rahm, followed by 4Aces GC at six-under. McDowell’s Smash GC sit in T3 at five-under.
After rumours of speculation over a withdrawal of its Saudi Arabian backers, LIV Golf plans to go “full throttle” despite doubts over its future.
LIV chief executive Scott O’Neill has reportedly responded by sending an email to staff, reaffirming the league’s position.
“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neill said in the email, according to ESPN.
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