Garcia, Johnson Share Liv Chicago Lead appear as Stingers

4aces captain Dustin Johnson on the sixth tee during his tempo setting first round 67 in Liv Golf Chicago on Friday. Image Courtesy Liv Golf.

A correspondent

Bolingbrook, Illinois: Sergio Garcia can regain his form of regaining earlier this season. Dustin Johnson can turn around in the form of his own.

In the first round of Friday in Liv Golf Chicago, the two captains and large champions showed that they are ready to make a lot of noise, since the 2025 season is approaching its conclusion.

Fireballs GC captain Garcia shot a 4 under par 67 coupled by Johnson, the 4aces captain, for part of the management of a challenging Bolingbrook Golf Club.

The two start the second round of Saturday one battle prior to a Chase package with six players with four other large champions-Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson Descivbeau and Jon Rahm.

On the team leader board, the South African Stinger GC shot a cumulative 6 by one battle over Garcia’s Fireballs, with Johnson’s 4aces and Decchambeau’s Crushers bound the third at 3.

The stingers want to break a drought of 31 tournaments without a team win.

Bounce back

Two weeks ago at Liv Golf UK by JCB, Johnson finished last in the 54-man field, but bounced back on Friday thanks to a stretch of nine holes in which he placed five Birdies.

It is the second time this season that he went to the lead in the first round of the next tournament in one tournament. He finished 54th in Hong Kong and then had the solo lead after 18 holes in Singapore, eventually binding for the fifth.

“To be honest, even in the UK, I didn’t play as bad as my score,” said Johnson. “I know my score was terrible, but I actually took a lot of good photos.”

He has taken many good photos lately. Prior to the British event, he finished in the top 10 in three of the five starts, his best piece this season while haunting his first victory of 2025.

He certainly hit some great shots on Friday, despite windy circumstances and tough pin placements. His irons were mainly on point, because he hit 14 greens in the regulation and in second place in the field.

“It’s close,” Johnson said when he was asked in his shape. “I feel that I am always close by, and it takes a few pictures where my game just clicks back and I start playing well again.”

Garcia won earlier this year in Hong Kong during a piece in which his fireballs claimed three consecutive team titles. But the shape of the legendary Spaniard fell off during the middle part of the season.

Hot putter

Garcia, always a great ball, found his battle on Friday, because he only needed 23 puts, for the least in the field.

Garcia is now ranked to the tournament in the sixth in the seasonal point race and is now expected to go to fourth place.

“I worked very hard on all parts of my game,” he said. “Today I felt that I hit the ball as well, just as well as I hit the ball at the beginning of the year … … …

“I have made different shots very, very close, so clearly on the circumstances we had today, if you have five or six tap-ins for Birdie, that helps a lot.”

Among the pursuers, the most intriguing development concerns the individual championship race. Rahm is in third place in the Leaderboard of Chicago, while point leader Joaquin Niemann-a five-time winner this season is bound after the shooting of a 74.

If Rahm wins this week and Niemann does not finish better than 18th, then Rahm takes the lead for the decisive event next week during the regular season finale in Liv Golf Indianapolis.

According to Liv Golf Data Experts, Rahm increased his chances of catching Niemann from 15% to 30% after the round of Friday.

Others also have enough to play for, including 55-year-old Mickelson, a six-time big winner who has his best season at Liv Golf.

He started the week 20th in points, but is projected on the 11th after photographing a 68 in which he was bogey-free for the first 14 holes. He would like to finish in the top 10 in the season -hose race.

“I played well this year, played consistently,” he said. “At the age of 55 I think that is a cool achievement, and I would like to finish this year.” (Courtesy Liv Golf)

Round 1 scores

1. Stinger GC -6 (Burmester 68, Grace 69, Schwartzel 69, Oosthuizen 72)

2. Fireballs GC -5 (Garcia 67, Ballester 69, Ancerer 71, Puig 72)

T3. Crushers GC -3 (Dechambeau 68, Casey 70, Lahiri 71, Howell III 72)

T3. 4ACES GC -3 (Johnson 67, Reed 70, Pieters 72, Varner III 72)

5. Smash GC -2 (Koepka 68, Gooch 69, McDowell 72, Kokrak 73)

6. Hyflyers GC -1 (Mickelson 68, Oletree 69, Tringale 70, Steele 76)

7. Legion XIII e (Hatton 68, Rahm 68, McKibbin 73, Surratt 75)

8. Couple GC +1 (Pereira 69, Muñoz 70, Ortiz 72, Niemann 74)

9. Ripper GC +2 (Herbert 69, Leishman 71, Smith 71, Jones 75)

10. Ringed GC +3 (Uihlein 70, Watson 71, Campbell 73, Wolff 73)

11. Cleeks GC +4 (Mix 70, Kaymer 70, Meronk 72, Kjettrup 76)

T12. Iron Heads GC +9 (Jangs 72, Kozuma 72, Lee 77

T12. Majesticks GC +9 (Horsfield 72, Westwood 72, Poulter 74, Stenson 75)

Wild cards: C. Lee 74, Kim 82

Round 1 statistics

Drive accuracy: Brooks Koepka, Anirban Lahiri, Cameron Smith, Charles Howell III, Louis Oosthuizen, 78.57% (11 of 14 Fairways Hit)

Average driving distance (for measured holes 1 and 14): Dean Burmester, 357.0 meters AVG.

Longest drive (under measured holes 1 and 14): Lucas Herbert, 412.8. Yards, 14th hole

Greens in Regulation: Thomas Pieters, 83.33% (15 out of 18 Greens)

Clambering: Bryan Dechambeau (9 of 9), 100%

Putting: Sergio Garcia, Andy Ogletree, 1.28 puts per hole

Read also: Couple skipper Neimann and Legion XIII extends 2025 Domination

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