Aussie Leishman on right track for US Open date
Marc Leishman appears to be finding form at the right time with his US Open date on the horizon.
The Australian shot a four-under 67 at LIV Golf Virginia in Gainesville on Friday to trail leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Germany's Martin Kaymer by one stroke after the opening round.
Leishman is in good knick after coming through qualifying at nearby Rockville by obtaining one of four slots available for next week's Open at Oakmont Country Club.
Tied for third, Leishman went on a birdie blitz on the sixth, seventh and eighth holes before making another on the 10th at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
Bogeys on the 12th and 15th stymied his progress before he rebounded with closing birdies on 17 and 18.
Like Leishman, DeChambeau is also in good shape before the defence of his US Open title.
He chipped in for an eagle and a birdie on his way to his 66 and shot up the leaderboard after a brief weather delay, eagling the par-5 14th and birdieing each of the next two holes.
His chip at No.14 was a soft placement next to a slope, and his ball rolled from right to left right into the cup.
At the par-4 16th, he missed the green and chopped his third shot out of some thick rough, only to watch his ball head straight to the pin and disappear again.
"Man, what's nice is coming out into some soft conditions," DeChambeau said.
"That little chip shot became a hell of a lot easier for me. So I just chipped it out to the right exactly what I saw. I don't know if you saw, but I was studying it before I left.
"I was like this looks perfect, came out, still looks perfect, hit it exactly where I wanted it to land, and it went right in the frickin' hole."
Your individual and team leaderboards thru 18 holes in Virginia 📈#LIVGolfVirginia pic.twitter.com/uzro0F0Ayo
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) June 7, 2025
Leishman is tied for third with Phil Mickelson, who may play in his final US Open next week.
Also on the same number are Spain's Jon Rahm, searching for his third career major win, Chilean Joaquin Niemann, who received the USGA's first special invite based on LIV performance, Indian Anirban Lahiri and Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell.
RangeGoats GC teammates Bubba Watson and Peter Uihlein are tied at three under with Patrick Reed and Belgium's Thomas Pieters, both of 4Aces.
Australian Cameron Smith is at one under while compatriots Lucas Herbert and Matt Jones are both at four over.
RangeGoats lead the team competition at nine under par, two shots better than 4Aces and DeChambeau's team, Crushers GC.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
42 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Gauff Defeats Top-Ranked Sabalenka to Win First French Open Title
By Updated on Save PARIS (AP) — Coco Gauff has won the French Open for the first time by defeating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday. The second-ranked Gauff came out on top of a contest that was full of tension and momentum swings to claim her second major trophy after the 2023 U.S Open, where she also came from a set down to beat Sabalenka in the final.
CBS News
42 minutes ago
- CBS News
Coco Gauff beats Aryna Sabalenka to win first French Open women's title
Coco Gauff became the first American to win the French Open women's title since Serena Williams after beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in three sets on Saturday. It is her first French Open title and her second major overall. After a topsy-turvy opening set that Sabalenka edged 7-6 (5), the American tennis star responded with an immediate break and won the second set 6-2 to force a defining third set. She won the third set 6-4. The match was full of tension and momentum swings, amplified by the windy conditions. This is Gauff's second major so far. She beat Sabalenka in the 2023 U.S. Open final. The 27-year-old Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, has won three majors – two Australian Open titles and one U.S. title – but this was her first appearance in the French Open final. It was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years. Sabalenka and Gauff have split their 10 previous matchups evenly, but Sabalenka won their most recent encounter, also on a clay court at the Madrid Open a month ago. This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
US Open '25: DeChambeau's sand save an all-time memory at golf's most punishing major
It only feels right that the reigning titleholder at the golf championship that, at least in theory, anyone can win is the player who leans into the role of the sport's most relatable everyman, Bryson DeChambeau. And it only feels right that at the U.S. Open — a tournament built to humble and punish the best in the game as much as celebrate them — DeChambeau earned his title by hitting a shot that virtually no man can hit. A plaque now sits outside the bunker on the 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2, enshrining the spot where DeChambeau placed his name in the history books with what he called 'the shot of my life' — a 55-yard blast from the sand to 4 feet with the trophy hanging in the balance on Sunday at last year's Open. Defense of the title begins Thursday at Oakmont, getting ready to host its record 10th U.S. Open and a course with a longtime reputation for being as difficult as they come. All of which seems to suit the 31-year-old pro golfer/social media star just fine. His first U.S. Open title came in 2020 at Winged Foot, the course best known for producing the 1974 'Massacre at Winged Foot' along with Phil Mickelson's meltdown in the trees and trash cans more than 30 years later. Then, last year, that bunker at Pinehurst. What would golf's everyman say to his millions of YouTube followers who someday might encounter their own version of the 50-yard bunker shot, widely recognized as one of the most difficult in the game, even under normal circumstances? 'The best piece of advice I give them is, just practice in weird, unique situations for maybe an hour a week, 20 minutes, whatever,' DeChambeau said. 'But try to be different and don't just hit the same stock shot every time.' A history-making shot in a tournament that does not produce them All the major championships have their own personalities. The Masters produces roars through the pines during back-nine charges on Sunday. The British Open is a brittle links-style test where players have to think differently about getting from Point A to Point B. America's golf championship has a reputation for forcing the best players to suffer like the rest of us. As a result, the list of 'greatest shots of all time' at the U.S. Open is a short one: — Ben Hogan's 1-iron on the 72nd hole that helped force a playoff at Merion in 1950. — Arnold Palmer's lash with driver to the first green at Cherry Hills in 1960. — Jack Nicklaus' 1-iron that hit the flagstick on No. 17 at Pebble Beach in 1972. — Tom Watson's chip from the rough on the same hole 10 years later to beat Nicklaus. — Tiger Woods' 12-foot putt at Torrey Pines in 2008 to force a playoff he eventually won over Rocco Mediate. And now, there is DeChambeau's bunker shot. 'When he took this big swing, the amount of confidence that you have to have to hit it that close to the golf ball and not accidentally catch too much ball and send it on top of the clubhouse, it's a very fine line," said NBC golf analyst Smylie Kaufman, whose biggest brush with pressure came when he played in the final group Sunday at the 2016 Masters. 'They work every single day, every week at these facets of the game in hopes they will have an opportunity to try it,' said Notah Begay, also of NBC. 'I think one of the most overlooked things about professional golf is all the calculation that happens on the fly in evaluating certain shots, which way the grass is lying, where the ball's going to land, and on top of all the normal things.' A tournament for everyone could come down to Bryson, Rory, Scottie Maybe the biggest irony is what the U.S. Open officially sells itself as, versus what always ends up happening. More than 10,000 players signed up to qualify for the U.S. Open which is, officially, open to any professional, or amateur with a handicap of 0.4 or lower. There will be good stories to tell among those who went through qualifying to make the 156-man field: a 17-year-old high schooler from Georgia, a dentist in Indiana who used to caddie at Oakmont. The cold facts: The last man to run the gauntlet of local and sectional qualifying to win the title was Orville Moody in 1969. (Lucas Glover went through sectional qualifying only when he won in 2009.) By the time the sun starts going down on Sunday, the tournament almost certainly will come down to a handful of players who virtually all golf fans have heard of. Though Scottie Scheffler is playing the best right now and Rory McIlroy recently won the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, it's plausible to think that DeChambeau captures the attention of more of those fans than anyone. He recently surpassed 2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. He is making golf feel like everyman's sport, posting videos in which he makes a hole-in-one with a wedge shot over his house, plays with off-the-rack clubs to see how they stack up and tries to beat a scratch golfer while playing left-handed. All of it sounds nutty, but it all goes back to that piece of advice he offered when asked how to replicate the improbable under impossible circumstances — i.e., a 50-yard bunker shot with the U.S. Open on the line. 'Once you get a stock shot down and you're comfortable with it, go have some fun,' DeChambeau said. 'Do a chipping contest with your amateur friends and throw it in the bunker from 50 yards, or throw it in a bush and see if you can get out. Stuff to that extent has suited my game very well.'
