At LIV Virginia, the vibe is different — but the leaders are familiar

Washington Post

17 hours ago

Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Cam Smith strolled up the first fairway at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club early Friday afternoon while AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' thumped through speakers surrounding the No. 1 tee box. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann followed, receiving raucous applause as 'Luther' by Kendrick Lamar and SZA blared.
Cedric the Entertainer and pro wrestler Titus O'Neil made their way through the crowded gallery to catch a glimpse of the first two groups in the opening round at LIV Golf Virginia. The two posed for pictures and high-fived eager fans. The entire scene bucked traditional golf protocol, which is exactly the blueprint for the Saudi-financed circuit attempting to differentiate itself from and compete against the PGA Tour.
What's familiar are the names who occupied the higher rungs of the leader board following a weather delay of nearly two hours in Gainesville, Virginia. DeChambeau, for instance, was sharp upon resumption of play, gaining four shots over his first six swings and finishing tied with Martin Kaymer for the lead at 5-under 66.
'It's one of those things, you come back from a rain delay, you usually think you're going to try and slowly get into the flow,' said DeChambeau, the winner of the previous LIV Golf event in South Korea in early May before a month-long break entering this week. 'I came out hot.'
Rahm and Phil Mickelson, who turns 55 this month, were among other major championship winners lurking one stroke back in LIV's second stop in the region. The initial visit, named LIV Golf DC, took place at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, in 2023.
One year earlier, LIV Golf conducted its inaugural season with just seven events worldwide after having pilfered a handful of marquee players from the PGA Tour. Mickelson, a critic of golf's longtime governing body, was an early advocate for the breakaway league that offered lucrative contracts to lure other major titleholders, notably DeChambeau, the reigning and two-time U.S. Open champion.
The USGA, which stages the U.S. Open, this year added an exemption for LIV players, making it the first major championship to do so. Niemann, winner of three events this season, secured that exemption for next week at Oakmont by virtue of being the top player on the tour as of the May 19 cutoff date.
The R & A, which operates the British Open, also added a pathway for LIV members to get into the field in the fourth and final major championship of the year at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. The exemption goes to the leading player in the top five not already exempt at the conclusion of the LIV event in Dallas on June 29.
Those organizations had declined to offer exemptions in years past because of LIV's tournaments last 54 holes, 18 fewer than on the PGA Tour. LIV also awards points to its 13 teams as well as individuals during its schedule comprising 14 events over six-plus months.
Three-round tournaments with shotgun starts, however, have led to LIV players becoming ineligible for inclusion in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), which provides an exemption into the U.S. Open, among other majors, to those inside the top 60 who otherwise would not be eligible by the June 9 cutoff date.
Underscoring LIV's nonconformity was what followed when Matthew Wolff withdrew from this tournament after eight holes because of injury. Replacement Ollie Schniederjans joined the field and made birdies on his first two holes, but his scores counted only toward the team total for RangeGoats, captained by Bubba Watson.
The two-time Masters champion (2012, '14) stood 2 under and his team was tied for first place with 4Aces when play was suspended at 3:58 p.m. with severe weather moving through the majestic layout along Lake Manassas that most recently hosted last year's Solheim Cup.
By the time the horn sounded to resume play, greens that were firm and slick when players teed off in sunny and humid conditions had softened, allowing them to go after pins they otherwise might not have considered taking on aggressively.
'I was able to come out and hit some good shots,' said Mickelson, who began his round at No. 3 and spent part of the delay working with a physical therapist. 'I hit a good shot into 18 and made birdie, so I was able to get my body moving. That's the biggest challenge for me.'
DeChambeau immediately took advantage of the more inviting greens as well. One his first stroke following resumption of play, he curled home a 20-foot chip for eagle at the par-5 No. 14, a 615-yard behemoth where Rahm made birdie to join DeChambeau at 3 under and move within a shot of what was then a four-way tie for the lead.
DeChambeau went on to make a birdie putt at No. 15 and chipped in for birdie at the par-3 16th to claim the solo lead for the first time.
'You could attack it a little [more], but the greens were still firm,' DeChambeau said. 'It wasn't like it softened it completely. . . . So it impacted a little bit, but it made the chip shot on 14 a lot easier.'