ROCESTER: Similar to last season, Joaquin Niemann entered this weeks LIV Golf UK by JCB as the season-long points leader, with Jon Rahm in hot pursuit. The Torque GC captain is determined to write a different ending this time.
Niemann, a four-time winner this season, shot a bogey-free 65 on Friday at JCB Golf & Country Club to grab a share of the first-round lead with Cleeks GCs Adrian Meronk and Stinger GCs Branden Grace.
The trio are one shot ahead of Majesticks co-captain Lee Westwood, RangeGoats captain Bubba Watson, and Niemanns Torque teammate Carlos Ortiz.
The team leaderboard is also tightly bunched at the top with defending UK champions Legion XIII tied with Stinger and Torque at 11 under. Six other teams are within five shots of the lead.
Rahm won the individual UK trophy for his first career LIV Golf victory a year ago, using it as a springboard to catch Niemann for the season-long Individual Championship in the regular-season finale.
Niemann entered this week with a 15-point lead over Rahm and is now in a great position to build on his advantage, as Rahm shot an even-par 71 and is tied for 32nd. Crushers captain Bryson DeChambeau, who is in third place in the standings, is tied for 11th after a 68.
Based on projections after Fridays first round, Niemann would leave England with a 44-point lead, which would mean he would be guaranteed pole position in the standings going into the regular-season finale, LIV Golf Indianapolis, to determine the Individual Championship next month.
Niemann, who birdied four of his first six holes, said: Im in a really privileged situation to be on top of the rankings and being chased by Jon and Bryson. It just makes me a better athlete. I like that pressure.
Unlike Niemann, the other two players who share the lead are fighting different battles.
Grace has spent most of the season in the drop zone (49th and below in points) and facing relegation while battling wrist problems, but the South African has found his form recently. He tied for fourth earlier this month in Andalucia, a result that moved him out of the drop zone, and he continued his fine play with a round that started hot (three birdies in his first four holes) and ended the same way.
Meronk, meanwhile, returned to the kind of form on Friday that secured him the season-opening tournament in Riyadh. His 65 was his best score, relative to par, in his last 25 LIV Golf rounds.
The Polish star, who finished with four birdies in his last five holes, said: Finally, Im enjoying myself on the course and playing good golf again, which is quite exciting.
Its great to be back in this position, and Im really looking forward to this weekend and to three more tournaments this year.
Of the top eight players on the leaderboard, three are from England, led by the resurgent Westwood, the 52-year-old legend who tied an Open Championship record last week at Royal Portrush by shooting a back-nine 29.
Legion XIIIs Tyrrell Hatton and the Crushers Paul Casey, the other two Englishmen on the front page of the leaderboard, are tied for seventh after shooting 67s.
All six English players on the LIV Golf roster received huge support from a packed and enthusiastic gallery at JCB, which is hosting the tournament for the second successive year and will return as a host course next season.
It feels like our home event, and its always nice to perform in front of home fans, said Westwood, who played with fellow Englishmen and Majesticks teammates Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield on Friday.
The crowd was especially vocal at the par-3 14th. Its a fun atmosphere, said Hatton, who tied for second last year to his captain Rahm. There were a lot of people there, and the music was good too. I think most of us probably enjoyed a singalong down that hole.
TEAM SCORES
LIV Golfs new scoring format this season now involves all four scores counting in every round in the team competition (click here for more on the new format). Here are the results and scores for each team after Fridays round one of LIV Golf UK by JCB.
T1. LEGION XIII -11 (Hatton 67, Surratt 67, McKibbin 68, Rahm 71)
T1. STINGER GC -11 (Grace 65, Schwartzel 68, Burmester 69, Oosthuizen 71)
T1. TORQUE GC -11 (Niemann 65, Ortiz 66, Mu簽oz 71, Pereira 71)
4. RIPPER GC -10 (Leishman 67, Smith 68, Herbert 69, Jones 70)
5. MAJESTICKS GC -9 (Westwood 66, Horsfield 68, Stenson 70, Poulter 71)
6. HYFLYERS GC -6 (Tringale 68, Ogletree 69, Mickelson 70, Steele 71)
T7. CLEEKS GC -5 (Meronk 65, Bland 71, Kaymer 71, Kjettrup 72)
T7. RANGEGOATS GC -5 (Watson 66, Campbell 70. Wolff 71, Uihlein 72)
T7. CRUSHERS GC -5 (Casey 67, DeChambeau 68, Howell III 68, Lahiri 76)
10. FIREBALLS GC -3 (Puig 68, Ballester 70, Garcia 71, Ancer 72)
T11. 4ACES GC E (Reed 68, Pieters 70, Varner III 72, Johnson 74)
T11. SMASH GC E (Gooch 70, Kokrak 70, Koepka 72, McDowell 72)
13. IRON HEADS GC +2 (Jang 69, Kozuma 72, Lee 72, Na 73)
Wildcards: Kim 72, C. Lee 75
