Sebastian Munoz had seven birdies to one bogey, opening in 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of LIV Golf Singapore.
In LIV Golf’s seventh event of 2024 and the final one before the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky, in two weeks, there are plenty of names chasing Munoz at Sentosa Golf Club, including the 2023 PGA champion Brooks Koepka, who opened in 5-under 66, the lone blemish on his scorecard being a three-putt bogey.
Also tied for second is Thomas Pieters, Cameron Tringale, Abraham Ancer, Martin Kaymer and Kevin Na. Joaquin Niemann and Dustin Johnson are in a group two shots back and T-8.
Anthony Kim had one of his best rounds since joining LIV Golf, a 2-under 69.
DeChambeau has two LIV wins in 2023, tied with Cam Smith, one one back of Talor Gooch.
Sebastian Munoz led by three shots after 36 holes at Rich Harvest Farms but couldn’t hold on to the lead, shooting 2 over in Sunday’s final round.
Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau went on a charge, posting nine birdies and just a single bogey to shoot an 8-under 63 to win for the second time on the LIV Golf League this season. DeChambeau finished 13 under and won by a shot over Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri.
Lahiri had a chance to force a playoff but missed a putt on the 18th hole.
“To be honest with you, I was actually sad,” said DeChambeau. “I really wanted him to make that so we could go battle it off in a playoff and finish it off the right way. That was the first emotion that I had.”
In August, DeChambeau won the LIV Golf Greenbrier event after he closed with a final-round 58. He joins Cam Smith with two wins in 2023. Talor Gooch leads the circuit with three wins.
In the season-long race for the Individual Champion, there’s only three golfers now who can claim that title: Gooch, Smith and DeChambeau. Smith currently leads that race with Gooch second and DeChambeau third. Smith and Gooch have mathematically clinched a spot in the top three. DeChambeau still has a shot at winning that title but could also get bumped out of the top three. Five golfers have a chance to finish in third (but they’re too far back to win the season title): Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka, Brendan Grace, Dustin Johnson and Mito Pereira.
Koepka finished 24th in the 48-man field. He’s the lone LIV golfer headed to Rome for the Ryder Cup next week. In fact, he’s the only one of the 24 golfers on either Ryder Cup team to compete this week (Euro vice captain Edoardo Molinari did tie for 28th at the DP World Tour’s French Open).
LIV Golf Chicago was the 12th of 14 events on the 2023 schedule. LIV Golf Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is up next, Oct. 13-15. The season finale is the LIV Golf Team Championship at Doral, Oct. 20-22.
Nineteen players were entered in a final qualifier. One didn’t finish, one withdrew and another didn’t show up.
Amateur and professional golfers across the country flocked to 10 different sites this week for U.S. Open final qualifying – known annually as Golf’s Longest Day – and one of the biggest stories from this year’s 36-hole Marathon Monday was the presence of LIV Golf League players in the fields.
An easy way for players to qualify for major championships is via their Official World Golf Ranking. Seeing as events for the upstart circuit backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund currently don’t offer OWGR points, LIV players have plummeted in the ranking, forcing them to qualify for the third men’s major of the season the hard way.
Of the 19 players entered in a final qualifier, just four (in bold) punched their ticket. One didn’t finish, one withdrew and another didn’t even show up. Here’s how LIV golfers fared in final qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Open, June 15-18, at Los Angeles Country Club.
Koepka won last year’s LIV Golf Jeddah event after a playoff with former teammate Peter Uihlein in October.
Brooks Koepka is LIV Golf’s first two-time winner.
The four-time major champion held on for his second win since leaving the PGA Tour at LIV Golf Orlando on Sunday after shooting a 3-under 68 to finish at 15 under at Orange County National’s Crooked Cat.
Koepka won last year’s LIV Golf Jeddah event after a playoff with former teammate Peter Uihlein in October.
In his first year on the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Sebastian Munoz gave Koepka a run for his money with a final-round 5-under 66 but came up a shot shot at 14 under. Patrick Reed finished third at 13 under.
Koepka is among a total of 18 LIV players who will tee it up next week at the 2023 Masters. LIV Golf’s next event is in Adelaide, Australia, at The Grange Golf Club, April 21-23.
LIV Golf begins its 2023 season at Mayakoba in Mexico, Feb. 24-26.
Most of the excitement around LIV Golf during its debut season in 2022 stemmed from player movement.
Since the conclusion of the team championship last October, it’s been all quiet on that front for the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-backed circuit, aside from a report on Mito Pereira and a new player joining Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces. But as LIV prepares for its 2023 opener at Mayakoba in Mexico, Feb. 24-26, another PGA Tour winner is expected to join its ranks.
According to the Telegraph, Sebastian Munoz will join LIV Golf in 2023. The Colombian, currently ranked 90th in the world, turned pro in 2015 and won his first and only PGA Tour event at the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship. He also won the 2016 Club Colombia Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Last fall he was a member of the International team at the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow, where he compiled a 2-0-1 record, including a win against Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 at the time.
Here’s who missed the cut, including the 12th-ranked golfer in the world.
HOUSTON – It’s finally time for the weekend in Texas.
Friday afternoon storms suspended play for good at 3:26 p.m. local time, with no groups who teed off in the afternoon having completed play. That meant everyone had to come back Saturday morning to essentially a different golf course.
The temperature Friday afternoon was 86 degrees. Saturday morning? How about 43. The winds also shifted, blowing out of the north instead of the southeast. It made for a chilly start for those who had to come back and fight to improve their position on the leaderboard and it helped those who may have missed the cut if the conditions remained nice.
Tony Finau, at 13 under, maintains his four-shot advantage with 36 holes to play. Patrick Rodgers and Alex Noren are four shots behind.
Here’s who missed the cut at the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course. The cut was even par, and 70 players made it.
Four players went undefeated and six failed to earn a win at the 2022 Presidents Cup.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The United States held off a charging International squad to claim the 2022 Presidents Cup, 17½-12½, and extend its win streak to nine events dating to 2005.
In the event’s 28-year history, the Americans have dominated to the tune of a 12-1-1 record, losing in 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia and tying in 2003 at Fancourt Hotel and Country Club in South Africa.
Speaking of impressive records, Jordan Spieth made his pitch to be the new Captain America with an impressive 5-0-0 showing this week at Quail Hollow Club, with rookie Max Homa just behind him at 4-0-0 after sitting out Saturday afternoon’s four-ball session. On the other side, rookies Sebastian Munoz (2-0-1) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (1-0-1) were the lone unbeaten players for the Internationals.
Three players went winless for each team, but only two failed to earn a point, and they’re both from Canada, who will play host in 2024 when the event heads to Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal.
Here’s a breakdown of how each player fared this week by event at the 2022 Presidents Cup.
U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Davis Love III trusted that his 12-man team would deliver in Sunday singles.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After watching his team lose both sessions on Saturday and its lead heading into the final day trimmed to four points, U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Davis Love III trusted that his 12-man team would deliver in Sunday singles.
“This is one of our best formats, and they’re going to come out mad tomorrow,” he predicted.
Love front-loaded his lineup with several of the top players in the world to attempt to put a sea of red on the scoreboard early: Justin Thomas in the leadoff spot followed by Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. They delivered mixed results, but Team U.S.A. needed just four points to retain the Presidents Cup and continue its domination in its biennial match, winning 17 ½-12 ½.
On an overcast fall day at Quail Hollow, they did enough to take care of business, led by Jordan Spieth, who went out in the second match of the day and defeated Australian Cam Davis 4 and 3. Spieth secured his first-ever victory in singles and notched a perfect record of 5-0, the first player from either team to do so since South African Branden Grace in 2015.
Team USA golfer Jordan Spieth hits his chip shot on the second hole during the singles match play of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)
“It feels really good,” Spieth said. “When you go out early as I’ve done pretty much every team event on a Sunday, they’re looking for red on the board, and it feels good to finally provide that.”
Patrick Cantlay avenged his lone defeat of the week on Saturday afternoon, besting Adam Scott, 3 and 2.
“I knew it was really important for me to get my point today,” Cantlay said, “and I’m really content with how I played.”
But the outmanned International team kept it interesting until late Sunday. South Korea’s Si Woo Kim shushed the crowd, with his finger at 15 and silenced them with his putter on 18, draining a clutch birdie putt at 18 to edge Thomas 1 up.
International Team golfer Si Woo Kim reacts after making his putt on the 15th green in front of caddie Manuel Villegas during the singles match play of the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
“J.T. give me fist pump, and then I had to do it. And I had to make it, and I made it,” said Kim, who was a team-best 3-0-1, of his putt to tie the 15th hole. “Then, like, yeah, I had to do something. I think that give me more energy.”
Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz was 2-0-1 in the matches he played, knocking off World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who finished 0-3-1, by a score of 2 and 1.
“I believe Munoz is going to come out of this competition with a real infusion of self-belief and confidence,” NBC’s Paul Azinger said. “He has made some huge putts.”
Munoz likely would agree. “Probably one of the best things I ever achieved in my life,” he said.
Xander Schauffele essentially called his shot in clinching the winning point for Team USA.
“I’ll just save mine for tomorrow,” he said when asked for his highlight on Saturday.
Schauffele, who was in the seventh match of the day on Sunday and won a total of three points for his country, squandered a 3-up lead but hung on to defeat Canada’s Corey Conners 1 up.
“Just luck of the draw, you know what I mean?” Schauffele said. “It was close. It was stressful and what you saw there was a big sigh of relief.”
The U.S. team featured six of the top 10 in the world, while Hideki Matsuyama, who tied Sam Burns on Sunday, was the top-ranked international player at No. 17. Missing from the International side was World No. 3 Cameron Smith, Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, who were among the defectors to LIV Golf and ineligible for the competition.
Nevertheless, the International side made a valiant comeback on Saturday. But they had dug a big hole, requiring a historic comeback of 8½ of the 12 points up for grabs.
“When you consider that we were 8-2 down on Friday evening, this team is no joke, and I’m sick and tired of it being spoken of as a joke,” International team captain Trevor Immelman said. “We love this event, and we love our team, and we cannot wait to run this back and have another shot.”
The International side featured eight rookies and had the youngest team in Presidents Cup history, including 20-year-old South Korean sensation Tom Kim, who won two big points on Saturday to lead a spirited charge as the International team outscored the Americans in a two-session day for the first time since 1998.
“This young kid has burst onto the scene in the last six months,” International team captain Trevor Immelman said. “He’s been such a tremendous gift to our sport. He has an ability to be a global superstar, this kid.”
In singles, Tom Kim blew a 3-up lead after 10 holes to Max Homa, who went 4-0, one of four rookies to go 4-0-0 or better all-time at the Presidents Cup.
The U.S. has won the Presidents Cup nine times in a row and 12 of 14 times, with one tie. The next match will be held in Montreal in 2024.
Here’s a look at the International Team heading to Charlotte.
It’s time for the 2022 Presidents Cup.
The competition will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina at Quail Hollow Club. The course is a regular stop on the PGA Tour, hosting the Wells Fargo Championship, as well as the 2017 PGA Championship.
Now, some of the best players from around the world, Europe excluded, will come together and look to win on American soil for the first time in the event’s history.
Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, is the captain for the International squad, and he has four assistant captains: K.J. Choi, Geoff Ogilvy, Camilo Villegas and Mike Weir.
Here’s a look at the 12 players representing the International team in the 2022 Presidents Cup:
When Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann made the jump to LIV, Immelman suddenly had an extra pair of selections.
Trevor Immelman’s job as the Presidents Cup captain for the International Team has become more difficult as the competition approaches.
The top eight players on the points list had earned a spot on the team for the biennial event against the United States to be held Sept. 22-25 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, meaning Immelman had four picks to make.
But when a pair of players — Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann — made the jump to LIV Golf before the recent event outside Boston, Immelman suddenly had an extra pair of selections to play with. This followed the costly defections of Louis Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer, about whom Immelman had previously said, “We’ve lost two guys that were absolutely going to be there at Quail Hollow.”
The Presidents Cup is a match-play event with 30 total matches, comprised of a 12-person U.S. Team and a 12-person International Team. The U.S. leads 11-1-1.
Here’s a look at the six players Immelman selected on Tuesday to fill out his team.
