Disappointed in not winning last week’s team title in Jeddah after starting the final round with a seven-shot lead, Stinger GC entered LIV Golf Hong Kong determined to make amends.

So far so good through one round – although a persistent and familiar nemesis is lurking again.

Led by Dean Burmester’s 7-under 63, the Stingers grabbed the first-round lead at historic Hong Kong Golf Club with a team score of 16 under. That’s one shot better than Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, the team that rallied past the Stingers last Sunday in a scintillating record-tying final-round 20-under performance.

“It was obviously a tough pill to swallow,” Burmester said. “I saw Bryson in the locker room, and I used some language. But all in good spirits. I was like, damn, you guys are tough to beat. …

“We had a good week last week and the Crushers did something crazy on Sunday, but I see they’re right behind us again. Hopefully, we can do something to them this week.”

Burmester and Fireballs GC’s Abraham Ancer share the individual lead, one stroke ahead of the six-man chasing pack that includes Burmester’s captain Louis Oosthuizen, Crushers’ Charles Howell III, Fireballs GC’s Eugenio Chacarra, 4Aces GC’s Harold Varner III, Ripper GC’s Matt Jones and Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer, whose 64 is his lowest score in a LIV Golf tournament Another stroke back is DeChambeau and Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka.

The 54-player field, the most highly decorated ever to compete at Hong Kong Golf Club, provided the appreciative fans with plenty of impressive scoring on a jam-packed leaderboard. At one point, 12 players were tied for the lead at 5 under before Burmester and Ancer separated themselves with late birdies. A total of 44 players shot par or better.

“It’s crazy, right? Crazy,” said Howell, one of seven players to produce a bogey-free round. “Never thought that, how low the scores are with this golf course. It’s a testament to the strength of the field and how good these guys are really are.”

“I didn’t think there was going to be that many low numbers, but I don’t know, I guess it’s just playing perfect,” added Ancer, who was also bogey-free “The greens are really good. There’s just a lot of guys that are playing really good at this time.”

Burmester almost didn’t play at all. He fell ill earlier in this week, and was nauseous on Tuesday, preventing him from practising. Oosthuizen was also sick, but both managed to rebound. Burmester said it reminded him of the stomach bug he suffered last December at the South African Open when he was throwing up on the course and nearly withdrew. He finished that week by winning the tournament.

“Seems to be every time I get ill, I seem to play OK,” Burmester said, “so that’s great news.”

TEAM COUNTING SCORES

Standings and counting scores for Friday’s opening round of the team competition at LIV Golf Hong Kong. The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds win the team title.

1.STINGER GC -16 (Burmester 63, Oosthuizen 64, Grace 67)

2. CRUSHERS GC -15 (Howell III 64, DeChambeau 65, Casey 66)

T3. FIREBALLS GC -12 (Ancer 63, Chacarra 64, Garcia 71)

T3. CLEEKS GC -12 (Kaymer 64, Bland 66, Meronk 68)

5. RIPPER GC -11 (Jones 64, Smith 67. Leishman 68)

6. 4ACES GC -10 (Varner III 64, Reed 67, Perez 69)

7. TORQUE GC -9 (Muñoz 66, Niemann 67, Ortiz 68)

T8. SMASH GC -7 (Koepka 65, Gooch 69, McDowell 69)

T8. MAJESTICKS GC -7 (Stenson 66, Poulter 66, Horsfield 71)

T10. IRON HEADS GC -6 (Na 67, Vincent 67, Lee 70)

T10. LEGION XIII -6 (Rahm 67, Hatton 68, Vincent 69)

12. HYFLYERS GC -5 (Tringale 66, Ogletree 69, Steele 70)

13. RANGEGOATS GC -4 (Wolff 67, Watson 68, Pieters 71)

ROUND 1 NOTES

KAYMER SHOOTS HIS LIV GOLF BEST:

Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer is an original LIV Golf member, but health problems have prevented him from playing his best. A wrist injury that eventually required surgery following the 2022 season impacted him last year, but he entered 2024 in better spirits, positive that his play would improve.

His opening round Friday at LIV Golf Hong Kong is a great sign, as the two-time major champion shot a 6-under 64 – the lowest score of his 60 career regular-season rounds on LIV Golf.

“This winter was the first winter for I would say the last four years that I was pain-free,” Kaymer said. “It was a winter I could really work on my game again. I could really practice in Spain.

“It was nice knowing you come to the first event, and you are prepared enough to play well. It doesn’t mean that you will play well, but at least you put everything that you had the last three months you put into your practice, and I was able to do that.”

Kaymer started his round on the par-3 eighth with a birdie and was 5 under through his first six holes before levelling off. After suffering his lone bogey, he ended his round with two more birdies as the Cleeks finished the day tied for third in the team standings.

Now that he’s healthy, it’s a matter of getting back into competitive mode.

“Just getting used to it again, to shooting lower scores, and once in a while being up there and feeling that pressure,” Kaymer said. “It’s just a different feeling when you’re in the top 5, top 10 and playing to win a golf tournament.”

ANCER ADJUSTS EXPECTATIONS LEVEL:

The 6,710-yard Hong Kong Golf Club layout figured to be a good fit for Abraham Ancer, who relies more on shot-making instead of brute strength. However he decided to lower the expectation level entering this week in order to alleviate the pressure on himself.

“I feel like sometimes when I show up to a golf course that stat-wise I should be very good at, sometimes I don’t have a really good tournament,” said Ancer, who owns a share of the lead for the first time after any LIV Golf round. “I feel like I put expectations and things don’t go my way, I try to be too perfect and stuff like that.

“I just said, I’m going to go with a fresh mindset, I’m going to go and think this golf course is the worst for me and I’ve got to figure it out and be on point in every single shot, and I think I did a good job with that. I didn’t really get too caught up on ‘I need to play really good here because it suits my game.’ I just went out there and had a good time and played some good golf.”

PLAYERS ENJOY FAN REACTION:

Several players commented after Friday’s round on the fans’ enthusiasm, especially for well-struck shots. More than half the field had never played Hong Kong Golf Club until this week.

“Everybody seems to be having a great time, very supportive,” said co-leader Abraham Ancer. “They acknowledge good shots, which is awesome.”

Added Dean Burmester: “I’ve heard so many great things over the years of this golf course and I’ve never had the opportunity to come here and play … It’s very welcoming, and they really appreciate good shots, which is really nice to see. I’m sure it could get a little rowdy over the weekend, which is what we’re hoping for. It should get a little bit fun, and hopefully, there will be a lot more good shots and a lot for them to cheer for.

OOSTHUIZEN IN GOOD FORM:

Stinger GC captain Louis Oosthuizen won twice during the offseason (as did his teammate Dean Burmester), and he’s produced top-10 finishes in two of the first three LIV Golf tournaments in 2024. That includes a tie for second last week in Jeddah, which matches his best result in LIV.

Now he’s lurking again, just one shot off the lead, as he tries to become the seventh different captain to lift an individual trophy.

“I’m hitting the ball pretty good right now,” Oosthuizen said. “Just trying to give myself as many birdie putts as I can.”

Oosthuizen had a chance to grab a share of the lead but could not convert the birdie opportunity on his final hole. “Horrible read, horrible strike,” he said. “But the rest was pretty good.”

TRIPLE DOOMS RAHM:

Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm was 6 under and tied for the lead with three holes left. But then he found trouble off the tee at the par-4 18th, had to hit a provisional and ultimately took a triple-bogey to drop him down the leaderboard into a tie for 18th at 3 under.

NIEMANN’S HOLE-OUT:

Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, the season-long points leader after winning two of the first three events, had a rollercoaster opening 67. He had a four-hole stretch midway in his round in which he went birdie-bogey-bogey-birdie. He then finished his round with a hole-out for eagle at the par-4 17th, then a bogey at the 18th.

ROUND 1 STATS LEADERS

Driving accuracy: Abraham Ancer, 92.86% (13 of 14 fairways hit)

Driving distance: Bryson DeChambeau, 356.0 yards avg.

Longest drive: Bryson DeChambeau, 382.9 yards, 11th hole

Greens in regulation: Richard Bland, Branden Grace, 94.44% (17 of 18 greens)

Putting: Matt Jones, 1.28 putts per hole

Images: LIV Golf