Detry, the newest full-time member of 4Aces GC, shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 to grab a share of the ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh lead with LIV Golf veteran Peter Uihlein of RangeGoats GC. Smylie, the 23-year-old rising star who joined the all-Australian Ripper GC, carded a 66 that left him in solo third.

The two were among 10 players – eight full-timers and two reserves – playing their first-ever LIV Golf rounds. Byeong Hun An, the new captain of the Korean Golf Club, also sparkled in his debut, shooting 67 to join a group of six players tied for fourth. HyFlyers GC’s Michael La Sasso shot 69 in his pro debut as the league’s youngest player at age 21.

Torque GC grabbed the team lead at 15 under, with the all-South African Southern Guards GC two shots behind. Defending Riyadh champions and reigning LIV Golf Team Champions Legion XIII are in solo third at 11 under.

Detry and Smylie each hit 10 fairways, tying for best in the field, while Detry also was tied for the lead in greens in regulation, hitting 17 of 18. He prepared for playing at night by practising under the lights with his coach in Abu Dhabi.

“First day on the job, so a little bit of a change for me, so a bit nervous,” said the Belgian, whose most recent win was in February last year on the PGA Tour. “I drove it so well out there, it made my job pretty easy.”

Smylie suffered a bogey on his second hole before finding his rhythm. Five of his seven birdies came on par 4s, tying new Smash GC Captain Talor Gooch for most by any other player on Wednesday.

“I think there was a little bit of nerves and excitement, but I think I showed what I’m capable of today – or tonight, I should say,” Smylie said.

While Detry and Smylie were making LIV Golf starts No. 1, Uihlein was making start No. 51 as one of eight original players who have started every tournament since LIV Golf debuted in London in 2022.

RELATED: Tabuena earns Riyadh call-up for Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC

He remains in search of his first LIV Golf win, although he won two International Series events on the Asian Tour in 2024. Those were each 72-hole tournaments, and Uihlein hopes LIV Golf’s format switch from 54 holes to 72 starting this season will prove beneficial to him.

“I’m not scared of a blowup every now and then on a hole in particular, so now I have more holes to make it up,” Uihlein said. “I think it’s going to benefit me long-term, which is nice.”

Gooch is among the group lurking at 5 under. He’s won four individual titles and the 2023 season-long Individual Championship, all in the previous 54-hole format. He and the other veteran LIV Golf players have had to adjust their mindset.

“Definitely has a totally different vibe,” Gooch said. “Only 18 more holes, it’s not that vastly different. But even on the range when we were about to go, I was giving everybody a little fist bump and said, ‘Let’s go get it,’ and Harold (Varner III, his new Smash teammate) said, ‘Hey, don’t come out the gate sprinting. It’s not a sprint anymore.”

It remains serious business, though, especially with a bevvy of newcomers in the expanded 57-player field determined to make a quick impression even while getting used to LIV Golf’s energetic tournament days.

“I think even with the concerts and the entertainment outside of the golf, that’s something that I’m really enjoying,” Smylie said. “I feel like I’m really thriving in an environment like that, and it’s great to start my LIV career here in Riyadh.”

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Uihlein used his length to his advantage, and it was most evident with birdies on the par-5 fifth and eighth holes. Starting from the 10th, Uihlein overcame a string of disappointing early holes with four straight birdies from Nos. 15-18 holes and made the turn at 3 under.

“It was a bit of a mixed bag with the start,” Uihlein said. “It was really ugly, and I scrambled quite a bit, made some nice pars. And then I kind of got going, made a bunch of birdies in a row. And then, I was kind of cruising, had a lot of looks, but did not make any before finishing with a couple of birdies.

“The driver is really the big thing for me. Just with those trees, I’m trying to get as close to the greens and keep it between the trees. With the greens being as soft as they are, it’s pretty gettable.”

RELATED: MENA talent set to mix with LIV Golf stars and Asian Tour champions at International Series Morocco 2025

Uihlein has become a force on The International Series, having won twice last season in England and Qatar.

Catlin’s 68 was no surprise for those who follow The International Series. He is the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion and is always one to watch.

“It was very solid,” Catlin said about his round. “Wish I could have played the third hole a bit better. I had an 18-footer with a 2 1/2-foot break and rolled it 7 feet past. Not much you can do there from 7 feet. Outside of that, I played pretty much flawless golf. Very happy with the start, but three more rounds to go. Let’s see.”

LIV Golf players also in the field include RangeGoats GC’s Ben Campbell (even-par 73), HyFlyers GC’s Andy Ogletree (even-par 73), Torque GC’s Mito Pereira (1-over 74) and Stinger GC’s Charl Schwartzel (2-over 75).

Australian Maverick Antcliff, only one of four bogey-free rounds during the day, threatened from the afternoon groups. With four birdies, he joined Korea’s Hongtaek Kim, winner of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open last year, and Thailand’s Sarit Suwannarut in a tie for third place on 69.

China’s Sampson Zheng, who reached Morocco only on Wednesday after successfully qualifying for The Open Championship on Tuesday, was another player who navigated the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed course without dropping a shot. He was in a group of eight players tied in sixth place at 70.

RELATED: International Series experience is key as Sampson books first major spot through Open Qualifying

The International Series Morocco is the fourth of 10 elevated events on the Asian Tour calendar, which form a pathway to the LIV Golf League.

On the DP World Tour, five LIV Golf players are competing at the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany. They are Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, 4Aces GC’s Patrick Reed, Cleeks Golf Club Captain Martin Kaymer and Fireballs GC’s David Puig and Josele Ballester.

Puig shot a 3-under 69 and is solo 12th while Kaymer is 23rd after a 2-under 70. Reed is in the red numbers with a 1-under 70 and sits in 50th place. Ballester (2-over 74) and Garcia (3-over 75) will have work to do on Friday to make the cut.

Main image: Steve Bardens/Asian Tour

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The American, the leader since day two, shot a final round three-under-par 69 to finish on 16-under, for his second victory on The International Series this year. The result also saw him move to number one on The International Series Rankings.

READ: Set for Saudi

South African Charl Schwartzel came home in second place after a 68, while his close friend and compatriot Louis Oosthuizen tied for third two shots back with Filipino Miguel Tabuena.

Oosthuizen fired a 71 and Tabuena a 70 – in the penultimate event of the season on the Asian Tour and The International Series.

American John Catlin tied for 19th after a 71 to wrap up the Asian Tour Order of Merit title with one event remaining, next week’s US$5million PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Advisers. He is now second on The International Series Rankings having led for most of the year.

Uihlein’s one-stroke lead at the start of the day became four at the turn. He was coasting before Schwartzel, playing three groups ahead, made a late charge with birdies on 16 and 17.  Uihlein holed a clutch putt for par from 12-feet on 15 to leave the gap at three, and then birdied on 16 and 18 to put the icing on the cake.

It was an impressive finish considering the wind was up again and the greens were hard and fast.

He said: “Yeah, it was a good day and yesterday was good as well, it was a very solid weekend. I think I only missed a total of five greens for the weekend around here. When the wind is blowing, that’s pretty good. Felt pretty solid, felt in control.

“The putt on 15 was nice, to get up and down there, and I got a nice break in the rough. It was funny, I tried to do a little different mindset for me this week, at least on the back nine. I kind of saw the board, and that I had a four-shot lead, and I was basically just trying to play match play against the golf course and par was a good score. I felt like if I could beat the back nine, I was going to be in good position, so making those birdies at the end was kind of nice for my little mini goal.”

Uihlein claimed International Series England in August by the sizeable margin of seven shots for his maiden title on the Asian Tour and The International Series.

It looked like he was also going to win the International Series Thailand two months later, but he bogeyed the final hole to hand victory to Lee Chieh-po from Chinese-Taipei.

Today’s victory is redemption for that near miss and gives the Range Goats GC player a chance of winning the rankings next week, although with a wealth of points on offer the race is wide open.

“I feel like my game is trending, it’s just getting better,” he added.

“Like stuff I’ve been working on even before, all that stuff feels like it’s kind of getting easier under the gun, which was nice. But yeah, it’s 1,000 points to the winner next week so it’s obviously all still up in the air.”

Schwartzel’s round, which started with an eagle on the par-five first, was the lowest of the day.

“It was a fantastic putting round today, I made so many feet of putts,” said the 2011 Masters champion.

“It was tough again you know; the wind hasn’t stopped blowing for the last three days. And you know, the golf course has been quite penalising when you miss the fairways and it’s hard to hit the fairways with the crosswinds and stuff. So, it was always going to be a grind, and I needed a good putting round. I putted well and yeah, I was happy with my round.”

South African Dean Burmester (69), India’s Anirban Lahiri (70), Eugenio Chacarra (71) from Spain, and Thai Suteepat Prateeptienchai (72) were next best placed on eight under.

In the battle to retain playing rights for next year and finish in the top 65 on the Merit list Australian Jed Morgan was the big mover. He carded a 71 to finish joint 37th and move from 66th to 64th to ensure he is safe for the new season.

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The elevated Asian Tour events, which form an established pathway onto the LIV Golf League, have brought together star-studded fields featuring LIV Golf superstars, the cream of the Asian Tour, top prospects and golfing talent from all over the world.

At the end of the season, The International Series Rankings champion will earn a place on the LIV Golf League for the 2025 season, with another 32 eligible players from the top 40 earning a place on the season-ending LIV Golf Promotions event where they will be able to battle it out for a golden ticket onto the roster for the 2025 season, and ten exemptions from the 2025 calendar of events on The International Series.

International Series Oman
Ortiz Triumphs, Oosthuizen Close
The season got underway in February with International Series Oman, where Carlos Ortiz showcased his undoubted talent to secure a hard-fought victory at the stunning Al Mouj Golf in Muscat.

The Mexican golfer, a member of the Torque GC team on LIV Golf, was in sensational form and held off a strong challenge from 2010 Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen.

Ortiz rose to the occasion with a stunning seven-under-par 65 in the final round to finish on 19-under, four shots clear of the South African Stinger GC player.

International Series Macau Presented By Wynn
Catlin and Puig go low in thriller
The International Series Macau presented by Wynn at Macau Golf and Country Club was next up in March, and the new addition to the series delivered fireworks like no other.

In near-perfect scoring conditions, John Catlin made history on day three by posting a sensational round of 59, becoming the first player to break 60 on the Asian Tour.

Asian Tour

On the final day, rising star David Puig fired a 60 of his own, enough for the Fireballs GC star to force a play-off with the American. In a nail-biting finish, Catlin’s composure under pressure saw him edge out the talented Spaniard for the title.

International Series Morocco
Campbell claims spoils from in-form Catlin in play-off
International Series Morocco returned to the calendar in July and the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam’s Red Course in Rabat witnessed one of the most remarkable finishes of the season.

New Zealand’s Ben Campbell staged an extraordinary fightback to claim the title, with an eagle-birdie finish to overcome a stunned Catlin, who had led from the opening round.

Campbell showed incredible composure to claw his way back into contention and forced the play-off with an eagle on the par-four 17th and a birdie on the last to tie Catlin on 15-under.

Carrying that momentum into the sudden-death play-off, Campbell sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th to win on the first time of asking.

International Series England
Uihlein underlines class with dominant display
The season continued with International Series England at Foxhills Club & Resort in August, with American Peter Uihlein delivering a devastating performance.

The RangeGoats GC star dominated from start to finish, setting a new course record with a blistering 61 to take the halfway lead, and ultimately cruising to a runaway victory with a comfortable seven-shot margin over Andy Sullivan of England and Caleb Surratt of Legion XIII.

Black Mountain Championship
Maguire roars into rankings race
The series headed to Thailand for a two-week swing in October, and the iconic Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin played host to some of the best in the world.

Asian Tour

In the end, classy Catlin made his third play-off of the season, but just like in Morocco, he was on the losing end. Surprise package MJ Maguire of the US carded a 65 to tie with overwhelming favourite Catlin, and he claimed a stunning victory on the second play-off hole.

International Series Thailand
Lee stuns Uihlein in Bangkok Battle
The sixth event of the series was played out at the Thai Country Club on the outskirts of Bangkok.

For much of the tournament, International Series England champion Uihlein looked sure to add to his victory in the summer.

But it was the talented Chinese-Taipei star Lee Chieh-po who claimed the spoils, with two closing birdies giving him a final round of 63 and a 21-under total, edging him past the American who had led all day but finished T2 alongside Richard T Lee.

BNI Indonesian Masters
In-form Canadian Lee finally lands victory
Red-hot Richard T. Lee recorded a stunning wire-to-wire victory at Royale Jakarta Golf Club in the seventh event on The International Series.

The Canadian came into the tournament in great form with a T9 and T2 over two weeks in Thailand, and he stepped things up with a superb showing in Indonesia.

Asian Tour

The 34-year-old led from day one with a stunning 62, and further rounds of 67, 66 and 70 to secure a comfortable victory of a four-shot cushion over nearest challengers Phachara Khongwatmai from Thailand and Chang Wei-lun from Chinese Taipei.

The International Series Rankings
The story so far
With seven tournaments complete, The International Series Rankings race is shaping up for an exciting conclusion. Catlin, with his win in Macau and strong showings in Morocco and Hua Hin, has a healthy lead on 900 points but in-form BNI Indonesian Masters champion Richard T. Lee is his nearest challenger, after a T2 and T9 in Thailand in the two weeks leading up to his win in Jakarta.

International Series England winner Peter Uihlein sits third ahead of Morocco winner and Link Hong Kong Open defending champion Ben Campbell,  with International Series Thailand victor Lee Chieh-Po and Black Mountain Championship winner MJ Maguire well placed in fifth and sixth.

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The Englishman, Casey, who has claimed three PGA Tour victories, two Asian Tour wins and 15 DP World Tour titles, will line up among the cream of the Asian Tour and LIV Golf League stablemates for the Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin and the Thai Country Club in Bangkok.

While the RangeGoats GC star will tee it up at Black Mountain from 17-20 October, joined by Kieran Vincent of Legion XIII, his older brother Scott Vincent from Iron Heads GC, and Jinichiro Kozuma.

Eugenio Chacarra. LIV Golf

The LIV Golf stars then head to Thai Country Club in Bangkok for International Series Thailand, from 24-27 October, where they will be joined by Fireballs GC youngster Eugenio Chacarra, the 2022 LIV Golf Bangkok champion and a winner on The International Series last year at the St Andrews Bay Championship.

South African Branden Grace of Stinger GC, Danny Lee of Iron Heads GC and Sam Horsfield of Majesticks GC are the other LIV Golf stars joining the field for the second date in Thailand.

Rankings leader John Catlin, the International Series Macau presented by Wynn champion, is also in the field for both events alongside nearest challenger Ben Campbell, who beat the American in a play-off at International Series Morocco, as well as Wade Ormsby, last year’s International Series Thailand champion at Black Mountain Golf Club.

All three travelled with the LIV Golf League this season as alternates to cover for injury to the roster, and Catlin in particular caught the eye with a T7 at LIV Golf Nashville in June while representing Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC.

Peter Uihlein pictured with the winner’s trophy after International Series England at Foxhills Club & Resort in Surrey, England. Picture by Asian Tour

Uihlein is heading to Thailand in red-hot form, having claimed his maiden victory on both the Asian Tour and The International Series at Foxhills Club & Resort in Surrey, England. The American is eager to maintain that winning streak as he returns to Thailand for the first time since 2022, where he secured a top-20 finish at the LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok.

The former world amateur No.1 warned that the competition will be fierce as he said: “There’s plenty of talent, really good players, and I think they just haven’t really had as big a platform to showcase their skills.

“The International Series helps, knowing these guys and seeing the quality of their game go to a different level. The International Series is just going to continue to keep growing and getting better, and I think you’ll start seeing more talent be recognised.”

Aside from the race for the LIV Golf League spot, Uihlein believes The International Series plays an important role in player development as he added: “Playing a global schedule is beneficial long term. Being able to play different types of courses, different types of grass, different cultures, really enhances your ability to play quality golf around the world.

“The international scope that they have allows guys to do that and getting outside of Asia and going into Africa and Europe has been great for the Asian Tour and The International Series, and it’s only getting better and better.”

The two events kick-off a six-tournament stretch over eight weeks, with the overall rankings champion ultimately claiming a spot on the LIV Golf League for the 2025 season, while a number of high-ranking players will also earn places on the season-ending LIV Golf Promotions event which last year yielded three additional spots on the roster.

Rahul Singh, Head of The International Series said: “With six events left on the calendar, we have two-thirds of the season’s rankings points and $US 15.5 million in prize purses still available. There is an opportunity for anyone to make a move, and we are delighted that this thrilling conclusion gets started with two tournaments in the heartlands of Asian golf.”

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It did not go well.

Uihlein, an original LIV Golf member and one of the league’s top performers in the first two seasons, was barely noticeable afterwards on the leaderboard for his new team, RangeGoats GC. Finally, after a tie for 38th in Andalucía, the two had a heart-to-heart chat. Their conclusion?

“We tried something different,” Uihlein acknowledged. “Just didn’t really work.”

Time to jettison the experiment and focus on getting Uihlein back in the groove. It didn’t take long.

After tying for 14th at LIV Golf UK by JCB, Uihlein blew away the field in last week’s International Series England on the Asian Tour, winning by seven shots. That ended a three-year winless streak – including four runner-up finishes on LIV Golf – and positions Uihlein to make some late-season noise as the 2024 season winds down, starting with this week’s LIV Golf Greenbrier.

“Obviously it was nice to kind of get over the hump and do it resoundingly,” said Uihlein, who finished third in season-long points in 2022 and 12th last year. “… It kind of builds some confidence going into the last three events in the schedule.”

RELATED: DeChambeau shot 58 last year to win LIV Golf Greenbrier – but can he go lower?

Uihlein rates among LIV Golf’s best putters (he currently is tied for seventh in putting average), but his fate often rests with his driver. Last week in England, his driver was on fire, so much so that he became increasingly aggressive off the tee after a couple of errant swings when he tried to dial it down.

“I felt like I was hitting my driver really well,” Uihlein said. “So, I was like, ‘I’m not going to take out my best club right now.’”

RangeGoats Captain Bubba Watson, who brought Uihlein over in the offseason as part of the lineup overhaul that also involved Matthew Wolff, was aware of the midseason adjustments Uihlein was attempting. He knew Uihlein, one of LIV Golf’s longest hitters, wanted to find more fairways off the tee.

But Watson always kept his distance, despite the discouraging results.

“I’ve never asked him what he was trying to do,” Watson said. “Obviously, try to hit fairways. They’ve been working really hard … I stay out of the way. I don’t want to hear what they are talking about. I just know they are here and after the practice round, they go work. Or before the practice rounds, they go work.”

RELATED: Graeme McDowell suspended by LIV Golf; takes swipe at other tours for anti-doping enforcement

Watson certainly had a vested interest in the International Series outcome last week, but it wasn’t simply because of Uihlein. Another of his RangeGoats, Thomas Pieters, also was in contention. And a former RangeGoat, Harold Varner III, was playing in the final group with Uihlein.

“You’re not going to pull against any of them, right?” Watson said. “You just want them to play great golf, and whoever wins, wins.

Still, he was happy to see Uihlein emerge as the winner. With Uihlein firing on all cylinders, Pieters also emerging and Wolff coming off a tie for sixth at LIV Golf UK (his third top-10 result of the season), the RangeGoats could be a dangerous opponent at the Team Championship.

“For him to win one, it’s huge for his confidence, and it’s huge for us because now us three want to back that up,” Watson said. “We want to be there with him because now we’re feeling he’s going to play good this week.”

Main image: Peter Uihlein. Supplied

RELATED: Poulter impressed with Asian Tour talent progressing along The International Series pathway

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The American stole the show on Sunday on the Longcross course at Foxhills Club & Resort, carding a scorching bogey-free eight-under-par 63, for a four-round total of 20-under, and a seven-shot victory over England’s Andy Sullivan and Caleb Surratt.

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Sullivan shot a 66 while American Surratt shot a 68.

China’s Sampson Zheng (66), Sadom Kaewkanjana (67) from Thailand, and Harold Varner III (70) from the United States, tied for fourth, one stroke further back.

Uihlein, aged 34, smashed the course record with a 61 to take the lead at the halfway mark and began today with a one-shot advantage over Varner.

By the turn Uihlein had a one-shot lead over Surratt, playing in the group ahead.

Uihlein then proceeded to eagle the par-four 10th to move three ahead, putting some daylight between him and the chasing pack.

A birdie on the 12th saw him maintain his three-shot lead after Surratt had birdied the same hole.

Uihlein then survived a couple of shaky holes, holing a crucial par putt from seven feet on the par-four 13th. On the ensuing hole, a par-five, he found the trees on the right with his tee shot but played a miraculous recovery shot. His ball found a bad lie, entangled in tree branches, but he was able to chip back into the fairway and hit his third to 12 feet, which he just missed for birdie.

On the treacherous par-three 16th, where a tough pin position on the right brought a greenside lake dangerously into play, he holed a 15-footer for birdie to virtually wrap up the title. The look of relief on his face was tangible as his ball would have rushed past the cup if it had not dropped.

It meant he had a four-shot lead from Surratt, which became five when Surratt made bogey on 17. It was then six when Uihlein holed a 12-footer for birdie on 17, and a magnificent seven when he birdied the par-five 18th.

“Bit of a dream, really,” said Uihlein, who plays for RangeGoats GC on LIV Golf.

“I mean, I was two over par through eight holes on the first day. I tripled 17, and it was a bit of a grind that day, and then the next day I just kind of blitzed it, and yesterday kind of survived. And today I kind of had some things going my way, no doubt about it. So just kind of one of those days where things were going my way, and I took advantage of it. So, I’m happy to be here.”

Surprisingly this is only Uihlein’s fourth win since turning professional in 2013. He has won once before on the DP World Tour, and twice on the Korn Ferry Tour while on the LIV Golf League he has come close to winning on multiple occasions having finished second four times.

He earned a cheque for US$360,000 and moves into third on The International Series Rankings, which is still being led by American John Catlin.

The golf course, located in Surrey, played a big part in his success.

He added: “I loved it. You were allowed to try different things. You could play it different ways. I obviously was very aggressive and tried to kind of drive to a lot of greens, and, you know, it paid off. There are obviously other ways guys probably played it, but I liked the strategy we had. I like the game plan we were doing, and I had fun doing it. So that’s part of this, part of the equation.”

Both Sullivan and Surratt, playing together, missed makeable birdie putts on the last to snatch second place outright.

Said Sullivan, a four-time winner on the DP World Tour: “I loved it, it was great. I really enjoyed myself, I’m not gonna lie. Being competitive at golf and obviously seeing a load of lads that I haven’t seen for a while, obviously, because we don’t play with the Asian Tour as much anymore, and the LIV guys as well. So, it’s good to see friends that I haven’t seen for a while and catch up with them, and obviously to play good golf, it’s great.”

Surratt was equally as happy with the week but disappointed not to have secured his first win since turning professional in January.

“It’s tough because I felt like I was in contention all day, but Peter ran away with it and that’s hard to beat,” said the 20-year-old, also a LIV Golf player.

“This is a great learning experience for me, and I am looking to improve my game. It’s a really good week to be build off.

“I have been working really hard on a lot of things and it’s nice to have things pay off. It’s been a year when I have kind of been waiting on a breakthrough. I have had a couple of close calls, but I know that week is coming eventually.”

Earlier in the day Indonesian Jonathan Wijono stormed through with a 64 and eventually ended in ninth place, 11 behind the champion.

This week’s US$2million tournament is the ninth event of the year on the Asian Tour and the fourth stop on The International Series.

The Asian Tour has a two-week break now before the Mandiri Indonesia Open.

The US$500,000 event will be played at Damai Indah Golf (PIK Course) from August 29th – September 1st. Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, who put in a strong performance this week finishing in a tie for 13th, is the defending champion.

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Swede Söderberg birdied eight of his first 10 holes over the Old Course at St Andrews to set the pace, signing for a 64 that would be matched by American Uihlein over the same layout.

Dubai-based Spaniard Arnaus was four shots off the lead with five to play at Carnoustie Golf Links but eagled the 14th before finishing birdie-birdie to join them at eight-under with a 64 of his own and make it a three-way tie.

Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, fresh off his heroics as a vice-captain in last week’s European Ryder Cup victory, was then part of a six-way tie for second at seven-under alongside local favourite Grant Forrest, Dane Marcus Helligkilde, American Billy Horschel and South African duo Zander Lombard and Wilco Nienaber.

On a cold and wet day on Scotland’s east coast, Soderberg turned in 29 and Ross Fisher’s St Andrews course record was looking under threat when he made another birdie on the 10th.

Six consecutive pars ended those hopes, however, and the 33-year-old bogeyed the 17th before a closing birdie ensured he would finish the day on top.

“It was quite easy the first 10 holes or so,” he said. “Then you kind of turn around going into the wind and it rained a little bit more.

“I thought I played pretty good the last eight holes as well. I just didn’t get close enough, didn’t really hole the putts but it felt good to finish with a birdie.

“I’ve had one or two or three really good rounds for a while, I feel like. There’s just always been one or two bad rounds every week. So the weekends, they haven’t been what I wanted in the last two months or so.

“I feel like there’s a lot of good golf in me so I just have to try to clean up the bad golf a little more and try to get around a little better.”

Arnaus has finished in the top 25 at this event for the past two seasons and his bogey-free round represented a stunning start at the course regarded as the most difficult of the three being played this week.

“At times it felt easy but this course definitely can show its teeth and you’ve got to be really careful,” he said.

“We continued to play quite good and then we rolled a few putts. A brilliant start, I would say.

“It actually started quite calm and it came around with wind and rain as well. That’s really what you are going to expect here so you’ve just got to embrace the challenge.”

LIV Golf’s Uihlein was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 2013, the year he lost out in a play-off at this event, while he also achieved a top 10 last season.

“I’ve had good success here,” he said after his bogey-free effort. “I just love it, the golf is pure over here and I like when it gets windy and challenging, it’s just a lot of fun, really. You get to be creative and it’s just something that I enjoy doing.

“I was close here in 2013 when David Howell beat me in a play-off. Looking back on it, it would have been a really special one to win around here.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming back and hopefully I can string together three more good days and see what happens.”

Soderberg’s remarkable start came thanks to some dialled-in iron play, as he put approaches inside 15 feet on seven of his first 10 holes. A three-putt at the Road Hole then brought the only bogey of the day before he holed an 18-footer for birdie on the last.

Arnaus started his round with three gains but had to wait until the par-five 12th for another before he holed from 12 feet for an eagle on the 14th. Another birdie came at the 17th and he put his approach to 12 feet on the last.

Uihlein also put on an excellent display of approach play as he made birdies on the first, third, fourth, fifth, ninth, 10th and 12th before holing from nearly 50 feet on the 14th.

Horschel turned in 29 at Carnoustie en route to his 65, while Colsaerts, Helligkilde, Lombard and Nienaber all played at St Andrews, and Forrest went round Kingsbarns.

There was then a group of 13 players at six-under including defending champion Ryan Fox.

Main image: St Andrews. Dunhill Links Championship

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Peter Uihlein has withdrawn his name from the LIV Golf lawsuit against the PGA Tour, leaving just two of the original 11 players attached to the legal battle.

In a 105-page complaint filed in early August of 2022, Uihlein joined Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter, Pat Perez and Jason Kokrak in challenging their suspensions by the PGA Tour for joining LIV Golf. However, in a filing with the United States District Court in San Jose Thursday, Uihlein was granted voluntary dismissal as a plaintiff.

Nine of the players have now dropped out, most citing LIV’s entrance as an interested party in the case in late August as the impetus. The organisation is claiming it has had to start its league in the face of reduced access to players with super-competitive costs. LIV Golf wants “punitive damages for the PGA Tour’s bad faith and egregious interference with LIV Golf’s contractual and perspective business relationships”.

With Uihlein’s departure, only DeChambeau and Jones remain on the suit. DeChambeau said last autumn he remains on the lawsuit because the tour owes him money for making its Player Impact Programme, but added: “It’s not about the money; it’s about the principle. It’s the way you deal with situations.”

The tour is adamant it has the legal authority to issue disciplinary measures and filed a countersuit last September, accusing the LIV-backed lawsuit as a “cynical effort to avoid competition and to freeride off of the tour’s investment in the development of professional golf.”

Uihlein, 33, was a highly touted amateur that made 126 career starts on tour, his best finish a third place at the 2021 team-centric Zurich Classic. Since moving to LIV, Uihlein has found more success, finishing third in the individual standings during LIV’s inaugural season and is currently second in individual points this year.

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Peter Uihlein not only ranks as one of LIV Golf’s top performers, he’s also the son of Wally Uihlein, the retired president and CEO of the Acushnet Company that counts Titleist — makers of the ultra-popular Pro VI golf ball — as one of its brands.

That provides the younger Uihlein with a unique platform to speak about this week’s announced proposal by the USGA and the R&A to rollback the golf ball in order to curtail hitting distances by elite competitors.

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“I look at it from a business standpoint,” the 4 Aces team member said on the eve of this week’s LIV Golf Tucson.

The proposal, he feared, may negatively impact the pocketbooks of top professional golfers due to the trickle-down effect of developing a new golf ball that won’t appeal to recreational players, thus forcing companies to contemplate budget cuts.

Let him explain.

“I think Callaway puts like $70 million into their R&D department. Titleist puts like $55 million,” said Uihlein, who has three runner-up finishes in his last four LIV Golf regular-season starts dating back to last year. “You’re then going to be asking these companies to make a product for players that they won’t sell to the public.

“If I’m running a company and I’ve now got to put in, say, $20 million to make these products for the pros, well, you’re going to have to find a place to potentially budget cut. If I was running a company, the first place I would look to for budget cuts are the players.

“All of a sudden, now instead of paying JT, Jon Rahm, whatever they’re paying them — slash that. And you’re slashing other things, you’re slashing other players, you’re slashing ball/shoe/glove guys, just to make up for that loss.

“I don’t think the USGA really understands that you’re affecting players’ pockets when you’re making these changes. Companies need to make money. Titleist isn’t out there to lose money. That’s not what their job is. If they need to spend X amount on making a product that they can’t sell to the public, then all of the sudden you’re going to have to make that up somewhere else. In my opinion, that’s the route I would go. I would go players.”

Uihlein noted that supporters of the proposal are citing Major League Baseball as an example of a sports league that uses different equipment at the amateur and college levels than in the pro game. But he said it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison.

“Major League Baseball provides teams with baseballs, they provide teams with bats, unless you’re a guy who outsources and pays for his own bats. MLB provides these teams with that, so they spend that money,” Uihlein said. “If you’re using baseball as an example, then OK, here’s the example. If the USGA and R&A want guys to use a different ball, then they should pay for it.”

If the golf ball rollback proposal is adopted, it would not go into effect until January 1, 2026. Uihlein believes the nearly three-year window gives the governing bodies plenty of time to save face if widespread criticism continues.

“I haven’t really seen any positive feedback on it,” Uihlein said. “They’ve given themselves a buffer. If the players fight back, if the PGA Tour fights back, LIV fights back, European Tour fights back, then it’s: ‘Oh, well.’

“The funniest thing to me is the USGA is acting like equipment companies have taken advantage of a system that they [governing bodies] have put in place. These were regulations that they established. It’s not the equipment companies’ fault for trying to innovate. That’s the way the world works. You try to innovate.

“These were problems that they put in place. They weren’t smart enough to basically put a cap on it 20-30 years ago. They didn’t have the wherewithal. But that’s not a secret to anybody. They’ve always been a little bit inept.”

Now that the proposal is public, Uihlein isn’t sure the USGA and R&A will be quick to walk away.

“From what I’ve heard with [R&A’s] Martin Slumbers and what I’ve heard with [USGA’s] Mike Whan, it feels like this is a legacy move for them,” Uihlein said. “This is how they want to leave their name in the game of golf by doing this. So be it.”

Having heard a near-universal negative reaction across multiple tours from the game’s professional players – including fellow LIV Golf League member Bryson DeChambeau, who called the proposal “atrocious” – Uihlein offered one more thought.

“It’s funny,” he said. “There’s nothing that brings the tours together like everyone’s hatred for the USGA. It’s been interesting.”

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