Australian Cameron Smith, world number 2 and latest rookie to date, made a successful debut on the LIV golf circuit by taking 3rd place in the 1st round of the Boston Invitational on Friday, one stroke behind the leaders, the Americans Matthew Wolff and Talor Gooch.
Wolff and Gooch completed this 1st round in 63, one stroke better than Smith, winner in July of his first Major, the British Open in St Andrews. And Wolff had the pleasure of scoring a hole-in-one, the first in the history of the new Saudi-funded circuit.
“It was really cool to land a hole in one on a part of the course where there were a lot of fans and to be the first to do it on the LIV circuit”, reacted Wolff, 100th in the last world ranking but 30th end of 2021. From the 2nd hole, a Par 3, his ball bounced once on the green before falling into the hole.
Smith returned a 64, as did another new LIV Tour signing, young Chilean Joaquin Niemann.
This 4th round of the LIV circuit, launched in June in London, also gave the opportunity to express themselves to a small group of demonstrators who accuse Saudi Arabia of using sport to restore its image tarnished by problems of respect for human rights.
Boston Invitational 1st round standings, Friday, Round 4 of the LIV golf circuit:
1. Matthew Wolff (USA) -7 (63)
. Talor Gooch (USA) -7 (63)
3. Cameron Smith (AUS) -6 (64)
. Joaquin Niemann (CHI) -6 (64)
5. Paul Casey (ENG) -4 (66)
. Kevin Na (USA) -4 (66)
. Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) -4 (66)
. Louis Oosthuizen (AFS) -4 (66)
, Anirban Lahiri (IND) -4 (66)
10. Dustin Johnson (USA) -3 (67)
. Lee Westwood (ENG) -3 (67)
…
23. Patrick Reed (USA) -1 (69)
. Bryson DeChambeau (USA) -1 (69)
. Ian Poulter (ENG) -1 (69)