Wolff leads LIV Golf event
BOLTON, Mass. — Matthew Wolff became a footnote in LIV Golf history with the first holein-one, an ace that carried him to a 7-under 63 and a one-shot lead over a pair of newcomers Friday in the LIV Golf Invitational-boston.
One of those newcomers was British Open champion Cameron Smith, among six players who recently joined the Saudifunded league. Smith broke a wedge with a shot from behind a tree that allowed him to save par, and he finished with a 45-foot eagle putt for a 64.
Joaquin Niemann of Chile, who also signed with Greg Norman’s league after he finished his PGA Tour season at the Tour Championship, and Talor Gooch also were at 64.
“I’m having a blast out there — my first day at the office,” Niemann said.
Smith and Niemann highlighted the batch of newcomers that included Anirban Lahiri (66), Harold Varner III (67), Marc Leishman (70) and Cameron Tringale (71).
“This is a new kind of chapter in my life. I think this is the future of golf,” Smith said earlier in the week. “I love how it is out here. It’s a little bit more laid back on the range, the music playing. I love that stuff.”
Smith was solid at the start and finished with a few errant drives in the middle. One was on the 16th hole when he pulled his driver into the trees. The ball was next to the trunk, and Smith was allowed relief because his feet from playing it left-handed — his only sensible play — were on the cart path.
After the drop, he tried to hood a gap wedge (right-handed) and the club smacked against the tree near the bottom of the shaft. The ball rolled just through the green and he saved
LPGA: 19-year-old Californian Lucy Li, who won an Epson Tour event in Albany earlier this summer, had five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine and kept bogeys off her card the rest of the way for a 7-under 64 that gave her a two-shot lead in the Dana Open. Another 19-year-old, Chinese rookie Ruoning Yin, and Carlota Ciganda of Spain each had a 69 to trail Li.
DP World: English golfer Ross Mcgowan sunk a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend at the European tour’s Made in Himmerland. Mcgowan, the first-round leader, started his second round also with a birdie on his way to a 6-under-par 65 and a total of 15 under at the Himmerland course. He was one shot clear of compatriot Richard Mansell and Italy’s Francesco Laporta.