Carlos Ortiz’s approach shot from 167 yards on his final hole Thursday at HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong was headed directly toward the flag. Despite the long odds of holing out, for a brief moment, shooting 59 was a possibility. The ball finished inside 2 feet, leaving Ortiz with a tap-in birdie for a 10-under 60 and a two-shot lead over Dean Burmester after Thursday’s opening round at Hong Kong Golf Club. Not only was it Ortiz’s lowest round in his professional tournament career, it was the third time in LIV Golf history that a player has shot 60. Just three rounds have been lower – Bryson DeChambeau’s historic 58, and the two 59s shot by Ortiz’s Torque GC teammates Joaquin Niemann and Sebastian Munoz. "It was a great round," said Ortiz. "… I think I hit it very close, like four or five times I just tapped it in. That doesn't happen much, so it's awesome when you don't even have to get the putter out. Very pleased." It was certainly the best round of a multitude of low scores at Fanling. Burmester’s 62 matches his score the previous round he played here, when the Southern Guards GC star finished second last season to Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia. Garcia, meanwhile, shot 63 while extending his streak of bogey-free holes at Hong Kong Golf Club to 63. He’s tied for third with Smash GC Captain Talor Gooch, along with Scott Vincent, who shot the lowest round ever for a Wild Card player. In all, 28 players shot 67 or better on a Fanling course that was left vulnerable after soft conditions due to the rainy weather leading up to the opening round. Included in that group was Anthony Kim, who shot 67 in his first start since winning LIV Golf Adelaide last month. "As you can see by the scoring, it's playing softer and a lot easier than it generally is," Burmester said. "But I know Saturday and Sunday, the wind is going to come up, so I think that'll toughen the course up. It'll dry out and then we'll get the true experience of Fanling." Ortiz was just 2 under through his first nine holes and coming off a bogey at the par-4 8th. But he saved par with a terrific up-and-down next to the cart path at the 9th, then followed with three straight birdies on holes 10-12, including a chip-in at 11. He then eagled the par-5 13th after hitting his second shot to 5 feet. "Obviously I played great coming in," said Ortiz, seeking his second individual LIV Golf victory. Fueled by his 60, Torque GC also has the team lead at 21 under, two shots ahead of Smash GC. Burmester called his round "pretty flawless" other than a mental error on the ninth hole when he opted for the wrong club off the tee. Having come so close last year to winning, he’s now in position to chase his third LIV Golf title over the final 54 holes. "I'm very proud of the way I kind of just hung together and kept pushing in birdies," Burmester said. "I saw a lot of guys making birdies, and I managed to do the same. Normally when that happens you feel like you've got to chase, and I never felt like I was doing that. I just felt like I was within myself, so it's one of those good in-the-zone days for sure." Garcia always seems to be in the zone at Fanling. He hasn’t suffered a bogey at Fanling since his ninth hole in the opening round last year, and on Thursday, he hit all 18 greens in regulation. "I've always said it, that I've always enjoyed the courses that make you think, not the courses that you get on the tee and you know you have to hit driver as hard as you can and there's nothing else to do," said Garcia, seeking the 39th victory of his legendary career. "Obviously these are the kind of courses that I enjoy playing. These are the kind of courses that I feel most comfortable on." TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS INDIVIDUAL TOP 10 1 (-10) – Carlos Ortiz, Torque (60) 2 (-8) – Dean Burmester, Southern Guards (62) T3 (-7) – Younghan Song, Korean (63); Scott Vincent, Wild Card (63); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (63); Talor Gooch, Smash (63) T7 (-6) – Bubba Watson, RangeGoats (64); Thomas Detry, 4Aces (64); Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (64) T10 (-5) – Matthew Wolff, RangeGoats (65); Sebastián Muñoz, Torque (65); Laurie Canter, Majesticks (65); David Puig, Fireballs (65); Jason Kokrak, Smash (65); Bjorn Hellgren, Wild Card (65) TEAM TOP 3 1 (-21) – Torque GC (Ortiz 60, Muñoz 65, Niemann 66, Ancer 68) 2 (-19) – Smash GC (Gooch 63, Kokrak 65, Varner III 66, McDowell 67) 3 (-13) – 4Aces GC (Detry 64, Kim 67, Johnson 68, Pieters 68) ROUND 1 NOTES ACE FOR PEREZ: Cleeks Golf Club’s Victor Perez recorded the 13th ace in LIV Golf history – and the first this season – when he holed his tee shot at the 149-yard second. "I was trying to hit just a stock gap wedge, and it ended up going a little more right," said Perez, playing in just his third LIV Golf tournament since joining the league in the offseason. "The ball was in the air, and I was playing with Harold (Varner III), and Harold goes like, go in. Then it was in. It happened so quickly. The ball didn't roll, either. It kind of was just like, ba-bap, and it was in. It was like, yeah, great bonus." Perez said he was "pretty sure" that Thursday’s hole-in-one was his fourth in competition. "I have one on the Challenge Tour, one on DP World, one in the U.S. Open and one here, and I might have one more in a tournament," Perez said, "but I probably have 10 or 11 (overall). But I don't know. It's terrible." Of those 13 aces in league history, four have been at Hong Kong Golf Club, three of those at hole No. 2. On Thursday, the hole played as the fourth easiest par-3 in league history, with an average score of 2.65. One of the previous aces at the second hole was by former Cleeks player Kalle Samooja in 2024. With Richard Bland also recording an ace at Mayakoba in 2024, the Cleeks have three holes-in-one, most of any LIV Golf team. SOLID START FOR AK: 4Aces GC’s Anthony Kim got off to a strong start in his first round following his emotional victory in Adelaide, making two birdies in his opening three holes and three in his first five to briefly share the early lead. His momentum slowed, however, as he failed to convert several makeable birdie putts over the rest of the round. On the final hole, Kim flared his approach into the water right of the fairway for a bogey – his first bogey in 45 holes. He hit 8 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens en route to a 3-under 67 (T24), trailing Carlos Ortiz by seven shots. HOT GROUP: The threesome of Carlos Ortiz, Talor Gooch and Lucas Herbert shot a combined 21 under, equaling the second-best group total in LIV history. The best was Harold Varner III, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson, who shot 22 under in Adelaide in the second round of 2023, as well as the group of Herbert, Abraham Ancer and Marc Leishman in the third round of Adelaide in 2024. 22 FOR ORTIZ: Carlos Ortiz had just 22 putts on Thursday, his best single-round performance on LIV Golf. This is Ortiz's first time leading after the opening round. His last lead overnight was after the second round in Adelaide in 2025. 100% PERFECTION: Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia hit 18 greens in regulation Thursday, the 27th time in LIV Golf history that’s been done. Korean Golf Club’s Younghan Song hit all 14 fairways, the 38th time in league history for that achievement. STREAK ENDS: Peter Uihlein’s LIV Golf record streak of 76 consecutive par-3 holes of par or better came to an end with a bogey on the 5th hole Thursday. STATS LEADERS Round 1 Driving Distance: Matthew Wolff, 338.1-yard avg. Longest Drive: Louis Oosthuizen, 356.0 yards (13th hole) Driving Accuracy: Younghan Song, 100% (14 of 14) Greens in Regulation: Sergio Garcia, 100% (18 of 18) Scrambling: 10 players at 100%, led by Lee Westwood (5 of 5) Fewest Putts: Carlos Ortiz, 22 Bogey-free rounds: Younghan Song (63), Scott Vincent (63), Sergio Garcia (63), Talor Gooch (63), Bubba Watson (64), Marc Leishman (66), Lee Westwood (67), Branden Grace (68) This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.
