Paul Casey made a robust begin to his bid for a maiden LIV Golf League title after grabbing a share of the early lead after the opening spherical in Las Vegas.
The Englishman blended eight birdies with a lone bogey in chilly circumstances at Las Vegas Nation Membership to prime the leaderboard with American Harold Varner III.
Beginning on the eighth gap, Casey made a three-putt bogey on the par-four tenth however adopted 4 birdies in a five-hole stretch from the twelfth with back-to-back beneficial properties across the flip, then added two extra over his closing three holes.
Casey’s 63 ties for his lowest rating in 52 profession regular-season rounds on LIV Golf and comes after a disappointing 2023 season, the place he battled kind and health as he didn’t register a top-20 end.
“I’ve been working on the game very hard through the wintertime and had a decent result last week in Mayakoba (T-11),” Casey mentioned. “I just felt like I started to build some confidence out there and it felt kind of vintage stuff.”
Varner completed backside of the 52-man area in final week’s season opener in Mayakoba earlier than bouncing again in Las Vegas, carding seven birdies in a bogey-free begin to set the early tempo with Casey.
“I got some good work in with (instructor) Butch (Harmon),” Varner mentioned. “That guy has been really good for me, so I saw him on whatever day and just worked on getting the ball going one direction, and obviously it paid off pretty well.”
Jason Kokrak and a trio of RangeGoats GC gamers – captain Bubba Watson, Thomas Pieters and new acquisition Matthew Wolff – share third spot on 5 below, with Talor Gooch one in all three gamers an additional shot again.
Graeme McDowell can also be on 4 below and Dustin Johnson is within the group 4 off the tempo that comprises Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk.
Reigning main champions Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, together with final week’s Mayakoba winner Joaquin Niemann, all opened with two-under 68s.
This week’s LIV Golf motion will end on Saturday to keep away from clashing with the Tremendous Bowl, going down in the identical metropolis on Sunday. Watch Tremendous Bowl LVIII from Las Vegas stay on Sky Sports activities on Sunday February 11, with build-up from 10pm forward of kick-off at 11.30pm; Stream the NFL and extra with NOW.