On a hot and windy day at Bolingbrook Golf Club, LIV Golf players battled the challenging and lengthy course. LIV Golf Chicago’s opening round showcased the League’s superstars asserting their dominance early.
By the end of Round 1, it was Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia who emerged from a congested leaderboard to earn a share of the lead after shooting a 4-under 67. Garcia’s rollercoaster round included eight birdies and four bogeys. Last year, the Spaniard finished T2 at Bolingbrook and figures to be in contention once again this week.
Round 1 Leaderboard:
Dustin Johnson, bouncing back from a last-place finish at LIV Golf UK by JCB, shares the lead with Garcia. Reunited with his brother and caddie Austin, who returned this week after missing JCB, the 4Aces GC captain fired a 4-under 67. It could have been lower had he not made bogey on his final hole. After the round, Johnson spoke about the advantage of having his brother with him this week.
“He’s been on the bag for a long time now, so when he’s not on the bag, it’s a little bit different,” Johnson said.
Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka, who hasn’t finished in the top 14 on a LIV Golf leaderboard since the third event of the season at LIV Golf Singapore, got off to a good start and is T3 after shooting a 3-under 68. The five-time major champion made a birdie on the par-5 third hole to begin his round, and he made back-to-back tricky up-and-downs for par on hole Nos. 7-8 to keep his round afloat. He then made three straight birdies on hole Nos. 10-12 to get out in front before a late bogey on the 16th halted his momentum.
Tied with Koepka and squarely in the mix is HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson, who dazzled the crowd at Bollingbrook, making five birdies in his first 16 holes. Mickelson, who after his round called Bolingbrook a “fair but tough golf course” made bogeys on his final two holes to fall back, but still in great position entering the weekend.
More stars are tied with Koepka and Mickelson at 3-under, including Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm and teammate Tyrrell Hatton, and Stinger GC‘s Dean Burmester.
With the season quickly nearing an end, several notable players fighting to secure their 2026 roster spots struggled to find form in the opening round. Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter, who is currently 51st in the standings, struggled to find his rhythm and shot a 3-over 74 (T45). Poulter’s Majesticks GC teammate Henrik Stenson struggled as well, shooting a 4-over 75. Both players will need to come back strong in the next two rounds to have a chance to come away from LIV Golf Chicago with much-needed points.
Conversely, Mito Pereira of Torque GC and Andy Ogletree of HyFlyers GC got off to a strong start to their week. Both Pereira and Ogletree carded 2-under 69s to find themselves in tied for ninth with a chance to make some weekend noise.
For the round, Bolingbrook produced a field scoring average of +0.41.
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