Where Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and All LIV Golfers Stand After Round 1 of the Masters
One of the major storylines coming into the 87th Masters was the LIV Golf contingent and how they might fare in the cauldron of major-championship golf after limited play on their home tour.
The answer, at least from the first round at Augusta National, is mixed.
First, the LIV field of 18 players was cut down to 17 on Thursday morning as Kevin Na withdrew due to illness after a 40 through nine holes.
Of those, six broke par, three shot even par and eight were over par. On a day where the stroke average for the field was 72.34, the LIV scoring average was 72.41.
Leading the way was Brooks Koepka, shooting 7-under 65 to sit atop the leaderboard with Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm.
"Drove the ball really nicely. Left it in some good spots. Even missed quite a few putts," said Koepka, who missed the cut at Augusta National the last two years. "Could have been really low but I'll take it; 7's pretty good."
Cameron Smith, the 2022 British Open champion who had the lowest pre-tournament odds among the LIV players, shot 2-under 70.
Phil Mickelson, playing his first Masters in two years after a self-imposed exile in 2022, shot a 1-under 71 which included a double-bogey 6 at the 11th after hitting his approach in the water.
"I'm hitting enough good shots to shoot some good numbers, and I'm having fun playing, and I'm having fun hitting the shots again and driving it well," the three-time Masters champion said. "Just need to stay a little bit sharper on one or two swings because in major championships the punishment for a mis-hit is so severe. I also didn't shoot myself in the foot. I just need to come out tomorrow with a good round."
Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson, also past Masters champions, shot 71 along with Joaquin Niemann.
The high score for the day among LIV players belonged to two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, who had three double bogeys in a round of 5-over 77.
Round 1 Leaderboard for LIV Golf
T1. Brooks Koepka -7 65
T17. Cameron Smith -2 70
T26. Patrick Reed -1 71
T26. Phil Mickelson -1 71
T26. Joaquin Niemann -1 71
T26. Dustin Johnson -1 71
T37. Talor Gooch E 72
T37. Abraham Ancer E 72
T37. Harold Varner III E 72
T45. Jason Kokrak +1 73
T54. Sergio Garcia +2 74
T54. Thomas Pieters +2 74
T54. Charl Schwartzel +2 74
T54. Bryson DeChambeau +2 74
T54. Mito Pereira +2 74
T73. Louis Oosthuizen +4 76
T78. Bubba Watson +5 77
Kevin Na W/D