Burmester, Stringers take lead on tough first day at LIV Golf Andalucia

SOTOGRANDE: Real Club Valderrama showed its teeth in the first round of LIV Golf Andalucia on Friday, in what was the heaviest day of scoring in the competition’s young history.

Dean Burmester shot 5-under 66 to give him a one-stroke lead and lead Stinger GC to the top of the team standings. But even the South African couldn’t figure out how he managed to achieve such a low score.

“Valderrama is a place,” said Burmester, the individual winner earlier this season in Miami on another tough course, Doral’s Blue Monster. “… I don’t know how I got to 5-under, to be honest with you.”

Only seven of the 54 players in the field were under par, the fewest in a single round of any LIV Golf regular season tournament. The field’s stroke average of 3.519 over par, with five players scoring 80 or higher, is the highest for any of LIV Golf’s 88 regular season rounds. Collectively, the field was 190 over par, with only one hole under par, the par-5 11th.

Wind gusts of nearly 20 mph from a different direction than the practice days caused players to throw their game plans out the window. The wind also dried out the greens, creating firm putting surfaces.

Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, who has more experience at Spain’s most celebrated golf course than any other LIV Golf player, told fellow Spaniard and playing partner Jon Rahm early in their round that Valderrama “showed some teeth today. Probably not his whole mouth, but definitely his teeth.”

The captain of Legion XIII replied: “A few teeth? I think it’s more than that.”

Rahm, making his first start in his home country since joining LIV Golf in the off-season, shot a 2-over 73 on a day in which he said he made only one mistake: he misjudged his putt on the 13th hole, resulting in a bogey after three putts.

“I feel like I’ve played really well,” said Rahm, who has tied for 16th place eight times. “The scores on this course are often worse than they look.”

Garcia was one of those seven players under par, shooting a 2-under 69 to tie for fourth place with Crushers GC’s Anirban Lahiri. Teammate Eugenio Chacarra of Spain’s Fireballs was one stroke better, shooting a 68, as his game continues to climb after a tie for third place at last week’s International Series Morocco.

“My goal today was to play smart golf,” Chacarra said. “I know my game is there.”

The Fireballs, who feature three Spanish players on their team, are at 2-under and in second place on the team standings, two strokes behind the Stingers.

Burmester’s closest challenger on the individual leaderboard is Iron Heads GC’s Danny Lee, who shot a 4-under 67. It was his fourth-best round relative to par this season as he has struggled for results. He entered the week ranked 45th in points.

“This is definitely a sign that I’m heading in the right direction,” said Lee, whose goal is to finish the regular season in the top 24 to secure playing rights for 2025.

For Burmester, the key to survival on Friday was his putter. He needed just 21 putts, which tied the fewest in the field that included wild card player Anthony Kim, who shot a 73.

“It was probably one of the best putting rounds I’ve ever had as a professional,” Burmester said. “Every time I was over a putt I was thinking, ‘Can I make it?’ You don’t get many days like that.”

LIV Golf players have never experienced a day like this and are hoping for some relief in the final two rounds this weekend.

“Can it be harder? Yes, everything can be harder,” Rahm said. “… But not much harder, obviously. Today was a pretty tough day.”

TEAM COUNTS SCORES

Standings and tally scores for the opening round of the team competition on Friday at LIV Golf Andalucia. The three best scores from each team count in the first two rounds, while all four scores count in the final round. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.

1. STINGER GC -4 (Burmester 66, Oosthuizen 70, Schwartzel 73)

2. FIREBALLS GC -2 (Chacarra 68, Garcia 69, Ancer 74)

3. IRON HEADS GC -1 (Lee 67, Vincent 72, Na 73)

T4. CRUSHERS GC +4 (Lahiri 69, Casey 74, DeChambeau 74)

T4. MAJESTICKS GC +4 (Horsfield 70, Westwood 71, Poulter 76)

Number 6. CLEEKS GC +6 (Bland 71, Kaymer 72, Meronk 76)

Number 6. COUPLE GC +6 (Ortiz 72, Pereira 73, Muñoz 74)

8. 4ACES GC +8 (Reed 72, Johnson 73, Perez 76)

9. LEGION XIII +9 (Hatton 72, Rahm 73, Vincent 77)

10. RIPPER GC +10 (Smith 72, Herbert 75, Leishman 76)

T11. SMASH GC +13 (Koepka 75, McDowell 75, Gooch 76)

T11. HYFLYERS GC +13 (Mickelson 73, Tringale 76, Steele 77)

13. RANGEGOATS GC +18 (Wolff 73, Pieters 79, Watson 79)