STERLING, Va. – Lucas Herbert stole the show on Thursday at Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C., firing an 8-under 64 to take a two-shot lead after the first round of Maaden LIV Golf Virginia.
Herbert, who has been up and down this season, was in a different gear on Thursday.
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Four players — Tyrrell Hatton, Marc Leishman, Sergio Garcia and Sebastián Muñoz — sit in a share of second place at 6-under 66. Hatton’s strong opening round continues a hot stretch of golf after finishing T3 at the Masters and T5 at LIV Golf Mexico City. Leishman, who calls Virginia home, looked comfortable in familiar surroundings. Garcia and Muñoz give their respective teams — Fireballs GC and Torque GC — strong footholds heading into the second round.
Graeme McDowell sits alone in sixth at 5-under, while Dean Burmester, Anthony Kim, Jeongwoo Ham who’s making his first LIV Golf start, and Victor Perez are clustered at 4-under in a tie for seventh.
Some of the biggest names in the field find themselves a bit further back. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Thomas Detry are all grouped together at 3-under, two shots off the pace in a tie for 11th. For Detry in particular, with the U.S. Open exemption on the line, there is ground to make up.
Overall, there are 26 players within four shots of the lead, setting up what should be an enthralling three days of competition ahead.