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Marc Leishman of Ripper GC in the bunker on the 13th.Credit: Getty Images
With his next shot, the 2024 US Open champion smashed a three-wood 275 metres, landing it on the green of the par-five hole. He missed the eagle putt but still finished with a birdie, and fully restoring normality, DeChambeau also ended the day as co-leader with Australia’s Marc Leishman.
Leishman shot a bogey-free six-under 66 in the first round at the Grange to be a co-leader DeChambeau.
And the American’s fellow major winners Dustin Johnson, who landed two eagles in his five under, and Jon Rahm (four under) lurk ominously.
Anthony Kim shares second place at five under, a shot ahead of Abraham Ancer and Northern Ireland’s Graham McDowell who both banked rounds of 68.
Leishman entered the opening round in the shadows of his compatriots Cam Smith and the emerging Elvis Smylie, who won on his LIV debut last weekend in Saudi Arabia.
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Smith, after carding bogeys on his initial three holes, fought back to finish even par, while the 23-year-old Smylie shot three birdies in his two-under 70.
Fellow Australian and Ripper GC teammate Lucas Herbert finished one under.
Leishman had no such dramas in a superb start to the fourth edition of LIV’s Adelaide tournament.
The 42-year-old peeled off four birdies in a seven-hole stretch at the sandbelt course in Adelaide’s beachside western suburbs.
And Leishman, chasing a second victory on the LIV circuit to follow his triumph in Miami last year, banked two more birdies on successive holes, the 16th and 17th.
With AAP
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