RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The leaderboard at the ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh is a tightly packed affair heading into the weekend, with Talor Gooch, Thomas Detry, and Peter Uihlein all tied for the lead at 10-under par after two rounds. The tournament, underway at the Riyadh Golf Club, has seen impressive scoring and the emergence of several contenders.
Gooch, the captain of Smash GC, continued his strong form with a second consecutive round of 5-under 67. He attributes his success to a simple, yet effective, mantra: “the Rule of 67.” “I keep saying this. the rule is 67,” Gooch explained. “I probably should have coined that differently a while back. But you go play good golf, and everything takes care of itself. All the things that I’ve been blessed with have obviously come from the man above, but it doesn’t happen without shooting 67, 66. At the end of the day, birdies take care of all that stuff. As long as I can continue to focus on that and make that the priority, I know all the other business stuff will take care of itself.”
While Gooch has been remarkably consistent, Detry and Uihlein navigated more challenging paths to reach the top. Detry, a recent acquisition for 4Aces GC, followed up his opening-round 65 with a 3-under 69, while Uihlein, of RangeGoats GC, also carded a 69 after sharing the first-round lead with a 65. Uihlein’s round included a few adventurous moments, even finding himself briefly visiting the shrubbery, but his strong putting game kept him in contention.
Just one stroke behind the leaders, a quartet of players lurks at 9-under par. Jason Kokrak of Smash GC fired the round of the day with an impressive 8-under 64. Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm and Torque GC’s Sebastian Muñoz both shot 4-under 68s, and Ripper GC rookie Elvis Smylie posted a 3-under 69. Muñoz, who recently won a LIV Golf event in Indianapolis in August, will be looking to add another title to his resume this weekend.
Muñoz emphasized the importance of patience in his second-round performance. “I think I did a really good job of staying patient,” he said. “Of course the wind picked up big time, and we just picked big targets and tried to hold on. There were some tough pins that we couldn’t really go for it, and hitting the fairway was a premium, which I sometimes did. It worked all right.”
Sergio Garcia of Fireballs GC and David Puig also enter the weekend at 8-under, placing them within striking distance of the lead. In total, nine players are within two shots of the top spot, promising a thrilling finish to the tournament.
Smash GC currently leads the team competition at 30-under par, three shots ahead of Torque GC. 4Aces GC sits in third place at 23-under par.
The second round saw an overall scoring average of -2.11, slightly easier than the first round. The fifth hole proved to be the most challenging, averaging +0.16, while the par-5 13th played the easiest at -0.47.
LIV Golf Riyadh Scoreboard (Day 2)
- T-1. Talor Gooch -10
- T-1. Peter Uihlein -10
- T-1. Thomas Detry -10
- T-4. Jon Rahm -9
- T-4. Sebastian Muñoz -9
- T-4. Jason Kokrak -9
- T-4. Elvis Smylie -9
- T-8. Sergio Garcia -8
- T-8. David Puig -8
- T-10. Byeong Hun An -7
- T-10. Yosuke Asaji -7
- T-10. Abraham Ancer -7
- T-10. Joaquin Niemann -7
- T-14. Louis Oosthuizen -6
- T-14. Marc Leishman -6
- T-14. Thomas Pieters -6
- T-14. Scott Vincent -6
- T-14. Caleb Surratt -6
- T-14. Adrian Meronk -6
- T-14. Graeme McDowell -6
The competition at the ROSHN Group LIV Golf Riyadh is fierce, and the final two rounds promise to be a captivating display of skill and strategy as players battle for individual and team glory.
