Branden Grace made six birdies and three bogeys in the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational Series event in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, carding a three-under-par 69 to be in a share of third.
That put him two shots behind the first-round leader, Carlos Ortiz of Mexico, who made his LIV Golf debut in impressive fashion, shooting a five-under 67. One stroke behind at four-under was two-time major winner Dustin Johnson, while three golfers were another stroke back at three-under –Grace, Hideto Tanihara and Pat Perez.
Hennie du Plessis carried on with his good form from the first event, carding an opening two-under 70 to be in a share of sixth. Louis Oosthuizen was on one-under, sharing ninth together with Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent. Justin Harding was on level-par in 14th.
Charl Schwartzel, who won the opening event, sighed for a two-over 74 and was in 25th. Shaun Norris was on three-over and Ian Snyman on four-over.
In the team contest, the South African outfit, Stinger GC, was lying second, with Grace’s and Du Plessis’ scores counting to make them five-under. Schwartzel and Oosthuizen are the other two in the team. They were one behind 4 Aces GC, who had Johnson and Perez counting towards their six-under total. Patrik Reed and Talor Gooch are the other two in the team.
