LIV Golf Watch: Ortiz starts fast at Crown Australian Open

Editor's note (Thursday, Dec. 4): Torque GC star Carlos Ortiz started hot in Round 1 of the Crown Australian Open on the DP World Tour, shooting a 6-under 65 to stand tied for the lead at legendary Royal Melbourne. Ortiz made one eagle, six birdies and one bogey, with his best stretch coming on the front nine where he shot 30.

"You had to respect the golf course and I think I did a great job on that," Ortiz said. "We planned it around, we just tried to put in play, be smart, hit greens, and we were lucky enough to make some good putts."

Also starting fast were his Torque GC teammate Sebastian Munoz and Fireballs GC's Josele Ballester, who shot a pair of 2-under 69s to sit tied for 12th.

Out of the 12 LIV Golf players in the star-studded field, an impressive seven of them shot under par. Four LIV Golf players shot 1-under par 70s (T26), including Ripper GC's Cameron Smith, his Aussie teammate Marc Leishman , Legion XIII's Caleb Surratt and Fireballs GC's Abraham Ancer.
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Also on the DP World Tour, the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player is being contested in Sun City, South Africa. Tom McKibbin of Legion XIII is tied for fifth after a 4-under 68 while Adrian Meronk of Cleeks Golf Club is tied for 50th after a 2-over 74. Laurie Canter, the newest member of Cleeks Golf Club, shot a 1-over 73 and is tied for 41st.
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And on the Japan Golf Tour, the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup is underway, with Yosuke Asaji in the field. Asaji shot an even-par 70 and is tied for 15th, seven shots off the lead. Last montjh, Asaji claimed one of the two LIV Golf Promotions spots through The International Series Rankings and will play on the LIV Golf League in 2026.
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(Photo courtesy of PGA of Australia)

PREVIOUSLY REPORTED 

This week, 16 LIV Golf players will be in action, with 12 teeing it up in the Crown Australian Open on the DP World Tour’s Opening Swing, three playing in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player and one playing in the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup on the Japan Golf Tour.

CROWN AUSTRALIAN OPEN

The Crown Australian Open is set to take place as the second and final event of the Australia's summer golf swing co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. This historic national championship returns to historic Royal Melbourne and will feature a star-studded field highlighted by Rory McIlroy and a large contingent of LIV Golf players. There is a lot on the line this week, as the winner will earn an exemption into the 2026 Masters. Also, the leading three players not already exempt will earn a spot in the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

For the first time since 1991, the Australian Open will be played at Royal Melbourne. The tournament will utilize the Composite Course, which is a par 71 measuring 7,086 yards. Founded in 1891, Royal Melbourne is the oldest golf club in Australia.

The course is a blend of the best holes from MacKenzie’s West (Nos. 1–6; Nos. 15–18) and Russell’s East (Nos. 7–14). Royal Melbourne rewards accuracy and short game over pure power. It has wide fairways with brutally fast and sloping greens, deep bunkers and difficult run-off areas around the green. This will be the 17th time in the tournament’s 120-year history that the Stonehaven Cup will be decided on what many people consider the best course in the Southern Hemisphere.

ABRAHAM ANCER. Ancer made his offseason debut last week at Royal Queensland and finished 33rd. The Mexican has had success in Australia, winning the Emirates Australian Open in 2018 by five shots at The Lakes Golf Club. The Fireballs GC star also had a fantastic week at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, earning 3.5 points to lead the team.

JOSELE BALLESTER. Ballester was back in action last week at Royal Queensland, finishing 10th the week after his first professional win at the Saudi International. The young Fireballs GC phenom should be a strong fit for Royal Melbourne with his shot-making ability.

BEN CAMPBELL. Campbell has played three times this offseason, resulting in finishes of T59, MC, MC. Last year, the RangeGoats GC player missed the cut at the Australian Open.

LUCAS HERBERT. Herbert had a strong showing in his most recent start at the Saudi International. The Australian and Ripper GC star finished T5 and will now have a shot at winning his home Open while in good form. He finished T5 at last year’s Australian Open and has finished in the top 10 in three consecutive trips to the event.

MATT JONES. Jones, another member of the All-Australian Ripper GC, has been struggling of late, missing the cut at both the Saudi International and last week's Australian PGA Championship. He finished T33 and T36 in his last two starts at the Australian Open.

MARC LEISHMAN. Last week, Leishman finished in the top-3 of the Australian PGA Championship for the third consecutive time. The popular Ripper GC star arrives home in Melbourne in fantastic form, seeking his first Australian Open victory. Leishman earned 2 points for the International Team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

SEBASTIÁN MUÑOZ. Muñoz finished 14th at his debut the Australian PGA Championship last week. This will also be the Australian Open debut for the Torque GC standout.

JOAQUIN NIEMANN. In four starts this offseason, Niemann has finished T20, T55, MC, MC. The Torque GC captain won the event in 2023 at The Australian Golf Club and finished T5 last year at Kingston Heath.

CARLOS ORTIZ. Ortiz made his Australian PGA Championship debut last week, finishing 25th. The Mexican will be making his Australian Open debut and should fit Royal Melbourne beautifully with his elite ball striking.

DAVID PUIG. Puig earned the biggest win of his career at last week’s Australian PGA Championship, joining Legion XIII's Tom McKibbin and Fireballs GC's Josele Ballester as LIV Golf’s youngest stars who’ve won this offseason. Puig, a key member of Fireballs GC, put on a ball-striking clinic and a putting masterclass, coasting to a two-shot victory at Royal Queensland.

CAMERON SMITH. The Ripper GC captain has now missed the cut in back-to-back starts after a poor performance at one of his favorite courses, Royal Queensland. Smith’s best finish at the Australian Open came in 2024 when he finished T17.

CALEB SURRATT. Surratt finished runner-up at the Saudi International in his most recent start. The young Legion XIII star didn’t play in last week’s PGA Championship and will be making his debut in Australia this week at Royal Melbourne.

NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE IN HONOUR OF GARY PLAYER

The Nedbank Golf Challenge is set to begin, honoring nine-time major winner Gary Player and anchoring the DP World Tour's Opening Swing with a no-cut tournament at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City.

Gary Player CC is a par 72 measuring 7,837 yards. The Gary Player-design rewards long, high power-fades down tight Kikuyu fairways that will punish errant shots with water in play on 10 holes. The challenges of the course are the deep bunkers and fast Bentgrass greens.

LAURIE CANTER. LIV Golf's newest signing will be representing his Majesticks GC team this week at Gary Player CC. He played in the event last year and had a solid showing, finishing T21.

TOM MCKIBBIN. The young Legion XIII star has made eight starts this offseason and has finished outside of the top20 only once. He played in the Nedbank golf challenge last year and finished 60th.

ADRIAN MERONK. Meronk had his best start of the offseason at his most recent appearance at the Saudi International. The Cleeks Golf Club standout finished T5 after missing the cut in four of his first five starts after the conclusion of the LIV Golf season. He played in the Nedbank Golf Challenge most recently in 2023, with a T15 finish.

GOLF NIPPON SERIES JT CUP

The Golf Nippon Series JT Cup is the season-ending major on the Japan Golf Tour. The tournament is held at Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club, which is a classic 1963 Robert Trent Jones Sr. design and has hosted the event every year since 1995. The 7,012-yard, par-71 course features wide, tree-lined fairways, small and severely undulating Bentgrass greens, deep bunkers and occasional water hazards.

YOSUKE ASAJI. Asaji played the event most recently in 2024 when he finished T25. He's made the cut in three of his five starts at the season-ending event. Last montjh, Asaji claimed one of the two LIV Golf Promotions spots through The International Series Rankings and will play on the LIV Golf League in 2026.

PLAYER NEWS

David Puig won last week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship in impressive fashion. With the win, Puig became the first Spanish winner since Seve Ballesteros triumphed in 1981 at Royal Melbourne (by three strokes). He's also the first European victor since England's David Howell in 1998.

“My name, being with Seve’s name as the only two [from Spain] makes it even more special,” Puig said after the round.

Cameron Smith’s struggles continued at last week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship. After missing the cut at one of his favorite courses in the world in Royal Queensland, Smith spoke to Australian Golf Digest about his lack of positive results. “It can definitely get in your head; I think it is in my head,” he said. “It’s just frustrating. It’s been my story of the year, feel I’ve worked hard all year and got nothing out of it. I do know what the answer is, it’s just to keep working hard and try to be patient. I’ve tried to do all the right stuff, for whatever reason it’s not coming together on the course.”

Over the weekend, “Good Good Golf” released a video on their YouTube Channel where all of the members of “Good Good” played in a match against Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia. Brad Daalke, who played in the 2017 Masters that Garcia won, told a story about running into the Spaniard in the bathroom at Augusta National.

“I don’t know if you remember this at all, I did play in the Masters you won,” Daalke reminded Garcia. “I had to go to the bathroom so bad … I was like, 'I’m just going to … get in the players’ bathroom.”

While going into the bathroom, Daalke ran into Garcia and recalled the funny moment. “[I] open the door and see you. I immediately was like, 'Sergio, I’m sorry. I played in the tournament … here’s my player badge. Like, I’m not just a random like whatever.' "

The full story along with the entire video is excellent and certainly worth checking out.

Castle Lite has been named official partner of LIV Golf South Africa. With more than four decades of supporting national sporting teams and major sporting moments, this partnership represents the next chapter in that legacy, a modern, dynamic collaboration designed to ignite passion, elevate experiences and connect people.

Abraham Ancer, who won the Australian Open in 2018, spoke about his love for Royal Melbourne in an interview with news.com/au.

“I’ve played at Royal Melbourne before for the Presidents Cup (in 2019), and it’s one of my favorite golf courses in the world,” Ancer said. “It’s going to be a great experience to be back there. I love playing in Australia. ... The crowds and the people are very knowledgeable about golf. Even though they like to party, they are very respectful at the same time.”