Rd. 1 recap: Herbert, Ripper GC lead at Maaden LIV Golf Virginia
Lucas Herbert shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday but plenty of big names are on his heels.
STERLING, Va. – Battling an illness earlier this week, Lucas Herbert managed just nine holes of practice, leaving him unfamiliar with half the course prior to teeing off in Thursday’s first round at Maaden LIV Golf Virginia. In addition, back problems have plagued him lately. Meanwhile, some bad habits have crept into his game, resulting in a frustrating stretch of results.
So, of course, he went out and shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead while also fueling his Ripper GC to a four-stroke advantage on the team leaderboard. It’s the first time the 30-year-old Australian has led after any round in his LIV Golf career.
“I don’t know that my expectations could have been any lower than what they were today,” said Herbert, adding “strangely, here I am sitting here in front of you with a two-shot lead after the first round.”
His expectations may be higher now as he seeks to build on his fast start in search of his first LIV Golf individual title. His four closest pursuers each have won at least one LIV Golf tournament, including Ripper teammate and Virginia resident Marc Leishman, along with Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton and Torque GC’s Sebastián Muñoz, each of whom shot 66 at Trump National Washington D.C.
Since he was essentially playing half the course blind, Herbert leaned on caddie Nick Pugh to manage his way around the course that sits on the edge of the Potomac River. After two early birdies, Herbert settled into the unfamiliar front nine with an eagle at the par-5 second. A six-hole stretch with five birdies allowed him to move atop the leaderboard.
“It's a big disadvantage really to have not played the course before you head out there,” Herbert said. “It's not something I would do very often, but in a way, it felt like maybe a little bit of a positive today because my caddie can give me some lines off tees.
“I can occasionally go a little rogue from them if I know the course and feel a little more comfortable left and right of those lines, whereas today I had to stick to those pretty strictly because I didn't know where I was going.”
Hatton also was dealing with something unfamiliar – namely the new putter that replaced the one he’s used since 2024. With top-5 finishes in his last two worldwide starts, including his best-ever major result with a T3 at the Masters, the Englishman feels like the change might better allow him to convert those opportunities into wins.
“I’ve been leaving a lot of putts short,” Hatton said. “That’s obviously frustrating. This one comes off a little bit quicker … With it being the first round, you have that nervousness towards is it actually going to be OK? Thankfully, I hit a lot of good putts today.”
Muñoz has struggled for form lately after starting the season with a couple of top 10s. He’s hoping to get back to the kind of performer he was at the end of the 2025 season when he shot 59 en route to winning at Indianapolis in the regular-season finale.
“Come back to my senses that I don’t have to do anything extra,” Muñoz said. “Like me being me is good enough.” He brought his support team together earlier in the week and said it “kind of cleared my mind in a lot of things to give me the calm and confidence that I’m enjoying today.”
As for Leishman, he’s not surprised to see two Ripper players high up on the leaderboard. The all-Australian team remains atop the season-long race after their two early wins and the Trump National course appears to fit their collective game.
“Courses that are more difficult, I think, suit us pretty well, particularly if they’re firm,” Leishman said. “… This is certainly going to get pretty firm over the weekend.”
TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS
Individual Top 10
1 (-8) – Lucas Herbert, Ripper (64)
T2 (-6) – Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (66); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (66); Sebastián Muñoz, Torque (66); Marc Leishman, Ripper (66)
6 (-5) – Graeme McDowell, OKGC (67)
T7 (-4) – Anthony Kim, 4Aces (68); Dean Burmester, Southern Guards (68); Victor Perez, Cleeks (68); Jeongwoo Ham, Wild Card (68)
Team Top 3
1 (-15) – Ripper GC (Herbert 64, Leishman 66, Smylie 71, Smith 72)
2 (-11) – Legion XIII (Hatton 66, Rahm 69, McKibbin 70, Surratt 72)
3 (-9) – Torque GC (Muñoz 66, Niemann 70, Ancer 71, Ortiz 72)
ROUND 1 NOTES
HONORING SEVE: On the 15th anniversary of Seve Ballesteros’ death, several teams honored the legendary Spaniard by dressing in white polos and navy blue pants.
Sergio Garcia and his all-Spanish Fireballs GC wore apparel that also had a logo of Ballesteros on the collar. Garcia shot a 6-under 66 that left him tied for second.
“Definitely there was a little bit of extra inspiration thinking about Seve and wearing his favorite colors,” Garcia said. “It was very nice and I’m actually very glad, very happy that I was able to put in a good round for him.”
Fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm also had his Legion XIII team wearing the colors. Englishman Tyrrell Hatton shot the team’s best score, matching Garcia’s 66.
“Jon was very passionate about us wearing this outfit today,” Hatton said. “It’s very obvious what Seve means to use as a European team and what he means for golf in general. For us to wear this as a tribute to him is definitely the right thing to do. I’m happy that I can put a good round together wearing it.”
The Englishmen on Majesticks Golf Club also wore white polos and navy pants, as did 4Aces GC, which has two European players in Belgians Thomas Detry and Thomas Pieters.
“I don’t know if it was on purpose or not, but it was nice to see,” Garcia said of all the white-and-blue looks.
U.S. OPEN SPOT: In grabbing the first-round lead, Lucas Herbert is now projected to move into third place in the season-long points race. If he maintains that position with a win Sunday, he will earn the LIV Golf U.S. Open exemption that’s available after this week.
It’s not something he’s planning to focus on, however.
“I heard it announced on the putting green today that it was after this event that the cutoff was going to be for that spot,” Herbert said. “For about two seconds, I wondered whether a win would be enough to do that.
“Other than that, no. I got to where I am today pretty much not really caring where I was on the leaderboard, just trying to make progress in my game and my golf swing and being in a good frame of mind hitting shots.”
LEISHMAN AT HOME: Marc Leishman is a Virginia resident, although his home is a few hours’ drive from Trump National Washington DC. He expects to have plenty of support the next three days as he chases his second LIV Golf title after opening with a 66.
“I’ve got a few carloads of people coming up [Friday] and over the weekend,” he said. “So, it’s always nice when you’ve got some familiar faces in the crowd, particularly when you’re playing well.
“I guess it works both ways. When you’re playing bad, they can give you a bit of stick. And when you’re playing well, they can cheer you on.”
DECHAMBEAU’S HEALTH: Bryson DeChambeau returned to action after missing the final round of the previous LIV Golf tournament in Mexico with a wrist injury. The Crushers GC captain shot a 3-under 69 despite bogeys in two of his first three holes.
“The wrist is feeling better,” said DeChambeau, who won in Singapore and South Africa on back-to-back weeks. “I've had some shoulder stuff since the Ryder Cup. I don't know what happened. It's been trained. It's been treated. We've worked on it. We've done a bunch of stuff, MRIs. It's all been fine. It's been eking at me for quite a while.
“When I won those two events, I was waking up every day, uh-oh, is it going to hurt today? It's a little bit of overuse. I'm grinding to figure it out. … I’m proud of the way I fought out there not hitting it my best.”
OKGC DEBUT: OKGC, the rebranded team previously known as Smash GC, made its official tournament debut Thursday. Graeme McDowell posted the team’s best score, a 5-under 67 that left him in solo 6th, but the rest of the team could not match that pace.
Captain Talor Gooch shot an even-par 72, Jason Kokrak shot a 73 and Harold Varner III – who won his first LIV Golf individual title on this course three years ago – shot a 5-over 77 that included one eagle, on birdie, four bogeys and two double bogeys.
The team did lead the field in Greens in Regulation and ranked second in fairways hit on Thursday but were last in putting.
WILD CARD RESERVE: South Korea’s Jeongwoo Ham made his first LIV Golf start this week as a Wild Card player, taking the spot vacated by Scott Vincent, who is playing for HyFlyers GC as a replacement for Phil Mickelson. Ham earned the opportunity as the current points leader in The International Series standings, fueled by his win at last month’s Singapore Open. Ham shot a 4-under 68 in his league debut, including an impressive stretch of four consecutive birdies on his final nine.
NOTES & NUGGETS
- Jon Rahm’s 48-foot birdie putt on the 5th hole is his longest made putt of the season and third longest of his career; his longest putt came last year in Virginia from just under 65 feet
- Dean Burmester posted two eagles Thursday (holes 12 and 16) – that’s the second time in his LIV Golf career that he’s had two eagles in a single round
- Thursday marked just the second round this season in which no player completed a bogey-free round. The only other occasion was Rd. 1 of Mexico City
- Torque GC led the field in par 5 scoring (12 under) and fairways hit (75%) on Thursday. They also led in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, averaging +1.36 per player. It was the 12th time this season they have finished a round inside the top three
- The last time Ripper GC finished Rd. 1 in the lead was at in Mexico City last year; they have taken the outright Rd. 1 lead on just two prior occasions — London 2023 (by three shots) and Bedminster 2023 (by one shot)
- Lucas Herbert's 8-under 64 is tied for the second-lowest round of his LIV Golf career and is the lowest opening round he has ever recorded
- Sergio Garcia's 5-under performance on the par 5s is tied for the best par-5 round of his LIV Golf career.
STATS LEADERS
Round 1
Driving Distance: Matthew Wolff, 324.4-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Peter Uihlein, 349.1 yards (12th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 2 & 12.
Driving Accuracy: Graeme McDowell, 92.86% (13 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Talor Gooch, 94.44% (17 of 18)
Scrambling: Lucas Herbert (2 of 2), Paul Casey (2 of 2), Talor Gooch (1 of 1), 100%
Fewest Putts: Adrian Meronk, Louis Oosthuizen, 25
Bogey-free rounds: none
THURSDAY’S SIGHTS & SOUNDS
Photos from today are available here
Round 1 at Maaden LIV Golf Virginia delivered high-energy action on the course, with players setting the early tone in both the team and individual competitions. Off the course, the crossover appeal of the event was on full display as former Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden made an appearance, adding to the day’s dynamic atmosphere and reinforcing LIV Golf’s connection across the broader sports world..
WHAT’S TEED UP TOMORROW (FRIDAY, MAY 8): Round 2 of Maaden LIV Golf Virginia tees off Friday with a 12:05 p.m. shotgun start, as the competition intensifies and the leaderboard begins to take shape. With public gates opening at 10:00 a.m., fans can expect heightened energy as teams and players push to gain positioning heading into the weekend. As momentum builds, post-round interviews will offer early insight into contenders and shifting storylines across both the team and individual races. Full tee times and groupings
Featured Tee Times (Hole 1 Starters)
Hole 1 — Group #1 (12:05 PM start)
- Graeme McDowell (Smash GC)
- Sebastian Muñoz (Torque GC)
- Sergio Garcia (Fireballs GC)
Hole 1 — Group #2 (12:16 PM)
- Marc Leishman (Ripper GC)
- Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII)
- Lucas Herbert (Ripper GC)
Limited tickets for Maaden LIV Golf Virginia from May 7-10 are still available for sale. More information is available at LIVGolf.com, with all tickets including same-day access to all on-site fan experiences including LIV Golf After Play concert performance on Saturday. Children aged 12 and under (one per paying adult) and all military members receive complimentary Grounds Pass admission, with group tickets, hospitality and premium experiences also available.
For full event details, live scoring and tickets, please visit LIVGolf.com.
