American Patrick Reed has sparked wild scenes and been showered in drinks after sinking a hole-in-one during the first round of the LIV Golf event in Adelaide. The former US Masters champion aced the famous watering hole on just his second hole of the day as the tournament got off to a raucous start at Grange Golf Club on Friday. Chase Koepka hit a hole-in-one on the same par three in 2023, sparking a frenzy in the packed grandstands that became an iconic moment in the debut event.
Reed became just the second golfer to hit an ace at LIV Golf Adelaide less than 15 minutes into play on the opening day of the tournament as plastic cups rained down. The 34-year-old sealed the feat with just the sixth tee shot of the day at the hole after starting with a bogey on the par-five 11th. LIV Golf uses a shotgun start with all players teeing off at the same time on various holes around the course.
Reed threw his hands in the air and soaked up the cheers and applause before racing down to the green to collect his ball. đ¨ @PReedGolf ACE ON THE WATERING HOLE!. Watch LIVE now on the @foxsports App đş#LIVGolfAdelaide @4AcesGC_ pic.twitter.com/EIHZXKtsMu. Reed is one under after eight holes, two shots behind the early leaders, fellow American Andy Ogletree and Mexican Carlos Ortiz. Australiaâs fan favourite Cam Smith is one over, with Ripper GC teammates Lucas Herbert (two under), Marc Leishman (one over) and Matt Jones (two over) starting with a mixed bag.
As many as 100,000 spectators are expected to attend the three-day tournament in Adelaideâs west and Smith said before the start of play that he believes the home support will be a bonus. Sign up to The Recap. The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekendâs action. after newsletter promotion. âWe have had pressure on us in the past, weâve dealt with it pretty good,â Smith said. âTo be honest, all we have tried to do the last four or five weeks is really just prepare as good as we can and get in and get our work done and tick a lot of boxes and get here on Friday and just let it all go.
âWe know weâre going to have the support of the home crowd. We love the golf course, I think this is the best Iâve ever seen it, hopefully it gets firmer and faster. We know weâve done the work, so why not two in a row?â. Smith said before play started that the Adelaide tournament remained the benchmark for the LIV Golf circuit. âI think this is our bar, I really do, as a league,â he said.
