With their longtime dream of bringing LIV Golf to South Africa officially turning into reality, the four members of home favorites Southern Guards GC felt the emotion of the moment in Thursday’s opening round at The Club at Steyn City.
Tears of joy. Goosebumps. Hair-tingling electricity. A sense of pride.
And then they delivered a performance to match, riding the wave of adrenaline and passionate support from the large gallery to the top of the team leaderboard with a collective 18 under for a one-shot lead at LIV Golf South Africa.
None of the Southern Guards foursome could match the scorecards of the Crushers GC duo of captain Bryson DeChambeau and Charles Howell III, who share the individual lead after shooting 8-under 63s. But the all-South African team was happy to end the day on a similar kind of emotional high in which it started.
“Probably the pinnacle of my career, honestly,” said Dean Burmester after his 4-under 67. “Probably the greatest day I’ve had on the golf course, the most fun, the most backing I’ve ever had. I’ve played all over the world, and I’ve never felt this kind of emotion and this electricity.”
“One of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a golf course,” echoed Charl Schwartzel, who shot a 5-under 66 despite a back issue that almost forced him to withdraw. “I’ve played Presidents Cups. I’ve teed off in front of presidents in New York and that first tee gave me goosebumps. I almost had tears in my eyes. It was a really proud moment.”
“This is what we hoped for,” said Branden Grace, who shot a team-leading 7-under 64 to grab a share of third place. “… Really a phenomenal feeling, and it’s great to be able to start the week the way that I did today.”
For Louis Oosthuizen, it was the culmination of his four-year effort in leading the charge for a South African tournament. His 2-under 69 was a roller-coaster – he suffered an early double-bogey, then immediately responded with three consecutive birdies – but the Southern Guards captain has emphasized the bigger picture this week of having LIV Golf visit the African continent for the first time.
“I know what it took to bring this tournament here, and the fans were unbelievable,” he said. “For a Thursday, to have this many people here, it’s all our dreams come true.”
Although they played in four different groups on Thursday, the Southern Guards were able to feed off each other as well as the crowd. Collectively, they played their first 12 holes at even par before playing the next 12 at 6 under. A Grace eagle to start his final nine seemed to ignite the rest of the team, which collectively shot 10 under on their final nines while combining to make 187 feet of putts in that stretch.
“I think everybody just got on the bandwagon and one thing led to another, and look at it now,” Grace said.
DeChambeau, playing with Oosthuizen and 4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson in the last group to tee off, also enjoyed plenty of encouragement while playing for the first time in South Africa. The Crushers captain continued the momentum from last week’s playoff win in Singapore, birdieing four of his final six holes to join Howell atop the leaderboard.
“What an environment,” DeChambeau said. “South Africa showed out today, and it’s only Thursday. I’m quite impressed with the environment here and the people and the love that we felt today. It really energizes all of us players and makes us want to give back more. It’s awesome.”
Howell produced his league-leading sixth bogey-free round of the season, leading the field in Strokes Gained Putting on greens softened by torrential rain the previous day. He knows the appreciation shown to all players on Thursday may grow increasingly partisan toward the local favorites as the week progresses.
“I know it’s a big week for them, a special week for them, but it’s also a big week for LIV and LIV Golf on a global scale and what this can look like and what this can be,” Howell said. “I’m quite sure the next three days will be pretty crazy and chaotic out there.”
TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS
Individual Top 10
T1 (-8) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (63); Charles Howell III, Crushers (63)
T3 (-7) – Branden Grace, Southern Guards (64); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (64)
T5 (-6) – Talor Gooch, Smash (65); Jon Rahm, Legion XIII (65)
T7 (-5) – Cameron Smith, Ripper (66); Charl Schwartzel, Southern Guards (66); Lee Westwood, Majesticks (66); Richard Bland, Cleeks (66); Scott Vincent, Wild Card (66); David Puig, Fireballs (66); Harold Varner III, Smash (66); Thomas Detry, 4Aces (66); Jason Kokrak, Smash (66); Abraham Ancer, Torque (66)
Team Top 3
1 (-18) – Southern Guards (Grace 64, Schwartzel 66, Burmester 67, Oosthuizen 69)
2 (-17) – Smash GC (Gooch 65, Kokrak 66, Varner III 66, McDowell 70)
3 (-16) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau, 63, Howell 63, Lahiri 69, Casey 73)
ROUND 1 NOTES
SCHWARTZEL’S BACK: Charl Schwartzel called his Southern Guards GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen late Wednesday night to deliver some potentially bad news – a back injury suffered last week in Singapore may force him to withdraw.
But thanks to various kinds of pre-round treatment on Thursday morning, Schwartzel not only was able to play but deliver one of the better rounds of the day, a 5-under 66 that left him in a 10-way tie for seventh.
“I said to him, my back is really bad. I’m not sure I can play,” Schwartzel recalled of his conversation with Oosthuizen. “I don’t want to come out here and play badly and that I’d rather let somebody else play. He sort of said to me, look, we’ve come a long way with this. We’ve tried. You deserve to play, so at least try.
“I normally get to the course about two hours before my tee time. I was here four hours before. I was in a Jacuzzi, then I was in another sort of bath, had needles – I had a whole bunch of things going on this morning. Then the last thing was a couple of tablets.”
Schwartzel was a bogey-free 5-under through his first 14 holes but on his tee shot with driver at the par-4 15th, he experienced significant pain with his back for the first time in his round. He opted to avoid using driver for his final two drives, instead opting for 3-wood. He parred the 16th and 18th holes, squeezing in a birdie at the par-3 17th to help give his team the overnight lead.
The 2011 Masters champ said in any other situation, he would have likely withdrawn during the round, but knowing the significance of the day, he wanted to complete his round. He hopes more therapy will allow him to continue for the final 54 holes.
“It’s just amazing to me what an amazing crowd, how it lifts you,” he said. “I don’t know if I would have got through today if I didn’t have all the people supporting us as hard as they did. It was amazing.”
BRYSON HEARING NEW WORDS: Round 1 co-leader Bryson DeChambeau was asked if he heard any strange comments on Thursday while playing for the first time in South Africa.
“Some of it I couldn’t understand. They were just yelling,” he said.
Told that the fans were speaking to him in Afrikaans, DeChambeau replied: “Yeah, Afrikaans. I don’t know that language. I’m from Texas. I understand a little bit of southern twang, but that’s about it.”
HOWELL’S HUMBLING START: Charles Howell III’s stellar 8-under 63 was played alongside the league’s second-youngest player, Caleb Surratt. Howell, who is 24 years and 9 months older than Surratt, began his day with a humbling conversation with the Legion XIII young gun.
“Driving to the tee, Caleb Surratt asked me had I been to South Africa,” Howell said. “I said yes, in the 2003 Presidents Cup, to which he reminded me he wasn’t born then. So, it was a humbling start to the day, a reminder of my age, and hopefully they say experience, but yeah, it was a good day.”
Howell earned three points in the 2003 Presidents Cup in George in the Western Cape. That tied him with Tiger Woods for the second leading scorer on the United States side. Surratt was born roughly four months later in March of 2004.
KIKUYU ROUGH LIVES UP TO HYPE: Coming into the week, the thick Kikuyu rough at Steyn City was one of the storylines of the tournament. Although the field scored well on Thursday – the field average was 68.263, nearly three strokes under par – the Kikuyu gave plenty of players fits throughout the day.
“Kikuyu rough is brutal,” explained Bryson DeChambeau. “I got lucky with a couple lies out there today. You’re not going to get lucky out there all the time. You may have to pitch out on a few of them. Made a lot of good putts, rolled it on my line. But the Kikuyu is brutal. It’s no joke.”
DeChambeau’s teammate and co-leader Charles Howell III agreed with his assessment.
“It’s quite thick,” he said. “It’s always thicker than you think. A lot of the lies will tease you and think, oh, this isn’t too bad, I can get this, and it comes out deader than you think. Yeah, you do not want to miss the fairway around here.”
MICKELSON’S 2026 DEBUT: HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson made his 2026 season debut – and the 35th of his Hall of Fame career –after missing the first four tournaments due to family health matters. Mickelson shot a 4-over 75.
ROUND 2 START CHANGE: The shotgun start for Friday’s Rd. 2 has been moved up to 10:05 a.m. Gates at The Club at Steyn City will open at 8:30 a.m. The live broadcast will begin at 10 a.m. (all times local).
NOTES & NUGGETS
A total of 20 players started their round with a birdie, tying the league record for most birdies on starting holes.
All four members of Southern Guards GC made birdie on the 13th, marking the first time they’ve all birdied the same hole in the same round since Chicago 2024 (Hole No. 5 in the second round).
As a team, Torque GC had three eagles on the 10th hole – the first time in LIV Golf history a team has had three eagles on the same hole in the same round.
Crushers GC collectively made the most feet of putts of any team Thursday with 345 feet.
The last time the Southern Guards led after 18 holes was in their win last year in Chicago.
Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm’s bogey-free 65 was his fourth bogey-free round of the season and 15th of his LIV Golf career.
Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia’s 7-under 64 ties for his best-ever opening round on LIV Golf.
4Aces GC’s Thomas Detry is tied for seventh after shooting a 66; since joining the league in the offseason, the Belgian has finished 12 of his 17 rounds inside the top 10.
The 8-under 63 is Charles Howell III’s lowest Rd.1 score. He has never led or co-led a LIV Golf League tournament after 18 holes.
This is the 6th time Bryson DeChambeau has led or co-led after 18 holes on LIV Golf. He won two of those tournaments (Korea 2025 and Singapore 2026).
Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith led the field in Strokes Gained Off The Tee Par 3. Last year, he finished last in the league in that category.
Bryson DeChambeau’s Par 3 Greens in Regulation streak (22) came to an end on the 8th hole.
Branden Grace’s Par 5 Greens in Regulation streak continues to 34, putting him in the top 10 all-time in the category.
Four shots separating the top eight teams is the closest score differential after the first round since moving to all players’ scores counting. The previous closest was seven shots at 2025 Hong Kong.
STATS LEADERS
Round 1
Driving Distance: Bryson DeChambeau, 341.0-yard avg.
Longest Drive: Bryson DeChambeau, 353.4 yards (18th hole)
Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, 92.86% (13 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Branden Grace, Caleb Surratt, 94.44% (17 of 18)
Scrambling: 12 players tied at 100%, led by Harold Varner III (6 of 6) and Lee Westwood (6 of 6)
Fewest Putts: Talor Gooch, 23
Bogey-free rounds: Charles Howell III (63), Sergio Garcia (64), Jon Rahm (65), Scott Vincent (66), Harold Varner III (66), Lee Westwood (66), Richard Bland (66), Victor Perez (67), Tyrrell Hatton (69)
This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.
