American Patrick Reed aced the Watering Hole as England’s Sam Horsfield set the first-round pace at LIV Golf’s Adelaide tournament.
Horsfield carded a blemish-free six-under 66 to hold outright leadership at The Grange on Friday.
The 28-year-old is one stroke clear of Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, with major winners Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau lurking a further shot behind.
Australia’s Ripper GC made a sluggish start to their team title defence in Adelaide.
Lucas Herbert (one under) was the best of the locals, with Cam Smith at even par, Marc Leishman one over and Matt Jones finishing three over.
Reed’s hole-in-one at the party hole, the par-3 12th hole, came just 15 minutes into Friday’s opening round.
Reed was immediately showered with drinks thrown by rowdy crowds lining the hole.
His sweetest of shots is the second ace at the hole in LIV Golf’s four years in Adelaide, following Chase Koepka’s hole-in-one in 2023.
The 34-year-old Reed’s feat came from just the sixth tee shot at the hole on Friday, but he failed to ride the momentum, carding a three-over 75.
🚨 @PReedGolf ACE ON THE WATERING HOLE!
Watch LIVE now on the @foxsports App 📺#LIVGolfAdelaide @4AcesGC_ pic.twitter.com/EIHZXKtsMu
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) February 14, 2025
Australia’s quartet largely failed to fire despite raucous support from a crowd of more than 35,000 spectators.
Herbert shot five birdies, but his round was stymied by a double-bogey at the par-5 seventh and two bogeys, including at the Watering Hole.
Leishman birdied the party hole for the fourth consecutive time at the tournament, while fan favourite Smith endured a roller-coaster round with four birdies mixed with four bogeys.
Leader Horsfield got hot with three birdies in a four-hole stretch midway through his round, while Ortiz bagged eight birdies in his five under.
Drawcards DeChambeau and Johnson are within striking distance, as are fellow major winners Brooks Koepka (three under), Jon Rahm (two under) and Bubba Watson (two under).
Spanish drawcard Sergio Garcia is one under and American great Phil Mickelson is even par.
Torque GC, which features Ortiz and Niemann, top the team standings with a combined eight under, some 11 strokes clear of Smith’s Ripper GC.