DeChambeau, Garcia play it smart on testing Doral track as LIV Miami takes a toll on scores

Rahul Banerji

Defending US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau best managed brutal winds and the tough Blue Monster course at Doral to hold the day two lead at LIV Golf Miami on Saturday, coming away with the only sub-par total of the tournament.

The Crushers GC captain opened with a 400-yard drive, and closed with two birdies, showing great restraint on a day that grew increasingly difficult and scores mounted all around him save for fellow team captain Sergio Garcia of the Fireballs, who was two strokes behind the 36-hole leader.

DeChambeau brought in a 2 under par 70 on Saturday at Trump National Doral to total 5 under 139, while Garcia (141) had HyFlyers GC captain Phil Mickelson, overnight leader Patrick Reed of the 4Aces and Ripper GC’s Marc Leishman on his heels just a shot behind with Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm and defending LIV Miami champion Dean Burmester of Stinger GC in a tie for sixth place.

“A test of golf out there,” said DeChambeau later. “This golf course, every single angle just produced the most testing golf shots out there that I’ve seen in a long time. There were a few holes where I could’ve lost it and it gone the other way. You’ve just got to stay patient and make a putt when you have to, and if you don’t, try to steer that ship back on track as quickly as possible.

“But I’m up for anything. Whatever it brings me, I’m up for the challenge. It will be a great test tomorrow.”

Given the conditions, especially after the tough opening day, it has led to a crowded leaderboard and a stroke average of 75.111, more than three strokes above par. In all, it has been the most difficult 36 holes in the short history of LIV Golf and Saturday’s was the second most-difficult round in the league after the first round average of +3.519 over par recorded at LIV Golf Andalucia last year.

Said Andalucia winner Garcia on Saturday, “It’s just a difficult golf course. It’s the Blue Monster. That’s just not a name; it comes with something. You have to respect it. I hit a lot of great shots on very challenging conditions, even tougher than yesterday.”

Garcia, who won in Hong Kong earlier this year also played steady golf with three birdies and two bogeys, making important putts including an eight-footer to save par on 14 when he went bogey-free for 10 consecutive holes. In the team race, the all-Australian Ripper GC led with a collective 9 over total, thanks to Lucas Herbert’s 3 under 69, the only individual score shot in the 60s on Saturday. Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC were second on 11 over, while the Fireballs and day one leading Crushers were on 12 over.

Like Garcia, DeChambeau kept his composure on Saturday through a stretch of 10 consecutive holes midway through the round that included nine pars and a bogey. On the par-4 16th though, he broke loose blasting his drive across the water and behind the green, then hit a chip shot from a difficult lie that set up the first of two consecutive birdies that gave him the outright lead.

“I took a big sigh,” DeChambeau said later. “If that goes into the water, I’m thinking to myself, ‘Oh, no, now I’m really screwing the pooch’. It just felt like almost every single hole I hit great drives that didn’t end up in the exact right position. That’s this golf course. It takes a little bit of luck to win, and I’ve got to have a little bit of luck tomorrow but a lot of patience.”

Behind him, Mickelson, who is LIV Golf’s most successful player with six major titles and 57 career wins, returned a 1 over 73 despite starting his round with three consecutive bogeys and could have gone lower but for a three-putt on his closing hole.

“I started off very poorly; I was 3-over through three and lucky to be that,” said the 54-year-old. “I was able to hang in there, fight back and had a chance to shoot even par, which was amazing.” Leishman, DeChambeau and Garcia were the only players to go under par in the first two rounds at Doral, the burly Australian highlighting a second consecutive 1 under 71 with an 84-foot birdie putt at the fourth hole.

In the team standings, Garcia’s Fireballs were just three shots off the lead and in search of a fourth consecutive victory. If they pull off the feat on Sunday, they will match 4Aces GC for longest win streak by either team or player in LIV Golf history.

“For four guys to keep it together on this golf course the way it’s playing, it’s very difficult,” Garcia