Dustin Johnson hits top gear at LIV Golf Singapore to lead 4Aces in team event as well 

Former US Open and Masters winner Dustin Johnson showed he had recovered from a back issue that dogged his round in Hong Kong last week with a leaderboard-topping 8 under par 63 at LIV Golf Singapore presented by Aramco on March 14. Johnson’s bogey-free opening round on the Serapong course at Sentosa Golf Club gave him a three-shot lead over the field and was his best single-round LIV Golf performance in 109 starts. The score also powered his 4Aces team, seeking a first win since 2023, to the top of the standings by two strokes over Torque GC. 

The 4Aces posted 14 under, while Torque was 12 under and Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC were a further two strokes back, with all four of their players shooting in the 60s. All three teams are hungry for a title as the Aces have a lengthy winning drought, Torque hasn’t won since 2023, while the HyFlyers have yet to win a team trophy. 

“We're all playing well enough where we can get it done,” said Johnson, whose team are ninth in the standings. “We've still got two more days, and we need to all four play solid the next couple of days,” he added. 

India star Anirban Lahiri shot a 1 under 70 for a share of 25th place nut his Crushers GC were well down the team leaderboard with captain Bryson DeChambeau suffering a day off at the Serapong course despite leading the field in driving distance averages and clocking the day’s longest hit, a massive 368 yards. 

In Hong Kong, Johnson entered the first round with a sore right shoulder that limited his range of motion. He shot rounds of 75 and 72 to drop to last place after the first two days. “I couldn’t turn my head to the right,” Johnson said. “I kind of just pulled when I was on the through swing, so I was hitting everything left. It wasn’t a whole lot of fun.” He received treatment between rounds and his body finally responded before the final round on March 9. He shot a 6-under 64, tying for the third-best score of the day, but the leaderboard damage had been done, as he finished last for the first time at a LIV Golf tournament. 

“Swung it nicely on Sunday,” the 40-year-old said later. “The body loosened back up and I could hit the shots I wanted.” 

At the Serapong course on March 14, Johnson hit 16 greens, tying for best in the field, and missed just three fairways. His putter was hit too and he nailed a near 60-footer for birdie on the par-3 14th. “I put a lot of work in the last couple of days on the putter,” Johnson explained, “and it paid off.” 

Johnson is in search of a fourth individual title having won once in each of LIV Golf’s first three seasons and can become the first player to win in all four seasons. Three shots in his wake is Torque’s Sebastián Muñoz, who continues to push for his first LIV Golf title. 

Muñoz went 5 under 66 to take a solo second and said he was keen to go one better than his previous best. “I don’t know if I’m going to get it done this week, but I’m working hard at it,” Muñoz said. “I want that opportunity again. I feel like I'm doing a good job mentally of not getting frustrated even though I've had a couple of good chances. I’m in a good place.”  

Eight players shared third place on 4 under 67s, including team captains Jon Rahm of Legion XIII, Smash GC’s Brooks Koepka who is defending his 2024 Singapore title, Joaquin Niemann of Torque, Louis Oosthuizen of the Stingers and Cameron Smith of the all-Australian Ripper GC. 

On March 14, Smith made several long putts en route to his bogey-free 67, gaining +3.37 strokes on the field with his putting. “I've worked so hard on my putting in the offseason,” the former Open winner said. “I don't think there's anyone in the world that's hit more putts than me in the last four months. It's nice to see the putts going in.”  

Rahm is the reigning LIV Golf individual champion and Niemann has already won once this season, while Smith tied for second with teammate Marc Leishman behind Koepka as the Rippers won the team title in 2024. 

Rahm is well placed to finish inside the top 10 at every LIV Golf tournament he’s completed, as he’ll start the second round tied for third. Despite the streaks, Rahm remains in search of top form. “So far this year, I haven't played my best,” he said.  

“I haven't felt as comfortable as I would like, and it showed in my wedge game, especially last week. I hit some bad ones. Me and Cam were joking on the second round in Hong Kong saying we were just competing to see who hit the worst wedge shot today because we hit some bad ones. It's something to keep an eye on because if you want to contend and win and especially win majors, you need that part of your game,” Rahim added.