Carlos Ortiz leads Dustin Johnson by one shot after the first round at LIV Portland
Follow all the action as Dustin Johnson and Carlos Ortiz take part of the lead into the final round of the second LIV Golf event.
Johnson carded eight birdies in a round of 68 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, Oregon yesterday as the former world No. 1 attempts to snag the stunning £3.25million top prize. Ortiz, one of the newest recruits to the Saudi-backed breakaways, shot a 69 to ensure he joined Johnson at the top of the leaderboard with eight-under par. Her closest challenger is Branden Grace, who is two shots behind. His compatriot from South Africa, Justin Harding, starts a stroke further behind five strokes under par, while Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed still have an outside chance as they start four strokes off the lead.
One man who is certainly not ready to face charges is Phil Mickelson, who has endured another hot week following his disastrous performance at the US Open. The 52-year-old has six over par but will be back in action as there is no cut at LIV golf events. In the team competition, 4 Aces GC, captained by Johnson, lead by -15. The all-South African Stingers GC team, who won at Centurion Club last month, will start in second place. Follow all the steps below:
LIV Golf Portland
There’s the first crack in Ortiz’ armor. He pulls out a short putt to save par on the 7th, slipping back to -10. Johnson has an almost identical putt to birdie, knows the line, and rolls it down the center of the hole with confidence. Ortiz still has a three-shot lead, but the Mexican showed signs of nervousness and it’s a big change in momentum.
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 23:23
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 23:16
LIV Golf Portland
Ortiz’s momentum has slowed a bit with pars at 5 and 6, but the Mexican is still well ahead by four shots.
The team event is a little closer, with the 4 Aces (Johnson, Perez, Reed, Gooch) two shots ahead of the Fireballs (Ortiz, Ancer, Garcia, Lopez).
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 11:07 p.m
LIV Golf Portland
LIV Golf have just announced Paul Casey as their newest big name. The Englishman, who once said he would refuse to play in Saudi Arabia because he was a Unicef ambassador, has been absent from the PGA Tour since March with a back injury.
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 23:02
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 10:48 p.m
LIV Golf Portland
Few saw Matthew Wolff slump after such an exciting start to his PGA Tour career with top-five finishes at the US Open and PGA Championship in 2020. He has fallen nearly 50 places in the world rankings but on the 9th serve a fantastic approach as a reminder of his talent. That’s a tap-in to make it back-to-back birdies for the 23-year-old. He is now at -3.
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 10:43 p.m
LIV Golf Portland
Ortiz birdies fourth too! The Mexican is three-under through four holes and, after seeing that putt fall, Johnson himself misses a short for par. Ortiz now has a four-stroke lead over Harding. Johnson slips back to -6 where Reed and Grace join him.
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 10:34 p.m
LIV Golf Portland
Patrick Reed started with back-to-back birdies at 5 and 6. He’s now at -6, four shots behind Ortiz’s lead.
Ortiz only had one win on the PGA Tour before defecting to LIV. By a twist of fate, Dustin Johnson finished second on that occasion at the Houston Open in 2020.
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 10:29 p.m
LIV Golf Portland
It was a damn good start from Carlos Ortiz. He hits a fantastic approach to the 211-yard par 3 that leaves an uphill birdie putt. He rolls it up confidently to get to -10. Johnson is only able to make par while Grace, after deciding to chip the rim and catch the downhill, sees his momentum stopped by a bogey.
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 10:19 p.m
LIV Golf Portland
Johnson fails to move up and down after this erroneous approach on the 2nd, slipping back to -7. However, there are no such problems for Branden Grace, who lands a birdie putt to join Johnson at that mark. Ortiz has a nervous putt to save par, but he pots it to ensure his lead is now two shots.
Tom KershawJuly 2, 2022 10:10 p.m