Tyrrell Hatton, Scott Vincent Share Lead After Round 1 Of LIV Golf Andalucía

Tyrrell Hatton entered LIV Golf Andalucía with limited prep work, understandable given that he just became a first-time father. His practice sessions earlier this week at Real Club Valderrama were, in his words, "pretty awful." And now his first putt as a dad was a 33-footer at his opening hole Thursday.

He drained it.

Hatton celebrated his first round as a father with a 4-under 67 to grab a share of the lead with Scott Vincent on a challenging day on Spain’s most famous course. It was an impressive performance, as Hatton’s focus has been on his wife and daughter. Until this week, he had not hit balls outside since his last start at the PGA Championship, as his practice sessions were limited to his indoor swing studio at home.

"I was somewhat nervous of how bad it could be today," said the Legion XIII star, who grabbed the 18-hole lead for the first time in his LIV Golf career. "But just tried to have a single thought and not overcomplicate it out there. My warmup was better, and that gave me a little bit of confidence to just trust it out on the golf course, and I felt like I hit a lot of good shots in the end."

Few LIV Golf players have hit more good shots recently than Vincent, who is making his fourth start in the HyFlyers GC lineup as a replacement for captain Phil Mickelson. Vincent, who started the season as an independent Wild Card player, has given his team its best individual results this season with three consecutive top-10 finishes, including a solo fifth last week in Korea when he played in the final group on Sunday.

The Zimbabwean continued riding that momentum by firing one of just two bogey-free rounds on the day – Thomas Detry, in solo third at 3 under, had the other one – in which the par-71 Valderrama played to a stroke average of more than 1-1/2 strokes over par due in part to its famous gusty winds.

"It’s the best 18 holes I’ve played this year," Vincent said. "I was able to execute a lot of the shots how I wanted to, and then when I did get in trouble, I was able to make some amazing saves. All in all, it was just a fantastic day on an amazing course that played really tough."

Valderrama showed its teeth early, as 47 of the 57 players in the field suffered at least one bogey in the first 90 minutes after the shotgun start. The stroke average of 72.509 made it the sixth hardest opening round in league history.

Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, fresh off their win last week at LIV Golf Korea, shot a cumulative even par across their four individual scores to grab the team lead. That’s the highest team-best score relative to par in any round since the Crushers opened at 3 over last year at Valderrama.

"A mystifying golf course, that’s for sure," said DeChambeau, one of three players on his team to shoot a 1-under 70. "There’s a lot of times where you’re just hoping. You hit great shots and they’re just going to not be rewarded at some points in time out here. It’s a great test of golf."

Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, a four-time winner at Valderrama with 17 top-10s in 18 career starts, said the difficulty level was extremely high Thursday. Garcia opened with a 2-under 69 that left him in a five-way tie for fourth place.

"I have played it more difficult, but I would put it in the top 20, 25% today," Garcia said. "Obviously if you play really well, you could shoot a 67 like Tyrrell and Scott did. But not only did you have to hit a lot of good shots, a lot of things had to go right – hitting it at the right time, making sure that you guessed the gust the right way."

Despite the limited prep work, Hatton guessed right most of the time Thursday. His new daughter will be proud of her dad.

"This golf course demands a lot," he said. "It’s kind of stood the test of time, to be honest, and it’s an iconic venue. Although I can lose even more hair around here than I would like, it’s always good to be back here."

Individual Top 10

T1 (-4) –Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (67); Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (67)

3 (-3) – Thomas Detry, 4Aces (68)

T4 (-2) – Cameron Smith, Ripper (69); Sergio Garcia, Fireballs (69); David Puig, Fireballs (69); Minkyu Kim, Korean (69); Branden Grace, Southern Guards (69)

T9 (-1) – Thomas Pieters, 4Aces (70); Charles Howell III, Crushers (70); Anirban Lahiri, Crushers (70); Matthew Wolff, RangeGoats (70); Doyeob Mun, Korean (70); Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (70)

Team Top 3

1 (E) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 70, Howell III 70, Lahiri 70, Smyth 74)

T2 (+1) – Korean Golf Club (Kim 69, Mun 70, An 72, Song 75)

T2 (+1) – RangeGoats GC (Wolff 70, Campbell 71, Watson 72, Uihlein 73)

T2 (+1) – Legion XIII (Hatton 67, McKibbin 73, Rahm 73, Surratt 73)

WIND CHANGE FOR RD. 2: Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, who knows Real Club Valderrama better than anybody else in the field, said the course will play different for Friday’s Rd. 2 thanks in a change of wind direction that will blow easterly across the Mediterranean Sea.

"If it starts blowing from Levante, it's going to be a totally different golf course," Garcia said. "Like 1 is going to play down off the right instead of into off the left. 4 and 17 are going to be playing downwind, 11 is going to be playing into the wind. It's going to be totally different.

"The good thing is I've played this course in any kind of condition that you can imagine. Hopefully that's a good thing."

Thomas Detry, one of just two players to produce a bogey-free round along with Scott Vincent, realizes he’ll need to adjust his game plan with the different wind.

"It's going to be another windy day, but apparently the wind is going to be completely different," Detry said. "It will be an interesting day. But I've been to this place many times, so I feel pretty comfortable with even a wind switch. I don't think is going to bother me too much."

VINCENT SURPRISED: Scott Vincent shot a bogey-free 67 to claim a share of the first-round lead. Despite his recent hot form, Vincent said he didn’t expect such a low score given how he practiced Wednesday.

"I had a rough day on the course yesterday. It beat me up properly," Vincent said. "But that's just Valderrama. That's kind of what it does. You don't have to be that far off for it to feel like a million miles away. Today was just one of those days where it was really dialed. I don't know why. Yesterday was all over the place."

Vincent did reveal that he benefitted from a conversation with HyFlyers GC teammate Brendan Steele. Earlier this season, Vincent would not have had that discussion since he was playing as an independent Wild Card player, but this is his fourth start representing the HyFlyers as a replacement for Phil Mickelson.

"I had a really good chat with Steeley on our team driving home, and that really helped," Vincent said. "He just reminded me of this week is a grind. It's just a grind. That's the way this course plays. You're going to hit it out of position and be in some really horrible places, but you've just got to keep ticking it over and grinding. Don't let it get to you because it's going to continue to try and do that."

DETRY’S BOUNCE-BACK: Newcomer Thomas Detry has been one of LIV Golf’s most consistent players in his first season, with five top 10s in his first eight starts. However, he entered Andalucia off his worst result, a tie for 41st in Korea.

He bounced back Thursday with a bogey-free 3-under 68 that left him in solo third.

"Today was a much better today compared to the mindset and how it was last week," said the 4Aces GC star. "I thought the last three days I managed to rest, and I managed to calm my mind a little bit because I was sort of all over the place last week. I did a great job at that.

"I was frustrated on the greens. I think the frustration came mostly on the greens. I really struggled last week. I didn't do much this week on the range or on the golf course. I just played nine holes during the pro-am; that's all I did. But I did some good putting. I changed a few things, and it really paid off. I felt like I was able to build some momentum, make a couple good putts at the right time, and that makes a whole difference."

Detry is one of a handful of players still with a legitimate chance to earn the LIV Golf exemption for the Open Championship. The highest-ranked player after this week in the season-long points race who is not otherwise exempt will claim a spot in the year’s final major at Royal Birkdale.

HATTON AS A FATHER: As anyone who follows golf knows, Tyrrell Hatton wears his emotions on his sleeve, a trait that makes endears him to his growing legion of fans.

Asked if fatherhood will now make him a bit more mellow, Hatton offered an honest response.

"I don't think so," he said. "Once we come up short on 3, I was already moaning about that. And then I three-putted, so it just gave me something else to moan about. I am very good at moaning, and I will continue that, I think."

PUIG STARTS STRONG: Spanish native David Puig joined his Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia with a 2-under 69. The 24-year-old has learned quite a bit from Garcia about how to play Valderrama.

"Definitely. Something that I really worked on the last few months was kind of lowering my trajectory a little bit, and it's essential at this place when it's blowing like this," Puig said. "I think I've done a good job today. I think I became more consistent with my trajectory and the shots that I want to hit."

Round 1

Driving Distance: Caleb Surratt, 341.8-yard avg.

Longest Drive: Joaquin Niemann, 380.2 yards (11th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 11 and 17.

Driving Accuracy: Ben Campbell, Sam Horsfield, 78.57% (11 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Scott Vincent, Cameron Smith, Minkyu Kim, 72.22% (13 of 18)

Scrambling: Thomas Detry (8 of 8), Scott Vincent (5 of 5), 100%

Fewest Putts: Louis Oosthuizen, Miguel Tabuena, 22

Bogey-free rounds: Scott Vincent (67), Thomas Detry (68)

This piece is courtesy of Mike McAllister in partnership with LIV Golf.