LIV Golf Mexico Round 1 results, highlights: Paul Casey’s late run ties him with Jason Kokrak for lead
Jason Kokrak appeared poised to cruise into Saturday with the lead. But Paul Casey wasn’t about to let him run away with it.
At a blustery El Camaleon Golf Course at Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Casey made a run at the end of his round, with birdies on each of his last three holes, to move into a tie with Kokrak for the first-round lead at 6 under in LIV Golf’s return to action. The conditions affected golfers’ drives throughout the day.
Casey finished the day with the most birdies (eight), but a double bogey on the second hole kept him from passing the consistent Kokrak, who made at least par on all 18 holes and made six birdies.
MORE: LIV Golf Mexico betting guide: Odds, best bets and more
Casey and Kokrak also helped to propel their teams to the top of the leaderboard. The Crushers, with Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri as the top three contributors, finished with the team lead at 10 under. Kokrak’s team, Smash, with Matthew Wolff and Brooks Koepka, finished tied with 4Aces (Peter Uihlein, Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez) for second at 7 under.
The Sporting News tracked all the key moments from Round 1 of LIV Golf Mexico 2023:
LIV Golf Mexico leaderboard 2023
| Rank | Player | Score |
| T1 | Jason Kokrak | -6 |
| T1 | Paul Casey | -6 |
| T3 | Peter Uihlein | -4 |
| T3 | Talor Gooch | -4 |
| T3 | Carlos Ortiz | -4 |
| T6 | Dustin Johnson | -3 |
| T6 | Branden Grace | -3 |
| T6 | Ian Poulter | -3 |
| T6 | March Leishman | -3 |
| T6 | Charles Howell III | -3 |
LIV Golf Mexico updates, highlights from Friday’s Round 1
(All teams Eastern.)
5:58 p.m. — The round wraps up with Kokrak and Casey leading by two strokes over Uihlein, Ortiz and Gooch.
5:47 p.m. — Casey sinks his final putt of the day and will head into the second round tied with Kokrak for the lead at 6 under. Ortiz dropped back with a bogey on his last hole to give Casey and Kokrak a two-stroke lead.
5:39 p.m. — Johnson jumps into the group tied for sixth with a birdie putt, his second birdie in his past five holes.
5:36 p.m. — Kokrak finishes his day shooting 65 and 6 under. He’ll take the lead into Saturday unless Casey or Ortiz catches up before the end of the afternoon.
5:32 p.m. — Kokrak misses a second straight putt for birdie with his carrying to the left. He’ll stay a shot over Casey and Ortiz for the lead. Ortiz made his putt for par to stay at 5 under.
5:23 p.m. — Kokrak’s putt for birdie is just wide, but he will have a chip in for par. On the 16th hole, Cameron Smith nearly made par after a rough drive off the tee, but his putt comes up short. He’ll have to settle for a bogey, and will drop in the leaderboard.
5:16 p.m. — Ortiz sinks a long putt to make birdie and move into sole possession of second place at 5 under, a shot under Kokrak for the lead.
5:12 p.m. — Kokrak starts the 10th hole with a strong shot out to the green, giving him a chance for a birdie to extend his lead with a long putt.
4:59 p.m. — Mickelson’s par putt comes up short, so he does drop a shot to move back to -2. Ortiz and Charles Howell III have both birdied to move to -4, while Casey just double bodied the 2nd hole to drop down to -3 and a tie for 6th place.
4:50 p.m. — Mickelson hits an uncharacteristically poor pitch shot on the 16th hole, and he’ll face a lengthy par putt to stay at -3. Kokrak continues to light it up, and another birdie vaults him into the outright lead at -6.
4:35 p.m. — Branden Grace has now moved into a tie for third place with Uihlein, with both sitting at -4. Smith also bounced back from his adventurous bogey on 12 with a birdie on 13 to move back to -3.
4:28 p.m. — Kokrak racks up another birdie to move back into a tie for the lead at -5. Casey had to scramble for his par on the 18th hole, but he got it to stay at the top of the leaderboard.
4:23 p.m. — Smith hits a great wedge shot into the 12th green and sinks the putt for one of the better bogies you’ll ever see. Still, he drops a shot to move back to -2. Dustin also bogied the hole to drop back to -1.
4:17 p.m. — After a long discussion with a rules official, Smith is forced to take a penalty drop and hack his ball out into the fairway. He’ll be hitting his 4th shot from the fairway well short of the green on the par 4.
4:10 p.m. — Smith is in deep trouble off the tee on the 12th hole. He hit his drive well right into the jungle and it appears he’ll have to take an unplayable lie penalty. That means he’s likely to drop at least one shot on this hole.
4:02 p.m. — Reed made a double bogey followed by a bogey, and he’s now dropped all the way back to even par and off the top of the leaderboard. DeChambeau also made a double to drop him back to -1. Meanwhile, Mickelson knocks it over the green in two on the par 5 13th hole, so he should have a good chance at birdie upcoming.
4 p.m. — Casey drains an absolute bomb from at least 50 feet on the 16th hole to take the solo lead at -5! What a round he’s got going.
3:56 p.m. — Mickelson gives one right back with a bogey. An up-and-down stretch of holes has him two shots off the lead now at -2. Dustin found trouble off the tee at the 11th hole, and he ends up dropping a shot to drop to -2 as well.
3:48 p.m. — Birdies for Mickelson and DeChambeau move them back within a shot of the lead at -3. Smith has also worked his way back to -2.
3:39 p.m. — You don’t see this every day on the course. As David Feherty said, that is indeed a coati — a mammal native to Central and South America.
3:37 p.m. — Peter Uihlein just made eagle on the par 5 5th hole to vault up the leaderboard to -3. Checking the team leaderboard, Crushers GC (Casey, DeChambeau, Howell III, Lahiri) holds the lead at -9.
3:31 p.m. — Jason Kokrak holes a pitch shot from long distance for birdie! That moves him into a tie for the lead with Casey at -4.
3:26 p.m. — Brooks Koepka holes a long, curling birdie putt from off the green to move to -1. Maybe that will kickstart his round. Meanwhile, Mickelson bogies the par 3 10th hole to fall back to -2.
3:12 p.m. — Dustin Johnson rolls in another birdie to move to -3, but Casey makes a birdie putt of his own to take the solo lead at -4. It’s getting crowded towards the top of the leaderboard.
3:06 p.m. — It appears Joaquin Niemann’s caddy is wearing a name tag with a misspelling of his name. The bib says “Neimann” rather than “Niemann.” That’s unfortunate.
3:01 p.m. — Dustin hits a beautiful pitch shot over a bunker on the 7th hole to set up a short birdie putt, which he rolls in to move to -2.
2:46 p.m. — Reed’s short birdie putt slides by, so he remains a shot behind at -2. Mickelson has a long birdie putt from about 30 feet, but he drains it to move to -3! What a start for lefty.
2:40 p.m. — Check that — Leishman, Casey and Carlos Ortiz have all also moved to -3. But Reed can move back into a tie for the lead with a birdie putt.
2:38 p.m. — Reed is looking good early. He just came within a few feet of an ace on the par 3 10th hole, and he has a great chance to retake the outright lead.
2:30 p.m. — Phil moves onto the 7th hole, one of the most unique at the El Camaleon course at Mayakoba. It’s a long par 5 with a “cenote” in the middle of the fairway — that’s a sinkhole that collapsed, creating an underground cave full of water. Here’s a look at Brooks Koepka standing in front of it from a few years ago:
Definitely not a good place for a golf ball. Mickelson avoids it, though, hitting his drive just left of the fairway to set up another good opportunity.
2:25 p.m. — Mickelson hits a beauty to set up another look at birdie, and once again he knocks in the putt to move to -2. A very bright start for the 52-year-old, and he’s now tied for the lead.
2:21 p.m. — In terms of the team scoreboard, Crushers GC leads the way at -4 with Smash GC close behind at -3 in the early going.
2:19 p.m. — The LIV broadcast has been noticeably revamped for the new season on The CW, with fresh aerial shots, graphics and shot tracers. Overall, it makes for a fun viewing experience.
2:10 p.m. — Mickelson is doing Mickelson things. He chips from inside a sandy hazard area to within a couple feet of the hole and rolls in the birdie putt. He moves to -1.
1:59 p.m. — Ancer narrowly misses a par putt on the third hole to fall back to even par, then Smith does the same to fall to +1. One hole behind them, Bryson DeChambeau sticks an approach inside 10 feet and rolls in the putt to open his account.
1:54 p.m. — Mickelson lips out a long birdie putt on his third hole of the day, but he remains at even par. He looks noticeably slimmer than we’ve seen him in the past as he begins his 2023 season.
1:44 p.m. — Patrick Reed chipped in for eagle on his first hole of the season, so he takes the solo lead at -2.
1:42 p.m. — A birdie putt for Ancer lips out on the second hole and he remains at -1. Johnson and Smith both make their second consecutive par to stay at even par.
1:32 p.m. — Ancer, Ian Poulter, Marc Leishman and Paul Casey all start their rounds with birdies, and they lead the way in the very early stages at -1. Mickelson holed his par putt for a sand save on his opening hole of the season.
1:28 p.m. — Ancer rolls in his birdie putt to a big cheer from the fans in Mexico. Great start to the season for him as he moves to -1 early on.
1:26 p.m. — Ancer hits a nice approach shot to leave himself a makable birdie putt on the opening hole. One hole ahead, Phil Mickelson hits a nice bunker shot to set up a short par putt.
1:15 p.m. — Today’s marquee pairing features Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and crowd favorite Abraham Ancer. They’re starting their round on the first hole, a par 4.
1:13 p.m. — Feherty picked RangeGoats GC, Foltz picked Smash GC and White picked Majestic GC to win the team competition this weekend. We’ll see how their predictions fare with Round 1 set to tee off in just a couple minutes.
1 p.m. — Coverage has kicked off on The CW app and CWTV.com. Arlo White, David Feherty and Jerry Foltz are on the call from Mayakoba. You can tune in by following the link here.
12:56 p.m. — Final preparations are underway ahead of the 1:15 p.m. ET shotgun start. The weather is warm and humid in Mexico — as you’d expect. The opening tee shots of the 2023 season are right around the corner.
12:13 p.m. — Which team are you taking in the 2023 LIV season?
How to watch LIV Golf Mexico
- Dates: Friday, Feb. 24, through Sunday, Feb. 26
- TV channel (United States): The CW
- TV channel (Canada): CHCH
- Live stream: The CW app
For the 2023 season, LIV Golf has announced it will be airing all of its events on The CW network. Each tournament will be broadcast nationally on local CW channels around the United States. You can find what channel The CW is in your area by clicking here.
Those looking for a live stream can watch for free on The CW app.
In Canada, the action will be broadcast on CHCH.
MORE: Tee times, TV info for LIV Golf Mexico 2023
LIV Golf Mexico tee times and groups
LIV Golf uses a shotgun start for its events. Players begin at the same time across the course on different holes and move in order from there. Play will begin at 1:15 p.m. ET on each of the three days this weekend.
Here’s a look at the pairings for Friday’s Round 1:
MORE: Full list of players, teams for LIV Golf Mexico 2023
LIV Golf schedule 2023
| Event | Course | Dates |
| LIV Golf Mayakoba | El Camaleon Golf Course, Playa del Carmen, Mexico | Feb. 24-26 |
| LIV Golf Tuscon | The Gallery Golf Club, Marana, Ariz., USA | March 16-19 |
| LIV Golf Orlando | Orange County National, Winter Garden, Fla., USA | March 31-April 2 |
| LIV Golf Adelaide | The Grange Golf Club, Adelaide, Australia | April 20-23 |
| LIV Golf Singapore | Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore | April 27-30 |
| LIV Golf Tulsa | Cedar Ridge Country Club, Broken Arrow, Okla., USA | May 12-14 |
| LIV Golf DC | Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C, Sterling, Va., USA | May 26-28 |
| LIV Golf Valderama | Real Club Valderrama, San Roque, Spain | June 30-July 2 |
| LIV Golf London | Centurion Golf Club, Hemel Hempstead, U.K. | July 7-9 |
| LIV Golf Greenbrier | The Old White at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., USA | Aug. 4-6 |
| LIV Golf Bedminster | Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, Bedminster, N.J., USA | Aug. 11-13 |
| LIV Golf Chicago | Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, Ill., USA | Sept. 22-24 |
| LIV Golf Miami | Trump National Doral, Miami, Fla., USA | Oct. 20-22 |
| LIV Golf Jeddah | Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia | Nov. 3-5 |