Cameron Smith makes fine start to LIV Golf career in Boston, Matthew Wolff leads after hole-in-one

All eyes were on Cameron Smith on his LIV Golf debut and he did not disappoint.

As the No. 2 player in the world and current Open champion, Smith has expectations on his shoulders and he showed his class in the opening round at the Oaks Course in Boston.

He carded a 64, which leaves him one behind leader Matthew Wolff. Smith will have to bear in mind the tournament is 54 holes as opposed to the 72 he is used to.

Smith had the honour of the opening tee shot on the first hole, but sent his effort left into the rough. An excellent pitch for his third shot secured his par on the difficult opening hole.

It took three holes for Smith to register his first birdie on LIV Golf, with no surprise it came via a superb 14-foot putt.

First Round Leaderboard

• 1. Matthew Wolff, seven-under
• T2. Joaquin Niemann, six-under
• T2. Taylor Gooch, six-under
• T2. Cameron Smith, six-under
• T5. Louis Oosthuizen, four-under
• T5. Paul Casey, four-under
• T5. Kevin Na, four-under
• T5. Anirban Lahiri, four-under
• T5. Bernd Wiesberger, four-under

Smith arrived having played hard, competitive golf in recent weeks in the FedEx Cup play-offs.

The vibe in Boston was a little different, fellow new LIV recruit Harold Varner III picked up a friend’s 11-week-old baby while walking down the fIfth fairway, but Smith’s short game was sharp and a brilliant pitch on the sixth secured a third birdie of the round.

Smith made his first eagle in LIV Golf on the eighth hole when rolling in a right-to-left effort to jump to the top of the leaderboard.

His first poor swing of the day came off the tee on the ninth and after being out of position on the right, he carded his first bogey.

Smith’s play was a little ragged off the tee in the second half of the round and things went awry on the 14th. A poor tee shot resulted in a chip out, but he failed to find the fairway and his third went long and left. He was left in a terrible spot and it resulted in a double bogey.

The Australian produced the perfect response with a bounce-back birdie on 15, but he went way left off the tee on 16 and found himself next to a tree.

The rules of golf are many, and Smith worked them to his advantage. He had no shot as a right hander, but he addressed the ball as if he would play it left handed and that meant he would be standing on the cart path. As such he got free relief a club length away from the tree. He manufactured a brilliant hook and found the green – and got away with a par – albeit his club hit the tree on his follow through and bent beyond repair.

While there were some poor swings coming home, the putter was as hot as ever and he wowed the crowd on 18 with a monster putt for eagle.

“The round was alright,” Smith said. “I started off pretty strong.

“I didn’t hit the driver the way I wanted the last six or eight holes, so there is something to work on for tomorrow.”

On his amazing shot that resulted in a broken club, Smith added: “It was basically my only option. Those shots are tricky as you know you are going to lose a club, but it is probably worth one or two shots.

“We will try and get it fixed up.”

Talor Gooch made the first birdie of the event, rolling in a left-to-right 15 footer and he produced a round of 64.

Henrik Stenson was forced out of the Boston event on the morning of the competition after being struck down with vertigo, with his place going to Shergo Al Kurdi who shot 71.