Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau and teammate Charles Howell III battled for the individual title in LIV Golfs first visit to Korea last year outside Seoul, with DeChambeau finishing with two late birdies for the win.
Its a different course and location this week at Asiad Country Club, but the two again find themselves at the top of the LIV Golf Korea leaderboard after Thursdays first round â only this time they have company.
DeChambeau and Howell share the first-round lead with HyFlyers GCs Scott Vincent after each shot a 5-under 65. Three players are tied for fourth, one shot back â Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann, Majesticks GC Co-Captain Ian Poulter (who is playing with a torn meniscus) and 4Aces GCs Thomas Pieters.
Four more players are tied for seventh at 3 under â Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith, Fireballs GC Captain Sergio Garcia, Southern Guards GCs Charl Schwartzel and the Majesticks Laurie Canter.
Meanwhile, the home favorites Korean Golf Club produced arguably their best performance of the season. Younghan Song and new addition Doyeob Mun each shot 68 to join a large group tied for 11th while the team is tied for fifth at 3 under.
For DeChambeau, hes happy that he and Howell could rekindle their efforts from last year, when they shared the lead going into the final three holes in what proved to be a riveting battle among teammates.
“I guess Charles and I love Korea,” he said.
Howell was happy too, although he knows DeChambeau â already a two-time winner this season on LIV Golf and second to Jon Rahm in the season-long points race â will be tough to dethrone.
“Team-wise, it’s wonderful. Individual-wise, it’s terrible,” Howell said. “Team-wise, I love him up there at the top. Individually, I wish he was at the bottom. Obviously Bryson, more weeks than not, he plays extremely well, and if my name is near his, I’m usually doing something pretty good.”
DeChambeau had the solo lead for most of Thursdays round as he birdied six of his first 10 holes. But he fell back to the pack with bogeys at the 13th when he three-putted after his approach flew 12 yards too long, and the par-5 15th when he found the water.
“Being 6-under through 10, I felt like something special was happening,” DeChambeau said. “I simmered off but still played some great golf. Surprised that I didn’t go deeper.”
Howells round was ignited by an eagle 2 from 108 yards on the par-4 second. “When the ball disappeared, I thought I had one-hopped it over the green, but obviously the cheering said otherwise,” he said. “I’ll take those. They don’t happen often.”
Vincent posted the only bogey-free round of the day, a continuation of a recent surge that started when he moved from an independent Wild Card to the HyFlyers lineup as a replacement for captain Phil Mickelson. He finished solo 4th in Mexico City and tied for 8th in Virginia, the teams two best individual performances this season.
Now he shares the lead for the first time after any round in his LIV Golf career.
“I don’t know what it is, but the second I joined them, my game just went up,” said Vincent, who earned his spot this season after winning the 2025 International Series season-long title. “It’s been amazing.”
The Crushers won the team title last year in Korea and are on top of the team leaderboard after shooting a cumulative 10 under. The team is playing without one of its regular members, Paul Casey, who suffered an injury and has been replaced by reserve Travis Smyth. Smyth shot a 2-over 72 while Anirban Lahiri shot a 68.
The recently rebranded OKGC is solo second at 7 under, with the HyFlyers and Fireballs are tied for third at 5 under.
Individual Top 10
T1 (-5) â Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (65); Charles Howell III, Crushers (65); Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (65)
T4 (-4) â Ian Poulter, Majesticks (66); Joaquin Niemann, Torque (66); Thomas Pieters
