LIV Golf Andalucía: Talor Gooch Leads After Rd. 2; Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces Surge

SAN ROQUE, Spain – Two years after posting his last LIV Golf win at Andalucía, Talor Gooch is displaying the same kind of form that won him the league’s Individual Championship in 2023.

The Smash GC star shot a second-round 5-under 66 on Saturday to grab a commanding four-shot lead after 36 holes at the historic Real Club Valderrama. It’s the first time he’s led after 36 holes since his breakthrough season two years ago, when he won three times.

Dustin Johnson, captain of the 4Aces team that Gooch played for during the inaugural 2022 season, is his closest pursuer at 3 under. Stinger GC’s Branden Grace, battling relegation, is another stroke back in solo third. Legion XIII Captain Jon Rahm, 4Aces GC’s Patrick Reed — winner two weeks ago in Dallas — and Iron Heads GC’s Jinichiro Kozuma are tied for fourth at 1 under.

The 4Aces are seeking their first win since 2023, like Gooch, and top the team leaderboard at 2 over, one stroke ahead of Smash and five ahead of Legion XIII. Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC, seeking their fourth consecutive victory, are in sixth place, nine strokes off the pace.

Saturday’s play included the completion of the first round, which had been suspended on Friday due to severe winds and the threat of dangerous conditions. After finishing his final five holes, Gooch emerged with a share of the 18-hole lead with Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith and Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann at 2 under, and then was the only one who kept his position on a challenging but less blustery afternoon.

While Gooch has good vibes at Valderrama, he also understands the difficulties of protecting a lead on this challenging course. A year ago, Anirban Lahiri entered the final round with the same four-shot lead but ultimately lost in a playoff to Fireballs GC Captain and local favorite Sergio Garcia, who rallied from seven strokes down.

Amazingly, Garcia is in the same exact position this year — even par through 36 holes and seven strokes back.

“In general, on LIV, there’s really no lead that’s safe, especially at a golf course like this,” Gooch said. “Things can happen quickly, and you’re one shot away from a big number. There’s definitely no sense of [relaxation] or calmness.

“I do know DJ (Dustin Johnson) is true behind me. … There’s simply too many good gamers out right here to really feel like I am comfy simply exhibiting up and profitable this tomorrow. I’ve received to play a very good spherical of golf to get this factor accomplished.”

Johnson received the Particular person Championship in 2022, and Gooch adopted a yr later. Each have labored laborious to regain their type and enhance on their leads to 2025.

Johnson shot a bogey-free 7-under 64, the bottom spherical by way of the primary two days and his second-lowest spherical, relative to par, this season.

“My sport has been actually good [in] the final month and a half or so,” stated Johnson, who’s searching for to win a LIV Golf event for the fourth consecutive yr. “Simply haven’t actually seen the outcomes that I really feel like I needs to be capturing.

“Right this moment, it was good to truly put collectively a very stable spherical.”

After a troublesome begin to the season, Gooch has put collectively a number of stable rounds currently, just lately producing a four-tournament stretch of top-15 finishes. He’s blissful to see his elevated follow routine paying dividends.

“I’ve discovered lots of dust on the vary,” he stated. “Simply labored my tail off. It’s good to see all of these hours and hours sort of paying off.”

However the job shouldn’t be full. When Gooch received at Valderrama in 2023, he needed to overtake DeChambeau on the ultimate day. Final yr’s consequence confirmed {that a} rally from seven photographs down is feasible. Valderrama is a troublesome course, and scores can go off the rails quick, leaving the door open for the chasers.

“I’ve received an opportunity,” Johnson stated.

“It’s doable,” added Rahm.

“The whole lot has to go my method tomorrow,” famous Garcia. “Not solely do I’ve to play very well, however then the leaders must play badly. It is a large mixture of issues.”

Gooch is prepared for the problem — and able to return to the highest of the rostrum.

“Nothing is given tomorrow,” he stated. “Simply because I performed good immediately, it has no bearing on the outcomes tomorrow. Tomorrow is a contemporary day, and we have to go have a fantastic day.”

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now includes all 4 scores now counting in each spherical within the workforce competitors. Listed here are the outcomes and scores for every workforce after Spherical 1 and Spherical 2 of LIV Golf Andalucía.

ROUND 2

1. 4ACES GC +2 (Johnson 64, Reed 71, Pieters 72, Varner III 72; Rd. 2 rating: -5)
2. SMASH GC +3 (Gooch 66, Koepka 70, McDowell 71, Kokrak 72; Rd. 2 rating: -5)
3. LEGION XIII +7 (McKibbin 69, Rahm 70, Hatton 72, Surratt 76; Rd. 2 rating: +3)
4. FIREBALLS GC +8 (Ancer 69, Garcia 69, Puig 70, Ballester 75; Rd. 2 rating: -1)
5. HYFLYERS GC +10 (Steele 70, Tringale 71, Mickelson 72, Ogletree 72; Rd. 2 rating: +1)
6. CRUSHERS GC +11 (DeChambeau 72, Howell III 73, Lahiri 73, Casey 74; Rd. 2 rating: +8)
7. IRON HEADS GC +12 (Kozuma 68, Lee 68, Jang 72, Na 73; Rd. 2 rating: -3)
8. CLEEKS GC +13 (Meronk 70, Kaymer 72, Bland 73, Kjettrup 74; Rd. 2 rating: +5)
9. STINGER GC +15 (Oosthuizen 69, Grace 70, Schwartzel 72, Burmester 73; Rd. 2 rating: E)
T10. RANGEGOATS GC +17 (Campbell 69, Watson 71, Uihlein 72, Masaveu 75; Rd. 2 rating: +3)
T10. MAJESTICKS GC +17 (Horsfield 70, Stenson 72, Westwood 72, Poulter 75; Rd. 2 rating: +5)
T12. TORQUE GC +19 (Muñoz 70, Pereira 72, Ortiz 73, Niemann 75; Rd. 2 rating: +6)
T12. RIPPER GC +19 (Jones 70, Herbert 72, Smith 73, Leishman 79; Rd. 2 rating: +10)
Wild Playing cards: C. Lee 73, Kim 73

ROUND 1

1. CRUSHERS GC +3 (DeChambeau 70, Casey 72, Howell III 72, Lahiri 73)
2. LEGION XIII +4 (Rahm 72, Surratt 71, Hatton 72, McKibbin 74)
3. 4ACES GC +7 (Reed 70, Pieters 73, Varner III 73, Johnson 75)
T4. CLEEKS GC +8 (Bland 71, Kaymer 73, Meronk 73, Kjettrup 75)
T4. SMASH GC +8 (Gooch 69, Kokrak 71, Koepka 76, McDowell 76)
T6. HYFLYERS GC +9 (Mickelson 72, Tringale 73, Ogletree 74, Steele 74)
T6. RIPPER GC +9 (Smith 69, Jones 74, Leishman 74, Herbert 76)
T6. FIREBALLS GC +9 (Ancer 73, Ballester 73, Garcia 73, Puig 74)
9. MAJESTICKS GC +12 (Poulter 71, Horsfield 74, Westwood 74, Stenson 77)
10. TORQUE GC +13 (Niemann 69, Muñoz 74, Pereira 75, Ortiz 79)
11. RANGEGOATS GC +14 (Uihlein 73, Campbell 74, Watson 74, Masaveu 77)
T12. IRON HEADS GC +15 (Kozuma 73, Na 73, Jang 76, Lee 77)
T12. STINGER GC +15 (Grace 70, Schwartzel 74, Oosthuizen 77, Burmester 78)
Wild Playing cards: C. Lee 73, Kim 76

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

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