Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Potomac Falls, VA–
Today was the day that LIV Golf fans had been waiting for since the tour was announced, live action on the Trump Course just outside of D.C. They got just that as Brooks Koepka hit the course today for the first time after having issues with his plane getting to D.C yesterday, but it was Harold Varner III that took the lead going into the clubhouse today for the RangeGoats.
Varner got things going when he it eagles at the par-4 ninth and par-5 13th, Varner shot an 8-under 64 at Trump National Washington, D.C., to take a two-stroke advantage over James Piot, with Cameron Smith, Kevin Na, Mito Pereira and reserve Andy Ogletree tied for third at 4 under.
The biggest story of the day came from Brooks Koepka, who until the 11th hole, had to play with a broken or what he called soft driver. It certainly had an effect on his play first few holes as it also looked like he was shaking off some rust from checking out quite a few sporting events in Florida earlier this week.
“It felt good just to play golf again, kind of get it out of the way,” said Koepka after celebrating his fifth major win the last few days at home in South Florida. “Hopefully play a little better the next few days knowing the golf course a little bit more.”
If you have been keeping tabs on Varner, he has had his own share of struggles so far this season. He finished outside the points (top 24) in his first two starts. Since then, he’s made steady improvement with each appearance – 19th in Orlando, 17th in Adelaide, 9th in Singapore and 4th in Tulsa, and now the first-round lead in DC.
Others to pay attention to for tomorrow in Round 2 are as follows.
T1. IRON HEADS GC (-10): Kevin Na 68, Scott Vincent 69, Danny Lee 69
T3. 4ACES GC (-8): Dustin Johnson 69, Patrick Reed 69, Peter Uihlein 70
Today looked like one of the best rounds for Kevin Na in a few weeks, but with most of the teams within striking distance, none of these are out of play just yet. It should be a very interesting two days to see if Brooks can help rally his team that consists of Matthew Wolfe and Jason Kokrak, who currently sit tied for 12th.