LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed is leading the charge at the International Series Macau, sitting pretty at 13-under-par and edging out Carlos Ortiz by a single stroke.
Fellow LIV players Lucas Herbert and Sergio Garcia are hot on his heels, placing in the top five as they head into the weekend. Reed, who dazzled with a bogey-free 63 on Thursday, maintained his momentum with a stellar 64 on Friday, positioning himself at the top of the leaderboard at the Macau Golf and Country Club.
This Asian Tour event doubles as a gateway to The Open Championship, offering the top three finishers a coveted invite to Royal Portrush come July. However, due to LIV’s lack of sanctioning by the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), its players, including Reed, have seen their rankings plummet, leaving them without automatic entry to The Open.
Despite the stakes, Reed remains undistracted by the possibility of securing a spot in The Open, emphasizing his commitment to the present competition.
“Honestly, I’m not really thinking about (The Open),” he said. “The biggest thing is to go out there and take it day by day, shot by shot. Hopefully, I’ll post a good round tomorrow and I’ll have a chance here late Sunday.
“At the end of the day, if you go out and win a golf tournament, that takes care of everything. My focus right now is going out and having a good round tomorrow and putting myself in that final group on Sunday and having a chance to win a golf tournament.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Ortiz produced the performance of the day in Macau, delivering an impressive 10 birdies en route to a scorching 61. LIV Golf players Jason Kokrak, Sebastian Munoz, and Peter Uihlein also remain strong contenders as the weekend looms.
Kokrak finds himself tied for eighth position at eight-under, on equal footing with Colombia’s Munoz. Uihlein, meanwhile, holds 20th place standing firm at five-under.
In another stirring display, Caleb Surratt who teams up with Jon Rahm in Legion XIII, fired off a brilliant 63 to secure his place beyond the cut, advancing to five-under in the tournament tally. Additional weekend spots were clinched by Adrian Meronk, Abraham Ancer, Graeme McDowell, Anirban Lahiri, David Puig, and Matt Jones.
Yet for LIV rookie Luis Masaveu, the week ended on a sour note at four-over, setting him up for an early exit. Another facing disappointment was LIV wildcard Anthony Kim; he struggled to a five-over-par round, concluding his week knotted at 135th place with a total eight-over.
Defying expectations was YouTuber Luke Kwon. The former Good Good personality, boasting over 300,000 subscribers, received a sponsor’s exemption and finished strong – birdieing three of his last four holes to just make the cut at one-under-par.
- Source: NEWHD MEDIA
