Sergio Garcia and Talor Gooch share the lead at 13 under after Saturday’s second round at the LIV Golf Singapore event at Sentosa Golf Club.
Garcia hit all 18 greens in regulation and carded a 7-under 64 on Saturday. The Spanish captain of Fireballs GC, who won the Singapore Open here in 2018, posted seven birdies and is bogey-free through 36 holes.
“Some of the memories definitely help,” Garcia said. “But at the end of the day, I think that every tournament is a different story. … It definitely makes a little bit of difference but obviously you know that if you want to contend on a LIV tournament, you have to raise your level as much as possible because all of these guys can really play the game.”
Gooch remains red hot, posting birdies on the last two holes to finish off a round of 65. He won last week’s event at Adelaide, Australia, and opened this tournament with a 64.
This is the eighth time Gooch has either led or shared a lead after an LIV Golf round (including the last five), the most of any player in the young tour’s history.
“Nothing can replace experience,” he said. “The more that I can put myself in this position, the more comfortable I’m going to get.”
Gooch’s team, RangeGoats GC, shares the lead with HyFlyers GC at 25 under. Gooch’s teammates, Harold Varner III and captain Bubba Watson, both shot 66 on Saturday.
Smash GC captain Brooks Koepka (65 on Saturday) is in solo third place, one behind Gooch and Garcia. Another shot back at 11 under are three players tied for fourth: Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe (62), Cameron Tringale (66) and Australia’s Cameron Smith (66).
HyFlyers captain Phil Mickelson is in solo seventh at 10 under after a round of 66 that included a hole-out eagle at the par-5 seventh hole and back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 13-14. His teammates are Tringale and Brendan Steele (68).
“It’s a fun week for us so far and we’re continuing to get better and better each week,” Mickelson said. “… There’s a lot to play for and we’re having a blast.”
Gooch, Garcia and Koepka will tee off together at the first hole in the final group on Sunday.
“We’ve been paired together a bunch here in the last year and it was fun out there playing with Sergio,” Gooch said. “The more you play with these guys and the more you feel like you can compete and beat these guys, the more comfortable you’re going to get.”
–Field Level Media