Marc Leishman leads LIV Golf in Jeddah. Brooks Koepka wishes majors counted in points race

By: The Associated Press Posted: 10:12 AM CDT Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

KING ADBULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Marc Leishman played bogey-free Friday and posted a 5-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka at LIV Golf-Jeddah, the final individual tournament of the season for the LIV Golf League.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/10/2023 (1086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Harold Varner III also had a 66 on a warm day in which 21 players from the 48-man league managed to break par.

Cameron Smith leads the points race over Talor Gooch. Both opened with a 70 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.

FILE - Dustin Johnson, right, receives The Mark H McCormack award for being the leading playing in the Official World Golf rankings for 2018, from OWGR Chairman Peter Dawson during a ceremony ahead of the British Open golf championships at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Dawson says the OWGR has denied the application for LIV Golf to receive ranking points. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

Koepka, the defending champion in Jeddah, is in fifth place. He said he didn’t care about the points race, particularly because the majors do not count. Koepka was a runner-up at the Masters and won the PGA Championship, which helped him land a spot in the Ryder Cup.

“The majors don’t count, so that’s a big stick-to-ya,” Koepka said. “I know they do in the FedEx Cup. On that front, it is kind of disappointing. I feel like that was the biggest win of the year, and it doesn’t count for anything out here.”

Leishman said he has played Royal Greens enough to have a better understanding how to play it, particularly the greens.

“They’re quite tricky greens. I think that’s a big part of success around here is reading the greens and obviously avoiding the trouble,” he said. “There’s a few holes where there’s places you just can’t hit it. Today I avoided those. Hopefully I can avoid them for a couple more days.”