[PHOTO: LIV Golf]
A year after being taken to hospital with appendicitis and having to withdraw after the opening round of LIV Golf UK, Marc Leishman shot a four-under-par 67 in the first round at JCB Golf and Country Club to sit just two shots behind co-leaders Adrian Meronk, Joaquin Niemann, and Branden Grace. Local favourite Lee Westwood, who grew up an hour from JCB, was five-under.
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Leishman wasn’t only glad to be in contention, but relieved to be able to finish the tournament after being taken to a UK hospital and having his appendix out at the 2024 edition.
“It’d be good to just have a good finish this week,” he told Australian Golf Digest. “I’d love to obviously win it, but I’m feeling a little better now than I was this time a year ago. At this point, I felt like I was about six months pregnant my and stomach was about to explode from gas. This time a year ago I was going into surgery in about 12 hours, so I’m feeling a lot better now. I’m glad to be able to have something to eat and actually keep it down. Happy with the start to the tournament today.”
Leishman’s consistent run of form includes being the only Australian to make the cut at the Open Championship last week as well as a LIV Golf victory in Miami. His 67 on Friday’s first round at JCB was built with steady driving and sharp iron play.
He mixed five birdies with a lone bogey to be well in contention after a warm day with large crowds in the Midlands of England. His Ripper GC captain, Cameron Smith, was flying at five-under before three late bogeys and a finishing hole birdie brought him back to three-under. Teammates Lucas Herbert (two-under) and Matt Jones (one-under) were also under par.
“When I saw the tee times and my starting hole [with the shotgun start] I knew it’d be a tough start and I made an early bogey, but just had to hang in there and try and hit some good shots,” Leishman said.
“I didn’t play great early. I didn’t hit any greens in regulation, and then started playing well so it was nice to string those five threes [birdies in nine holes] together.
“If you’re hitting it straight, this course feels Augusta-like. If you’re hitting it good, you can catch slopes that feed the ball to the hole and you can go really low. If you’re a little bit off, it can tear you to pieces. If you’re driving it well, you can really attack the pins. I’m only a couple of shots back after one day. There are two more rounds to try and go low and make it a great week.”
Regardless, it’ll be a better week than a year ago.
