LIV Golf heads to Australia after spending the first few months in the Northern Hemisphere. LIV Golf Adelaide was a runaway success last season, not least because of Chase Koepka’s hole-in-one in the 12th and the subsequent beer showers. The Grange Golf Club was also the starting point of Talor Gooch’s red-hot trail. The Oklahoma resident was 20-under by Saturday, LIV’s 36-hole record. 

Gooch goes to defend the title, and in the first round, the Smash GC star is paired with his teammate, Jason Kokrak. But he is not the only player to be paired with a teammate.

How early will the pros tee off at LIV Golf Adelaide?

Hometown favorite Cameron Smith, along with two fellow captains, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, will kickstart the opening round from the first hole. Two lefties, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, have been paired together. Next, on the fourth hole, teammates and co-captains, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Henrik Stenson will tee off. Here is the full list of groups. 

Round 1 – Shotgun Start

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For the opening round, 39 players have grouped with their teammates. Here are our top picks to clinch the $4 million winner’s paycheck. 

Keep an eye on these LIV stars this week

Cameron Smith arguably sits at the top of the pecking order. The Aussies are basking in the frenzied vibe around Grange. Last year, his all-Australian team received the loudest applause, and this year, expect no different. The former Open champion is coming off a T6 at the Masters. Before withdrawing from Miami due to food poisoning, Smith netted a solo third in Hong Kong.

Heading to Adelaide, the defending champion, Talor Gooch, looks strong. Gooch is in much better form this season than he was a year ago. The Oklahoma State product can match his team captain in becoming the only second player to defend his LIV Golf title.

Let’s also not forget that Joaquin Niemann has been on a scorching run in LIV Golf this season. The Chilean has already netted two titles and has five top-10s. Jon Rahm, on the other hand, has top-10s in each of the six events so far. The Spaniard, after a T45 at Augusta, will be hungry to prove his mettle. 

Rahm’s Legion XIII has walked up to the podium twice this season. The newest team in the Saudi-backed league has threatened the 4Aces and Crushers’ dominance. Except for Hong Kong, Legion XII has a top-five in all events. Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC sits atop the table this year, with a 26-point cushion against Legion’s 78. The captain is in the 7th spot on the season-long leaderboard, netting a top-10 in all the tournaments after Mayakoba.