Few could have anticipated such a compelling start to the 2025 LIV Golf season.
The stars came out to shine under the night sky on Thursday evening as LIV hosted the very first nighttime game in league history.
Conditions that seemed less than favourable worked in the field’s favour as the majority of golfers and teams finished well below par to close out day one of the season opener.
Some familiar names like Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau established themselves early showing dominance from the get-go.
Johnson, who came out screaming, faltered a bit down the stretch of the back nine before recouping play and finishing T8 at 5-under par.
The majority of team captains including tournament favorites Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm had themselves a fine night, both finishing at 5-under par.
Adrian Meronk ended Thursday in sole possession of the number one spot, shooting a flawless 62.
While Meronk goes into Friday with the lead for the individual trophy, his Cleeks may already be out of contention after finishing T6 with a cumulative score of 13 under par.
There were also several day one shockers including Majesticks co-captain Lee Westwood who made a surprise run early and finished the night strong.
Westwood finished the night at 7-under par to put himself in contention for his first win on LIV and pulled Majesticks into a podium finish spot.
Perhaps the most surprising performance came from LIV rookie Tom McKibbin, Jon Rahm’s newest addition to Legion XIII.
McKibbin finished T3 at 7-under par and put himself in a fantastic position to take sole possession of the leaderboard before missing a short birdie on his 17th hole.
Was there ever any doubt that Legion XIII was the favourite for Riyadh? According to our earlier fantasy power rankings, no, there was not.
Every single member of Legion XIII performed admirably with all four golfers putting themselves in a position to take home the individual trophy on this special edition of ‘Championship Saturday’.
Rahm’s gamble on filling out half his team with twenty-two year old McKibbin and twenty-one-year-old Surratt has already paid off in a big way.
Legion XIII finished the night with a cumulative score of 24 under par, seven strokes better than second-place Majesticks.
