LIV Golf has made a lot of noise about it’s ‘Watering Hole’ party atmosphere.
And former Masters champion Patrick Reed gave them exactly what they wanted early in the first round of LIV Adelaide.
Reed sent the packed partying galleries into a frenzy as he aced his second hole of the day at Grange Golf Club on Friday.
Started his round at the 11th hole, Reed had begun with a bogey before teeing it up in front of a raucous crowd at the par-three 12th hole.
Just 15 minutes into Friday’s opening round, he achieved the impressive feat with just his sixth shot of the round.
LIV Golf uses a shotgun start, with all players teeing off at the same time on various holes around the course and the noise early on came from the self proclaimed ‘loudest hole in golf’.
After watching his shot roll into the hole, Reed threw his hands in the air and soaked up the cheers and applause.
In scenes reminiscent of the chaos at the Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, he was immediately showered with drinks and beer cups thrown by the rowdy crowd, before racing down to the green to collect his ball.
LIV Golf shared footage of the moment on social media, with many suggesting the fans added to the spectacle.
“Love it. LIV golf is so much fun when it’s played with crowds like this,” one person wrote.
“Brilliant! Some fans probably just got their first beer and that happened,” another said.
“PGA could never,” a third responded, perhaps unaware of what went down at the Phoenix Open 12 months ago when fans were removed from the course after invading the 16th green, Scottsdale’s own ‘party hole’.
Reed’s effort is the second ace at the watering hole in LIV Golf’s four years in Adelaide, following Chase Koepka’s hole-in-one in 2023.
“I smelled like beer the whole entire rest of the day,” Koepka said after his feat.
He later tweeted that it was a day he’ll never forget, and thanked the Adelaide fans for making it ‘special’.
Two years on, and Reed will probably be feeling – and smelling – the same way.
He also became just the second golfer to sink a hole-in-one at the tournament less than 15 minutes into play on the opening day.
But despite an impressive start, the American failed to ride the momentum from his hole in one, carding one-over 73.
Instead, it was England’s Sam Horsfield who set the first-round pace.
He carded six-under 66 to hold the outright lead at The Grange on Friday.
Horsfield is one stroke clear of Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann.
Major winners Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau are a further shot behind.
“I feel like my game has been trending a lot recently,” Horsfield, who is chasing a maiden LIV title, said.
“I played solid last week, finished 12th, So, yeah, obviously just try to do the same things over the weekend and see where that leads.”
