Play halted as drone crashes into tree during opening round of LIV Golf Hong Kong - 'It was like me flying that!'
Published 05/03/2026 at 13:58 GMT
The third event of the 2026 LIV Golf League season is underway, with players hunting glory at Fanling Golf Club. Sergio Garcia is the defending champion, and he had to overcome the unwanted attention of a drone, which crashed into a tree while he was lining up a putt on the second hole on Thursday. Watch and stream the 2026 LIV Golf season live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Watch: Garcia distracted as drone 'clobbers' tree
Video credit: TNT Sports
Sergio Garcia made a solid start to the defence of his LIV Golf Hong Kong crown, despite the distraction of a runaway drone.
There were plenty of eyes on Garcia during the opening round at Fanling, given his standing in the game and being the winner of the event in 2025.
After finding the putting surface with his tee shot on the second hole, Garcia made his way to the green and was assessing his birdie opportunity when he turned 180 degrees on account of a disturbance behind him.
It turned out that the disturbance was a drone, which had inadvertently flown into a tree.
To laughs from inside and outside the commentary box, the drone offered up the image of it flying into a tree.
"The drone just got clobbered," was the reaction from the booth. "It was like me flying that."
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The distraction was only a brief one for Garcia, who returned to his line before getting down to hit his putt. It did not drop, but he walked off the hole with a comfortable par.
There were no further disturbances during the course of Garcia’s round, as he signed for a 63 to sit three shots off the lead after the opening 18 holes.
Carlos Ortiz is the player at the top of the leaderboard after the first round in Hong Kong.
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DeChambeau takes on hole-in-one challenge
Video credit: SNTV
The Mexican made nine birdies and an eagle in his opening round of 60, with his only blemish being a bogey on the eighth.
Ortiz suggested to TNT Sports that he would not look at the leaderboard on the second day.
"I can’t control what they do," Ortiz said of the chasing pack. "I try to do my best each day and if it works out, it works out. It is more of a competition against myself.
"I just try to go about it my way. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t."
Bad day for Bryson
Bryson DeChambeau struggled in his opening round, and TNT Sports expert Oliver Wilson put it down to a "bad day" for the American.
"Bryson had a bad day," Wilson said. "His big asset is the driver and he can’t take advantage of that around here.
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'Was not far away' - Rahm inches from holing from fairway
Video credit: TNT Sports
"The rest of the game he excels, and if you look at the stats from last year here, he did well. I just think it was one of those days that did not go for him.
"Also, you can kind of put pressure on yourself on this kind of golf course where you know everybody is making birdies and if you don’t get off to a great start, which he didn’t, it can play a part.
"I fully expect him to bounce back."
While Ortiz holds a two-shot lead, Wilson expects him to come under pressure.
"It will be interesting to see how Carlos leads," Wilson said. "Nothing seems to faze him.
"I fully expect some guys to surge through the field, maybe Jon Rahm. He did what he does, he hung around. He did not play well and was frustrated and did not get anything to go in on the greens."
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Watch and stream the 2026 LIV Golf season live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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