Thomas Detry and Peter Uihlein lead LIV Golf Riyadh after day one with defending champion Jon Rahm two shots back

The 2026 LIV Golf season teed off in Riyadh with Jon Rahm beginning the defence of his individual title and his Legion XIII the team competition. Rahm ended day one two shots behind the lead jointly held by Thomas Detry and Peter Uihlein. Sixty-one players are competing at the Riyadh Golf Club. You can watch the whole season live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

'More golf, more competition' - 2026 LIV Golf League explained

Video credit: TNT Sports

Rookies fly high on day one at LIV Golf Riyadh

LIV Golf debutant Thomas Detry finished day one on top of the leaderboard along with five-year veteran Peter Uihlein, while another rookie, Elvis Smylie, representing Australia's Ripper GC finished a shot back.

Belgian Detry, playing for 4Aces, was ahead for much of the round, hitting a seven-under 65. After trailing Detry for much of the day, RangeGoat's Uihlein levelled his mark on his last hole, hitting a birdie on the par-five sixth.

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Smylie began with a bogey but recovered to be in touching distance of the lead going into day two.

Among six players on five-under is Jon Rahm. After his short game let him down early, the defending champion was close to holing a wedge on the 18th, leaving him a tap in to join those tied for fourth.

Talor Gooch, Byeong Hun An, Tyrrell Hatton, Sebastian Munoz and Louis Oosthuizen join him in starting Thursday on five-under.

Sergio Garcia and Bryson DeChambeau, who had a double bogey on the second, are among those on four-under.

Join us again tomorrow

That's all for us today. Join us for day two tomorrow for what is sure to be another exhilarating day of golf.

Teams Round One Leaderboard

Torque -15
Southern Guards -13
Legion XIII -11
4Aces -10
Smash -10

End of Round One Leaderboard

Thomas Detry (4Aces) -7
Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats) -7
Elvis Smylie (Ripper) -6
Talor Gooch (Smash) -5
Byeong Hun An (Korean) -5
Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII) -5
Jon Rahm (Legion XIII) -5
Sebastian Munoz (Torque) -5
Louis Oosthuizen (Southern Guards) -5

Seven players on -4.

Detry and Uihlein share overnight lead

Peter Uihlein's birdie on the last, the sixth in his case, ensured he joins Thomas Detry in taking a lead into tomorrow's play after finishing with a seven-under 65. Elvis Smylie is one shot adrift on six-under.

Byeong Hun An also finished his round in style.

Rahm conflicted on World Ranking Points

Jon Rahm is happy that LIV Golf players can earn world ranking points this year but is disappointed they will only go to the top ten players in each event.

"It's fantastic that we're getting points, it's fantastic we're being recognised in a way." Rahm said on TNT Sports.

"I dont like that we're not treated the same as other tours. It doesnt seem fair. There's work to be done. It could cause some players to looe ranking points rather than win them.

"I'm thankful LIV Golf has their foot in the door and there's a possibility to walk in the room and be recognised as a tour, as we should be."

Rahm: I hit a few poor wedge shots

"The last eight holes I was better with it, but there were four shots - I'm not guaranteeing I'm going to make a birdie - but I should be closer than thirty feet."

Garcia ends at four-under

He throws his arms in the air to celebrated finally nailing a put on the last.

Rahm is inches from holing a chip on the last

He taps in for a birdie to finish on five-under, two shots off the lead.

Good recovery from DeChambeau

He ends at four-under, despite hitting a double bogey on his second hole, which was the second hole.

Oosthuizen the early clubhouse leader

The veteran South African made two birdies in his last three holes to finish on five-under.

Uihlein and Smylie move within a shot of Detry

The overnight leader is not Detry's yet, as American Peter Uihlein and Aussie Elvis Smylie, like Detry a debutant, pull within a shot of the Belgian's lead.

How to watch the LIV Golf 2026 season

TNT Sports and its streaming platform discovery+ will broadcast all 14 global events from the 2026 LIV Golf season.

TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.

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Detry up to seven-under

With two holes remaining, the Belgian has gone two in front. He has made three birdies in his last four holes.

Hatton and Gooch move to five-under

It has been a fine start to his campaign for Englishman Tyrell Hatton and he and Talor Gooch are now within striking distance of Detry.

The Teams leaderboard

Legion XIII -12

Southern Guards -11

Smash -11

Torque -10

The top ten with four holes left

Thomas Detry (4Aces) -6

Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats) -5

Elvis Smylie (Ripper) -5

Joaquin Niemann (Torque) -4

Harold Varner III (Smash) -4

Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII) -4

Jon Rahm (Legion XIII) -4

Anthony Kim (Wildcard) -4

Talor Gooch (Smash) -4

Byeong Hun An (Korean) -4

Detry up to six-under, Uihlein on his tail

A birdie on the second has brought Uihlein up to five-under, but Detry at the same time was going one better, making a four at the par-five sixth.

Rahm up to three-under

He has been frustrated at not being able to add to his birdie on the second and fourth holes, but has now birdied the 12th and pulled within two shots of Detry.

Detry so impressive

There is little fuss to his game but every time someone joins him he pulls further away - and has done again, moving on to five-under par.

Niemann joins leaders

The winner of five events last year has joined Detry, Uihlein, Kim and Smylie at the top of the leaderboard - the latter after four birdies in six holes.

Uihlein and Kim join Detry on four-under

We are now onto the 'back nine' of the course - and RangeGoats' Uihlein and Wildcarder Kim have already augmented their fine starts to the competition.

Detry remains a shot clear

But there is a crowd gathering behind him. As well as Tyrrell Hatton and Peter Uihlein, now Anthony Kim, Abraham Ancer, Byeong Hun An and Thomas Peters are also on three-under.

Halfway leaderboard

How to watch the LIV Golf 2026 season

TNT Sports and its streaming platform discovery+ will broadcast all 14 global events from the 2026 LIV Golf season.

You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.

Bad day Bubba...

Detry goes further ahead

After birdieing the 18th, he makes the turn, the debutant promptly hits a three on the 1st to take an outright lead.

Team Leaderboard

Unsurprisingly with all four of their players on two-under, Torque are leading the team event.

Torque -8
4Aces -7
Legion XIII -6

Current Leaders

Tyrrell Hatton (Legion XIII) -3

Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats) -3

Thomas Detry (4Aces) -3

Ben Campbell (RangeGoats) -2

Anirban Lahiri (Crushers) -2

Younghan Song (Korean) -2

Jon Rahm (Legion XIII) -2

Byeong Hun An (Korean) -2

Scott Vincent (Wildcard) -2

Carlos Ortiz (Torque) -2

Abraham Ancer (Torque) -2

Joaquin Niemann (Torque) -2

Sebastian Munoz (Torque) -2

Brendan Steele (Hyflyers) -2

Hatton joins leaders on three-under

Consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh holes have given Tyrrell Hatton a share of the lead.

Should have left the flag in?

Detry joins Uihlein in lead

The Belgian is making a fantastic debut and a birdie on the 18th, his eighth hole, has taken the 4Aces player to three-under.

Uihlein in front

An eagle on the 14th, backing up a birdie on the 14th has given him the lead.

Garcia nabs his first birdie

The Ryder Cup legend parred his six holes before making a birdie on the par-four eighth as his eight foot putt just drops in.

Niemann joins cluster at two-under

He was surprisingly not one of the fancied players to take this event, but we should know he's a different animal when the LIV Golf lights are shining and last year's MVP knocked in a 15fter to take a shared of the lead.

Current Leaders

Rahm (Legion XIII) -2
Song (Korean) -2
An (Korean) -2
Vincent (Wildcard) -2
Kim (Wildcard) -2
Ortiz (Torque) -2
Detry (4Aces) -2
La Sasso (Hyflyers) -2
McDowell (Smash) -2

La Sasso back to the pack

He bogeys the 13th and now we have a huge pack on two-under.

McDowell with a strong start

After starting on the 17th, McDowell birdied the second and third holes to join the glut of players on two-under.

Poulter gets his first birdie of the year

On the eighth hole, his sixth of the round, Poulter added a birdie to his first five pars.

Ballester close to a hole-in-one

Josele Ballester, who has already hit an eagle, came inches from a hole-in-one on the 17th.

He would miss the putt though...

Young gun La Sasso moves to three-under

The player head-hunted by Phil Mickelson and his HyFlyers team, and persuaded to leave Ole Miss and give up US Masters eligibility he had earned as NCAA champion, has shown why he is so highly-rated taking an early lead in the tournament.

DeChambeau back on level par

After the missed birdie on the first and horror double bogey on the second, back-to-back birdies have DeChambeau on level par.

Hyflyers take an early team lead

They are at three-under after Michael La Sasso joined the players at two-under after a magnificent approach on the 15th. Brendan Steele is also under par for the team.

Three move to two-under

Swede Bjorn Hellgren secured his second birdie after his approach left him a tap-in putt on the 16th. He is joined with Belgian Thomas Detry who hit consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th holes. Richard Bland has also hit birdies on the 13th and 15th holes.

Rahm gets birdie on second

A fantastic read of his right-to-left downhill 30ft putt sees Rahm join the leaders on one-under.

Kim starts with a birdie

He was relegated last year but fought back to qualify and join the Wild Card team and sunk a 20 foot birdie putt to go one-under par.

How to watch the LIV Golf 2026 season

TNT Sports and its streaming platform discovery+ will broadcast all 14 global events from the 2026 LIV Golf season.

You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.

Varner III with unlucky not to eagle...

Double bogey for Bryson...

After missing the birdie putt at the first he makes a double-bogey six at the second. Not the start he wanted...

First birdies of the year...

DeChasmbeau missed a very makeable birdie putt but Ben Schmidt, replacing Lee Westwood of course, nailed his birdie putt to go into the second hold under par. Younghan Son, Anirban Lahiri, Laurie Canter, Tom McKibbon, Marc Leishmann and Charl Schwartzel also started with birdies.

DeChambeau and Niemann begin with booming drives

The fairways can't be seen from the tees in the dark, but both can be happy with where their first shots of the year landed - DeChambeau with a short chip onto the green.

We are nearly ready to go...

Bryson DeChambeau will tee off first at Hole 1, Joaquin Niemann is on Hole 2 and Tyrrell Hatton on the 18th.

The Teams in full

4Aces GC: Dustin Johnson, Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III
Cleeks Golf Club: Martin Kaymer, Richard Bland, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez
Crushers GC: Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Anirban Lahiri
Fireballs GC: Sergio Garcia, Josele Ballester, Luis Masaveu, David Puig
HyFlyers GC: Andy Ogletree, Brendan Steele, Cameron Tringale, Ollie Schniederjans
Korean Golf Club: Kevin Na, Yubin Jang, Jinichiro Kozuma, Danny Lee
Legion XIII: Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Caleb Surratt
Majesticks Golf Club: Ian Poulter, Laurie Canter, Sam Horsfield, Ben Schmidt
RangeGoats GC: Bubba Watson, Ben Campbell, Peter Uihlein, Matthew Wolff
Ripper GC: Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman
Smash GC: Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Graeme McDowell
Stinger GC: Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel
Torque GC: Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Sebastian Munoz, Carlos Ortiz
Wild Card: Yosuke Asaji, Bjorn Hellgren, Anthony Kim, Richard Lee

Mickelson and Westwood replaced this week

Phil Mickelson will miss at least the first two events due to a family illness while injury is keeping Lee Westwood from competing here.

Former number one-ranked amateur Ollie Schniederjans joins the HyFlyers in place of Mickelson.

Westwood's place in Majesticks is being taken by Ben Schmidt.

Rahm favourite to begin with victory

Unsurprisingly, Jon Rahm is the favourite for the event at a price of around 5/1, just ahead of Bryson DeChambeau, with in-form David Puig a 10/1 shot. Last year's MVP, Joaquin Niemann, won four events last year and is 18/1 to begin this year with another triumph.

Jon Rahm of Spain waits to play on day four of the Open de España presented by Madrid 2025 at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid on October 12, 2025 in Madrid, Spain.

Image credit: Getty Images