It may have been Jon Rahm's LIV debut in Mayakoba, but it was Joaquin Niemann who stole the show after the Chilean fired a historic 59 to kickstart LIV's new season.
Niemann carded an eagle and ten birdies in a supreme bogey-free round of golf, becoming just the second player to card a sub-60 round on LIV since Bryson DeCheambeu's ground-breaking 58 at LIV Greenbrier last year.
Starting on the second hole at El Camaleón, the 25-year-old made five straight birdies between holes three and seven before back-to-back birdies on 9 and 10 as he made the turn.
A hole-out eagle followed at the 11th, with three birdies at 13, 15 and 17 securing him a scintillating round of 59 and a five-shot lead over Patrick Reed to set the pace in Mexico.
"It was obviously an amazing round," Niemann said on Friday. "I played solid since the beginning and I never stopped playing good. I gave myself a few chances over the last couple holes to go even lower, but still really, really happy.
"I knew if I kept myself calm and if I kept myself the same way I was on the first couple holes, I knew it was going to be a really low day, and I felt that I was able to do that during the whole day.
"I felt like I was calm the whole day. I never went ahead of myself. I stuck to my routine. I visualized my shots, and I just went ahead and compromised with all those shots, and I was really confident on all of them."
Niemann has been one of the most active LIV golfers in the off-season, winning the Australian Open in December, while also registering top-five finishes at the Australian PGA Championship - also in December - and the Dubai Desert Classic last month.
Part of that has been a late bid to try and force his way into next month's Masters but the Chilean admitted it had also enabled him to stay sharp heading into LIV's season opener.
"Obviously, since Miami [LIV's last event] it's been a few months and when you don't play for so long, I think you always have some expectation of how your game is, how it's feeling," he added.
The LIV Golf sub-60 club 💪#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/FLO0uqlPZPFebruary 3, 2024
"I was able to play in Dubai a few weeks ago. I played at the end of December in a few tournaments in Australia. I think those two weeks [in Australia] went pretty well, and then being able to play in Dubai to start the season, I think it was good for me."
Rahm, meanwhile, sits in a tie for fourth after his opening five-under-par round of 66. The Spaniard started fast with five birdies in his first seven holes but ended bogey-bogey to end up seven shots back of Niemann.
"I feel like one of those bogeys, 17, was avoidable. 18 was just unfortunate. But it doesn't take away from how good I played those first 16 holes," Rahm reflected after the round.
Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk, two other high-profile players making their LIV debuts, both struggled in the first round, finishing one over par and four over par respectively.
