Oklahoma State alums, Talor Gooch and Peter Uilhein, shot matching rounds of 66 on day two of the 2023 LIV Golf Mayakoba Invitational and will enter Sunday’s finale at El Camaleon tied for the lead on 9-under par.
Gooch, who now plays for RangeGoats GC after being part of 2022 championship team 4 Aces, produced a bogey-free round, highlighted by five birdies including two over his final three holes.
“Anytime you can go bogey-free on a course like this, you’ve played some good golf,” said Gooch.
Uihlein, who replaced Gooch on 4 Aces, signed for a card which included seven birdies against two bogeys.
“I didn’t want to come down here and finish 40th, that’s for dang sure,” said Uihlein when asked about being the new guy on 4 Aces. “I didn’t want to come down and lay an egg and let the team down. So far, so good.”
Uihlein had two seconds and a third last season as he reclaimed his game. And it’s now evident 2022 was no fluke.
“If I keep putting myself in this position, that’s all you can ask for.” said Uihlein. “I think I’ve done it three times now, so this will be my fourth one.
“If I just keep doing that, keep knocking on the door, hopefully it works out in my favor this time.”
Meanwhile, Uihlein’s 4Aces and Gooch’s RangeGoats will both play chaser in the team competition. Crushers GC (14 under) will take a two-stroke advantage over the 4Aces (12 under) in Sunday, with Fireballs GC (10 under) and the RangeGoats (7 under) also lurking.
It’s the first time the Crushers have taken a lead into any LIV Golf round – and they’ve done so through the first two rounds without captain Bryson DeChambeau contributing a counting score.
“It shows the crazy nature of golf, number one,” said Charles Howell III (67), the leading Crushers player who is in solo third on 8-under par, one shot behind the co-leaders.
“Number two, I know Bryson has a low one in him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him shoot a low one tomorrow.”
South Africa’s Branden Grace (68) and England’s Paul Casey (71) rounded out the top-five leaders in Mayakoba.
2023 LIV Golf Mayakoba
Top-10 Leaders: Second Round
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 2)
1. Peter Uilhein -9 (-5)
1. Talor Gooch -9 (-5)
3. Charles Howell III -8 (-5)
4. Branden Grace -6 (-3)
4. Paul Casey -6 (E)
6. Graeme McDowell -5 (-4)
6. Matthew Wolff -5 (-4)
6. Carlos Ortiz -5 (-1)
9. Marc Leishman -4 (-1)
10. Abraham Ancer -3 (-2)
10. Dustin Johnson -3 (E)
10. Ian Poulter -3 (E)
Top-5 Teams: Second Round
Pos-Team-To Par (Rd 2)
1. Crushers -14 (-4)
2. 4 Aces -12 (-5)
3. Fireballs -10 (-6)
4. RangeGoats -7 (-7)
5. Ripper -6 (E)
5. Smash -6 (+1)
Material from the LIV GOLF League was used to compile this report.
