LIV GOLFER ‘NARROWLY’ AVOIDS DISQUALIFICATION BEFORE CARDING ‘SPECTACULAR’ ROUND USING BORROWED CLUBS
LIV Golf's Scott Vincent endured and then enjoyed a wild day at the International Series Morocco on Thursday.
Having discovered his luggage had been misplaced, the Iron Heads GC player headed back to the airport in an attempt to retrieve his bags, but no luck. Not only did he return without his clubs, but Vincent's impromptu trip almost saw him ejected from the tournament after he missed his 12:30pm tee time.
Although he was allowed to begin his opening round alongside fellow LIV player, Eugenio Chacarra and Jazz Janewattananond, Vincent did so having incurred a two-stroke penalty as a result of a delay caused by a wrong turn on the way back to the course. He also had a full set of borrowed clubs in tow from the pro at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
Despite the adversity, the 32-year-old produced a superb first 18 holes of golf to sit just two strokes off the lead in the third of 10 elevated events which offer a pathway onto the LIV Golf League.
The Zimbabwean recorded five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 eighth to surge through the pack and put early pressure on Kazuma Kobori and John Catlin at the top.
Scott, who also played with the same clubs in the pro-am, said: “I had zero expectations today, but feel we definitely learned something that will help us get better in future. So in a way it was great to play, the pressure was off and I just wanted to see what would happen."
Remarkably, Scott's younger brother Kieran - a member of Jon Rahm's Legion XIII - was also put in a very similar situation after his bags were lost as well.
The 26-year-old did not return to the airport, though, and ended up teeing off with a hastily-assembled set which included a selection of clubs from friends in the tournament who stepped in to support the Zimbabwean.
Legion XIII team-mate Caleb Surratt supplied the irons, Taichi Kho provided a driver and Ian Snyman chipped in with a wedge. Jaco Ahlers provided some golf balls for the day.
Kieran did not enjoy such a strong start, however, bogeying two of his opening three holes before wrestling back momentum later on through four birdies to sign for a one-under round of 72 that he “would have signed for straight away” had it been offered before his round.
He said: “Lucky enough, we have some really cool people out here on the Asian Tour – it is a friendly tour. A lot of people had clubs, bits and pieces, but obviously it is hard to make up a full set when you do not have anything, so we have a bit of a mixed bag here!
“I have talked a lot to myself about adapting, no matter what, whatever the situation might be. And so just being able to go out there with none of my stuff, even golf shoes, I am taking in the moment, and we will just take it as it comes.”
Late on Friday, it was confirmed by the Asian Tour that Scott had received his golf clubs before teeing off in round two while Kieran had not and was using his college teammate Ervin Chang's clubs instead.
After the International Series Morocco concludes on Sunday, the Vincent brothers will head over to Spain to feature in LIV's next event - LIV Golf Andalucia between July 12-14.