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Australian golfer Marc Leishman openly criticized slow play during the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush lauded LIV for its pace. Leishman qualified for his 12th Open after finishing third at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in December last year.
Leishman is playing only his second Major this year after the U.S. Open as he missed the first two Majors. His best finish at the Open Championship is the joint runner-up position at St. Andrews in 2015. Moreover, in his last appearance at Royal Portrush in 2022, Leishman had missed the cut.
Marc Leishman carded a 2-over par score of 73 in round one of the final Major. In the post-round press performance, the LIV golfer called out the slow play at the Open and praised LIV Golf for its faster pace of play. In the interview clip shared by Golf.com on X recently, Leishman was seen saying:
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"Felt like we were on the golf course for about 12 hours. We've been on the course for three hours through eight holes. That was tough to deal with, especially coming from somewhere where we play in under four and a half every week."
Leishman continued to express his frustration as he said:
"But, you know, you got to deal with all that sort of stuff and I felt like I dealt with it, you know, decently well. Just got a little frustrated, there sort of when I felt like I was playing pretty good and not getting anything out of it. But the conditions were tough. Like I said, hopefully, just get a good one going in the morning."
Marc Leishman currently stands at T76 after his first-round performance. Though Leishman started off the round steadily, he ended up shooting three bogeys along with a birdie on the front nine. His game in the second nine remained consistent until he shot two bogeys and two birdies before wrapping up the round.
Marc Leishman's past performances at the Open Championship explored
Marc Leishman has played 11 editions of the Open since his debut in 2010, and has made the cut in six of them. He failed to make it past the second round in 2012, 2013, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
After turning professional in the year 2005, Leishman played his first Open in 2010 at St. Andrews and finished at T60. He next made the cut in 2014 at Royal Liverpool where he shared a tie for fifth with Adam Scott.
Marc Leishman went on to become the joint runner-up with Louis Oosthuizen at the 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews with an impressive 15-under total par score. At Royal Troon in 2016, he finished in a five-way tie for 53rd.
Despite being in contention for the title in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, Leishman settled for the T6 position at the end of the Major. He finished in solo 60th place at the 2018 Open in Carnoustie.
