Peter Uihlein fires 63 to take lead at LIV Golf event in Jeddah

Uihlein carded an eagle on No. 18 to vault into the lead at 12 under for the tournament. Brooks Koepka shot 67 to sit one shot back at 11 under.

FILE PHOTO: American golfer Peter Uihlein.

Peter Uihlein opened with five straight birdies en route to shooting 63 and taking over the lead by one stroke at the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Uihlein carded an eagle on No. 18 to vault into the lead at 12 under for the tournament. Brooks Koepka shot 67 to sit one shot back at 11 under.

Charl Schwartzel (67) and Sergio Garcia (64) are tied for third at 9 under, three shots back. Abraham Lancer (65) and Paul Casey (64) are within striking distance four shots back, sitting T5.

Uihlein would add another two birdies to go with a double-bogey on the back nine. But it was the five birdies to start that got it started for him.

“I made a nice putt on 2, hit it close on 3, good putt on 4 and had a good shot on 5,” Uihlein said. “Obviously it was a dream start really. Yeah, just kind of held on from there and finished with a flurry, so it was nice.”

Koepka carded a 3-under 67 a day after firing a 62 to take the early lead. He finished with six birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey on the 13th.

“I thought I played pretty solid,” Koepka said. “I thought the green speeds were, I don’t know, maybe a foot and a half faster than what they were yesterday, so I had a little trouble adjusting. Having to do that mid-round, I firmed a few and then didn’t get a few to the hole, so somewhere in between those would be nice.”

On the team side, Koepka’s Team Smash -- with Uihlein -- stands at 30 under and has a healthy six-shot lead over Garcia’s Fireballs GC.

While LIV Golf is widely known for being financed by Saudi backers, this is the first LIV tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia. It marks the final tournament of the regular season before the team championship later this month in Miami.