MIAMI: A year ago last April, Talor Gooch started his hot streak that led to the season-long LIV Golf Individual Championship. It looks like he may be heating up again, as the Smash GC star shot a 5-under 67 at LIV Golf Miami to share the first-round lead with Sergio Garcia and Peter Uihlein.

Meanwhile, Gooch鈥檚 former team, RangeGoats GC, opened up a five-stroke lead over Legion XIII thanks to Uihlein鈥檚 67 and a couple of 66s from captain Bubba Watson and Matthew Wolff.

Gooch entered this week ranked sixth in points through the first four events, but he had yet to match the kind of performance he produced on a consistent basis in 2023 when he won three times, including his first LIV Golf victory in Adelaide last April. He said Friday鈥檚 round on the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral was the first time his ball-striking was up to his standards.

鈥淭his felt a little reminiscent of some of those deep rounds I had last year around this time of year,鈥� said Gooch, who was traded from the RangeGoats to Brooks Koepka鈥檚 Smash team during the off-season. 鈥淗opefully, we can catch some of that fire we had this time last year and get it going.鈥�

Garcia, the Fireballs GC captain, crafted the only bogey-free round of the day, thanks in large part to hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation, the best performance by any player in the field Friday. He also had a terrific up-and-down on the par-3 13th to keep his scorecard clean.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 hitting it super-close most of the time, but I was hitting a lot of greens,鈥� said Garcia, who has been part of two of the seven playoffs in LIV Golf history but is still seeking his first LIV individual win. 鈥淢y lag putting was good. I didn鈥檛 put myself under a lot of stress. That obviously helped.鈥�

Uihlein has been one of LIV Golf鈥檚 most consistent performers but is also seeking his first individual win. He鈥檚 won team trophies with two different teams, and after being traded to the RangeGoats in the offseason, he could join Gooch as the only LIV players to win titles with three different teams. Gooch won team trophies with 4Aces GC in 2022 and the RangeGoats last year, and his Smash team won earlier this season in Las Vegas.

One of LIV Golf鈥檚 longest hitters, Uihlein has also emerged as one of its leading putters. He led the field Friday in that category, needing just 23 putts. 鈥淧layed really well, putted nice and just kind of felt like I was plotting my way around there, which was good,鈥� Uihlein said.

His teammates Wolff and Watson are the closest pursuers, along with Stinger GC鈥檚 Dean Burmester and Iron Heads GC鈥檚 Scott Vincent. Six more players are tied for eighth, including Koepka and Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm.