Hot Kuchar has a fun day at Riviera
Tournament host Tiger’s struggles continue on a classic course he has never won in 12 tries
>> LOS ANGELES: Matt Kuchar fired a sparkling seven-under-par 64 on Thursday to seize a three-shot lead after the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-Hoon and Americans Russell Henley, Wyndham Clark, Adam Schenk and Harold Varner shared second on 67 with Rory McIlroy — newly returned to world No.1 — headlining a group of 10 on 68 that also included Australia’s Jason Day and former Masters champion Patrick Reed.
Tournament host Tiger Woods closed with a bogey to fall out of that bunch, cooling off after a hot start to post a two-under par 69 as he pursues a record 83rd PGA Tour title.
Woods was still a teenager when he played his first US tour event at Riviera, but he has never won on the classic course in the Pacific Palisades west of Los Angeles in 12 prior tries, and his struggles continued on Thursday.
“I got off to a nice start on the front nine and just didn’t hit many good shots on the back nine,” said Woods, who opened with an eagle at the first and added two birdies before the turn but had two bogeys without a birdie coming in.
“Made a couple loose swings and made a couple good saves on the back nine for par, but just wasn’t able to get any birdies on the back nine,” Woods said.
Kuchar, meanwhile, started hot and stayed that way.
“It was a fun, fun day out there playing Riviera,” said the nine-time US PGA Tour winner, who opened with back-to-back birdies at the 10th and 11th.
His seven birdies included a 28-footer at the 18th and a 33-footer at the eighth — his penultimate hole of the day.
“Eighteen was a little bit more doable, basically a straight uphill putt,” he said of his first birdie bomb. The downhill putt at the eighth was even more of a bonus.
“You can’t count on that every day, but it sure is fun when they do go in,” Kuchar said.
“To shoot a number like this, you kind of do most things well,” he added. “I felt like it was just steady golf, a lot of opportunities and I was able to convert on a good number of the opportunities today.”
Kuchar, who hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation, said missing in the right spot was the key to getting up and down when needed. “That’s definitely a big key here,” he said.
Brooks Koepka, who had held the No.1 ranking for the last eight months, opened his week on 69, joining a big group that also included not only Woods but also 2016 Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose and fellow Englishman Paul Casey, defending champion JB Holmes and South Koreans Im Sung-Jae, Kang Sung and Kim Si-Woo.
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
(par-71, USA unless stated)
64 — Matt Kuchar
67 — Lee Kyoung-Hoon (KOR), Russell Henley, Wyndham Clark, Adam Schenk, Harold Varner 68 - Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP), Carlos Ortiz (MEX), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Patrick Cantlay, Jason Day (AUS), Bryson DeChambeau, Andrew Landry, Joel Dahmen, Patrick Reed, James Hahn 69 - Scottie Scheffler, Im Sung-Jae (KOR), Brooks Koepka, Paul Casey (ENG), Sebastian Munoz (COL), JT Poston, Michael Thompson, Denny McCarthy, Tiger Woods, Kang Sung (KOR), JB Holmes, Justin Rose (ENG), Kim Si-Woo (KOR), Chez Reavie, Scott Stallings, Vaughn Taylor