Rory McIlroy’s strong start features ace
MEXICO CITY — Rory McIlroy flirted with a hole-in-one on the same par 4 where Tiger Woods hit out of bounds with his first shot at the Mexico Championship.
It was a microcosm of the opening round for each at this World Golf Championship.
McIlroy, already off to a solid start on the back nine, hit a 2-iron shot on the 305yard No. 1 hole at Chapultepec Golf Club that landed on the front of the green and was rolling just left of the pin when it settled six feet away from the cup. It led to an eagle that carried McIlroy to an 8-under-par 63 and a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson.
Woods received a raucous introduction for his opening tee shot, with his 5-wood taking the ball to the green — well, a green. The ball bounced hard off a temporary green to the left and beyond the outof-bounds stake into the bushes.
Then he nearly did it again and ultimately had to get up and down from 60 feet away in a bunker to escape with a double bogey. After a burst of birdies, Woods struggled to make much the rest of the way and opened with a 71 that had him tied for 25th.
“I pulled across it to try and cut it and hit it dead off the toe,” Woods said. “Hit both of them dead off the toe.”
McIlroy’s 2-iron shot was the signature stroke in an exquisite start to the tournament. He was 6 under through an eighthole stretch in the middle of the round, and a 20-foot birdie on No. 8 toward the end of his round is what gave him the lead over Johnson, who played in the group behind.
It was McIlroy’s second straight week with a
63. He carded that number during the second round of Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, where he wound up tied for fourth.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy,” McIlroy said. “I hit a lot of good golf shots, but I left myself a lot of tap-ins for birdies. As 63s go, I shot 63 at Riviera last week, but this felt probably a little more stress-free.”
Johnson won the Mexico Championship two
years ago, part of three straight victories during the best stretch of golf he ever played. He said he struggled with his swing the past two weeks at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Open, so he has been busy on the range in Mexico.
“It’s starting to feel the way it did two years ago,” said Johnson, who only missed three of the treelined fairways and was rarely out of position.
Justin Thomas, who lost a playoff to Phil Mickelson at last year’s Mexico Championship and finished second to J.B. Holmes on Sunday at Riviera, made an eagle on the par-5 15th on his way to a 66. He was tied with Matt Kuchar for third.
Mickelson, two weeks removed from victory at Pebble Beach, bogeyed three of his first four holes on the back, shot a 40 on the front and opened with a 79.
And in Puerto Rico
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — Andres Romero shot a 6-under 66 in windy conditions to take the firstround lead in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Romero birdied three of his last five holes in a bogey-free round at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club. The 37-year-old Argentinean won his lone PGA Tour title at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2008, when he was rookie of the year. He has two European Tour victories — the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe in 2007 and the BMW International Open in June 2017.
Austria’s Sepp Straka was a stroke back as the event returned after being canceled last year because of Hurricane Maria. Nine players were tied for third at 68. Daniel Berger, the highest-ranked golfer in the field at No. 72, opened with a 70. Athens, Tennessee, native Eric Axley shot a 75.
Although this is an alternate event with golf’s biggest names at the World Golf Championship in Mexico City, there are big rewards for the winner, who will receive a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and an exemption to the PGA Championship.
Where she left off
CHONBURI, Thailand — Eun-Hee Ji led the LPGA Thailand tournament by two shots after opening with a 9-under 63.
The 32-year-old South Korean is coming off a victory — her fifth on the United States-based LPGA Tour — in her most recent event, the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Florida.
On the other side of the world, she seemed to pick up right where she left off. After an opening birdie and a bogey on the third hole, Ji birdied nine of the next 14 holes on the Siam Country Club Pattaya’s Old Course.
American golfer Danielle Kang was tied for second with Australia’s Minjee Lee and South Korea’s Jenny Shin. Lee’s round included an eagle on the par-4 15th.
Four golfers were tied for second: Canada’s Brooke Henderson, Australia’s Katherine Kirk and Lizette Salas and Jennifer Song of the United States.