Rahm shoots 62, takes lead

Jon Rahm’s soaring 5-iron settled 5 feet away to set up an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole at La Quinta Country Club.

“It’s quite simple, honestly,” Rahm said. “Beyond perfect drive, perfect second shot, perfect putt.”

Two hours later Thursday in the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge, young Charlie Reiter matched his new friend’s eagle with a low hook around a tree to a foot.

“It was a little down in the rough,” said Reiter, the Palm Desert High School senior who recently played with Rahm at nearby Big Horn. “I just closed the face and trusted my swing and it worked out perfectly.”

Rahm also had eight birdies in his bogey-free round for a 10-under 62 and a onestroke lead. The 23-year-old Spaniard — the top-ranked player in the field at No. 3 in the world — played the first seven holes in 6 under on a sunny morning so comfortable he shed his light sweater halfway through his warmup on the driving range.

“You’re not going to make every single putt. You’re not going to hit every single shot perfect,” Rahm said. “I do feel like I could have made a couple more putts, just because I had so many that were makeable. But there’s a couple birdie putts, like the one on 14, that, if I’m being quite honest, I did not hit the line I wanted and it still went in dead center.”

Reiter, 18, finished with a 68 after a shaky start to his PGA Tour debut.