Oosthuizen leads in Mexico; newcomers shine

MEXICO CITY — Two of the European Tour’s hottest players brought their best golf to their first World Golf Championship.

Louis Oosthuizen, a worldclass player for the better part of a decade, drilled a long iron into 4 feet for eagle on the par-5 15th and had birdies on two of the short par 4s at Chapultepec Golf Club for a 7-under 64 in the Mexico Championship on Thursday.

Right behind were two players unfamiliar to the world stage, though they sure didn’t play like it.

Shubhankar Sharma, the 21-year-old from India and the only two-time winner on the European Tour this season, holed an eagle chip after making the turn and finished with a wedge into 2 feet for birdie and a 65.

“I was very nervous in the morning, but very happy with the way I put it all together,” Sharma said.

Chris Paisley of England, who followed his victory in the South African Open with a pair of top 5s against strong fields in the Middle East, had his name atop the leaderboard for most of the warm afternoon until he came up short of the 16th and made his lone bogey in a round of 65.

“After the win in SA, I didn’t want to just be happy with winning. I wanted to kind of press on and that’s what I did,” Paisley said. “I’m taking that attitude into the rounds, as well. If you get defensive or you back off at all against players like you’ve got this week, then you’ve got no chance of winning.”

Sharma won his first European Tour event late last year at the Joburg Open, also played at altitude, and then last month he closed with a 62 to win the Malaysian Open.

Xander Schauffele also was at 65, while Rafael Cabrera Bello and Kiradech Aphibarnrat were at 66.