Putter helps big-hitting McIlroy open lead
Rory McIlroy switched back to his old putter for the WGC Mexico Championship and it made a world of difference. It helps that he’s still hitting the ball like the No. 1 player in the world.
McIlroy ripped a 4-iron from 275 yards into the thin air at Mexico City’s Chapultepec Golf Club to 15 feet for eagle on his second hole Thursday, made five more birdies and opened the Mexico Championship with a 6-under 65 for a two-shot lead.
This is the only World Golf Championship that McIlroy hasn’t won as he tries to join Dustin Johnson as the only players to win all four of them.
Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson were at 67.
Abraham Ancer of Mexico got some of the biggest cheers, especially when he ran off three straight birdies to overcome a rough start. He opened with a 70.
The course, at about 7,800 feet above sea level, is ideal for McIlroy the way he launched the ball.
But this was about his putting. He took only 26 putts and ranked No. 4 in the key putting statistic for the round.
He attributes that to his regular 34-inch putter. A week ago at Riviera, he tried a 35-inch putter to help get his shoulder and elbow in a better position. But he said it hurt with lining up the putts, and it cost him. McIlroy was tied for the 54-hole lead and shot 73 in the final round — including a triple bogey on the fifth hole — and tied for fifth
“It didn’t quite work out the way I want it to, so I went back to the 34-inch,” he said. “I just felt a little bit more comfortable today and was seeing my lines a little bit better. And yeah, it was a good day.” As for swing? Efficient as ever. The best example of his advantage was the par-5 15th hole early in his round. U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, who hits low-trajectory bullets, caught it a little high on the face of the club and it came out low with little spin. McIlroy launched a rocket and was 55 yards past him.
McIlroy hit 9-iron from 192 yards that set up a two- putt birdie. It was like that all day.
Woodland was even with him until a few mistakes on the front nine sent him to a 70.
McIlroy played nicely last year, finishing at 16-under 268, and lost by five shots to Dustin Johnson, another guy whom the course suits well — just not this year.
Johnson, who has gone a year without winning, opened with a 76, his highest opening round since the British Open at Carnoustie in 2018. His only birdie was on No. 1 after making the turn. He hit 3-wood on 303-yard hole to 8 feet and missed the eagle putt.
Chapultepec has plenty of scoring holes, but it’s easy to get out of position. Not making it any easier was a wind with gusts up to 15 mph, unusual in the four years this World Golf Championship has come to Mexico City.
“You can go so low, but man, if you’re not playing well, you can shoot over par in a heart beat,” Thomas said. “It’s pretty tough to manage your score.”
Louis Oosthuizen, Bi l ly Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau and Corey Conners were at 67. Conners was in position to keep pace with McIlroy until missing a 10-foot birdie on the 15th hole, and then missing the 18-inch par putt.
Jon Rahm didn’t make a birdie until the 15th hole and still salvaged a 72. Adam Scott, who won last week at Riviera, opened with a 74, along with Jordan Spieth.
Only 18 players from the 72man field broke par. STANLEY SHOOTS 64 TO TAKE LEAD
IN PUERTO RICO OPEN » Kyle Stanley shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Stanley had nine birdies and a bogey in windy afternoon conditions at Coco Beach Golf & Country Club in Rio Grande.
Peter Uihlein, Josh Teater, Emiliano Grillo, Chris Couch, Henrik Norlander and Rhein Gibson shot 66, and 2013 winner Scott Brown, Martin Laird, Jay McLuen, MJ Daffue, Wes Roach and Julian Etulain followed at 67.
Tennis
FEDERER HAS KNEE SURGERY, WILL MISS FRENCH OPEN » Roger Federer announced that he had undergone surgery on his right knee and would miss a series of tournaments, including the French Open in May.
Federer, who is ranked No. 3 and has won a men’s record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, said the surgery had taken place Wednesday.
“My right knee has been bothering me for a little while,” Federer said in a social media post. “I hoped it would go away, but after an examination, and discussion with my team, I decided to have arthroscopic surgery in Switzerland.”
Federer, 38, said his doctors had confirmed after the procedure that “it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery.” HALEP RALLIES TO SET UP DUBAI
SEMIFINAL AGAINST BRADY » Topseeded Simona Halep came from a set down for the second day in a row to beat Aryna Sabalenka 3- 6, 6-2, 6-2 and reach the semifinals at the Dubai (United Arab Emirates) Championships. Halep had to save a match point against Ons Jabeur on Wednesday and again found herself in trouble against the hardhitting Sabalenka. But she broke for a 3-1 lead in both the second and third sets to earn her third win in four career meetings with the Belarusian.
Halep will next face Amerian qualifier Jennifer Brady, who upset former No. 1 Garbine Muguruza 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6- 4 to reach her third career WTA semifinal.
College athletics
NCAA PLACES PITT FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL ON 3 YEARS’ PROBATION » The NCAA placed the Pittsburgh football and men’s basketball programs on three years probation for multiple coaching violations committed from 2015 to 2018.
Former Panthers basketball coach Kevin Stallings and current football coach Pat Narduzzi both allowed non-staff members to regularly perform coaching duties, thus exceeding the permissible number of coaches, according to a negotiated resolution agreement between the NCAA and the university.
College football
SAN JOSE STATE TO PLAY AT USC » San Jose State athletic director Marie Tuite announced the Spartans’ football team will meet USC on Sept. 4, 2021 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The game replaces a previously scheduled game at Georgia that was canceled. USC had an open spot on its schedule when it canceled a game with UC Davis. SARKISIAN WITHDRAWS FROM COLORADO JOB » Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian pulled his name from consideration for Colorado’s head- coaching position, according to published reports.
Sarkisian interviewed for the post on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. Sarkisian, 45, has been a head coach at Washington (2009-13) and USC (201415). He is heading into his second season as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator. MARSHALL-ECU GAME WILL HONOR
1970 CRASH VICTIMS » Marshall and East Carolina will open the 2020 football season a week earlier than scheduled to accommodate a national television broadcast marking the 50th anniversary of the worst disaster in U.S. sports history.
The schools announced that the game originally set for Sept. 5 in Greenville, North Carolina, now will be played Aug. 29. The schools were bonded forever when Marshall’s chartered plane crashed while returning from a game at East Carolina on Nov. 14, 1970.
Among the 75 people killed were 36 football players.
Boxing
NEVADA BANS WILDER, FURY FACEOFF AFTER WEIGH-IN » Heavyweights Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, who will clash in a highlyanticipated rematch on Saturday in Las Vegas, won’t be able to faceoff after today’s weigh-in, a Top Rank Boxing official said.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission will not allow the fighters to stand toe-to-toe as is customary after a weigh-in, Top Rank media relations director Evan Korn said on Thursday.
“The Commission wants to ensure the fight goes off without a hitch,” he said.
The news comes one day after the two undefeated fighters shoved each other on stage at the outset of a news conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where the fight will be held.
Soccer
NO PELÉ FOR UNVEILING OF STATUE TO HONOR BRAZIL’S 1970 TEAM » Soccer great Pelé did not attend a ceremony to unveil a statue of him representing Brazil’s historic 1970 World Cup winning team. The Brazilian has suffered with mobility problems for years, which has forced him to use walkers and wheelchairs in public.
Nine players of that Brazil squad of almost 50 years ago were present at the headquarters of the country’s soccer confederation in Rio de Janeiro, but the 79-yearold Pelé only took part on video.
His spokesman, Pepito Fornos, said it was already agreed that Pelé would not show up for the unveiling of his statue, which is life sized.