The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Taylor, Hadwin share lead amid frost, gusty winds
Morning frost gave way to gusting wind Thursday in the WM Phoenix Open, leading to tricky scoring conditions at TPC Scottsdale.
“I actually felt the best swing I made of the day was the par-3 seventh, and hit it 20 yards over the green,” top-ranked Rory Mcilroy said after an opening 2-under 73 that left him seven strokes behind.
The frost delayed the start for 1 hour, 50 minutes, with the wind picking up from the northeast and gusting to 25 mph. The temperature climbed from the low 40s in the morning to the high 60s in the afternoon as golf’s biggest party kicked off Super Bowl week in the Valley of the Sun.
“Tricky day,” Mcilroy said. “Hopefully, the wind keeps up this afternoon for the guys out there, and we’ll get back at it tomorrow.”
Canadian friends Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin shared the lead at 5-under 66 when play was suspended because of darkness with the entire afternoon wave unable to finish.
Xander Schauffele opened with a 67. Jason Day and Jim Herman also were 4 under, with Day finishing 10 holes and Herman 13.
Taylor played the back nine in 6-under 30 after making the turn at 1 over. The two-time PGA Tour winner lives in the area and often practices at TPC Scottsdale.
“I don’t see a whole lot of northeast wind here,” Taylor said. “It’s definitely the tougher of the winds, especially coming down the stretch. All those holes are playing a lot longer than typical. I’ve seen a lot of wind conditions, but this was one of the toughest stretches I’ve played out here.”
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler was 1 under through 11 holes.
U.S. Open adds NCAA champ to exempt list
The U.S. Open has added the NCAA champion and Latin America Amateur champions to the list of exempt players, along with making slight tweaks to categories for players who don’t have to qualify.
Some of the changes were due to golf coming fully out of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for qualifying to be held in England and Japan for international players.
The U.S. Open is June 1518 at Los Angeles Country Club.
Players who have signed on with Saudi-funded LIV Golf are still exempt from qualifying, which was expected.
DP World Tour
Tom Mckibbin was a surprise first-round leader of the Singapore Classic after shooting 8-under 64.
The 20-year-old Northern Irishman is ranked No. 308, has just one top10 finish on the European tour and has missed the cut in two of his three events in 2023.
Mckibbin led by a stroke from four players — Matthieu Pavon of France, Sami Valimaki of Finland and Swedish pair Joakim Lagergren and Simon Forsstrom.