McIlroy opens with 63, Woods struggles
After double bogey on opening hole, Tiger shoots 71
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 in Mexico.
That’s about how their days went Thursday in the Mexico Championship.
McIlroy, already off to a solid start on the back nine, hit a 2-iron on the 305-yard opening hole at Chapultepec Golf Club that landed on the front of the green and was rolling just left of the pin when it settled 6 feet away, leading to an eagle that carried him to an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson.
Woods got the raucous Mexican introduction for his opening tee shot, a 5-wood that also landed on the green — the wrong green. The ball bounced hard off a temporary green to the left and beyond the out-of-bounds stake into the bushes.
And then he nearly did it again, and ultimately had to get up-and-down from 60 feet away in a bunker to escape with double bogey. After a burst of birdies, he struggled to make much the rest of the way and opened with a 71.
“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 was the signature shot in an exquisite start to this World Golf Championship. 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 his second straight week with a 63.
“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.”
He described his 2-iron as close to perfect, just how he envisioned it, a little cut to take off some distance in the thin air of Mexico City.
The only blemish on his round came at the par5 sixth, when he pulled his tee shot into the trees and looked as though he would have to punch out back to the fairway. Standing over the ball, McIlroy
was looking up. He saw a gap between two trees with a tiny limbs, so even if he clipped one, his 8-iron should have been enough to give him a reasonable shot at the green.
There was one limb that concerned him, which McIlroy described as “something a dog would pick up.”
“The one branch it could not hit, it hit,” he said. “It all levels out at the end of the day. I’m just in a good frame of mind, managing my game well, putting went good. And if you putt well, it takes pressure off the rest of your game. And that’s where it’s at.”
Justin Thomas, who lost in a playoff last year to Phil Mickelson, chipped in from 50 feet behind the green on No. 15 for eagle and was at 66. He was tied with Matt Kuchar, who already won in Mexico once this season at the Mayakoba Classic.
PUERTO RICO OPEN: In Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Andres Romero shot a 6-under 66 in windy conditions Thursday to take the first-round 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.
“I always like playing in the wind, but of course it very tough for everyone,” Romero said.
Austria’s Sepp Straka was a stroke back in the event that was canceled last year because of Hurricane Maria.
Ben Crane was at 68 with Ollie Schniederjans, David Hearn, Roberto Castro, Martin Piller, Roberto Diaz, Joey Garber, Nate Lashley and Alex Kang.
LPGA THAILAND: In Chonburi, Thailand, EunHee Ji of South Korea led the LPGA Thailand by two shots after opening with a 9-under-par 63 on Thursday.
Ji won her fifth U.S. LPGA Tour title in her previous event last month, the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Florida.
In her wake were Minjee Lee of Australia, Danielle Kang of the United States, and Jenny Shin of South Korea, each with a 65.
“I felt really great. I didn’t miss any fairways and missed just two greens,” Ji said. “I have a lot of confidence.