Munoz takes first-round lead at Zozo Championship
LOS ANGELES — So much for first impressions.
Sebastian Munoz had a wobbly start to the Zozo Championship on Thursday at Sherwood Country Club, three-putting his way to a bogey on the first hole.
The Colombian quickly regained his balance on the cool, overcast afternoon, however, with four birdies and an eagle on the next six holes, working his way to the top of the leaderboard with an eight-under-par 64.
“At first I was like, ‘What should I do? Should I be more calm? Should I attack more?’ “said Munoz, 27, whose lone victory on the PGA Tour came at the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2019. “I just stopped trying to play anything and just keep playing golf. It’s just one of those days it happens.”
Like the hilly course itself, his round had
swooping undulations. Munoz had a couple of eagles, holing out from 168 and 51 yards, and a doublebogey on 14 where he needed four shots to get inside of 100 yards.
Twelve shots off the lead is Tiger Woods, the tournament’s defending champion, who scuffled through his round with four bogeys and a double.
Woods was four over on the three par-five holes. Before Thursday, he had never finished worse than three over for the day on par-fives in a Tour event.
Rory McIlroy got off to a strong start by shooting a 33 on the front, but he fell apart on the back with a 40 that included three bogeys, two doubles, and three birdies.
Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, withdrew from the tournament with a back injury on the eighth tee after being three under.
Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge, who won the PGA Championship in August, shot a 71. Matthew Wolff, who attended Westlake High, shot a 69.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who has been on a hot streak lately, birdied 15 to get to eight under for a share of the lead, but gave a stroke back with a bogey on 16. He’s tied for second with Justin Thomas, a shot behind Munoz.
Thomas, ranked third in the world, finished the opening round
On the European Tour two weeks ago, Hatton won the BMW PGA Championship by four strokes. He was the first-round leader at the CJ Cup last week in Las Vegas, and shot 65-68 the first two days. He stumbled a bit with a 73 on Saturday, but came back with another 65 on Sunday to tie for third.
After the first round at Sherwood, five players are tied for fourth at six under.
eaglebirdie-birdie.