Kuchar opens with 64 to take lead at Riviera
Tiger Woods began with an unknowing tribute to Kobe Bryant by making an eagle putt that optical cameras measured at 24 feet, 8 inches. He ended his opening round with a reminder that getting around Riviera unscathed is no small task.
That’s what made Matt Kuchar’s day all the more remarkable.
Kuchar drove to the edge of the 10th green and twoputted for birdie and kept right on rolling until he had a 7underpar 64 on Thursday, matching his best score at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles and giving him a threeshot lead in the Genesis Invitational.
So clean was Kuchar’s round that he only once had to stress over a par putt, and he made the 10footer at the par3 fourth.
“I think it’s one of the few courses that has truly stood the test of time,” Kuchar said. “It was a great test of golf 50 years ago when Ben Hogan was playing. It’s a great test today with Tiger Woods and all the young boys playing.”
The conditions were ideal once the morning chill gave way to mild sunshine, and Kuchar took advantage in the morning. As much as Kuchar loves the course, he has only one top 10 in his 13 previous appearances.
Woods was 4under through eight holes and had to settle for a 69.
His record at Riviera is under far greater scrutiny, especially this week as he tries for his 83rd PGA Tour victory to set the career mark he shares with Sam Snead. Woods has not won in 10 appearances as a pro, two others as a teenage amateur.
Kuchar made birdie on two of the par5s, made two birdie putts of 30 feet or longer and rarely was in trouble.
K.H. Lee and Russell Henley also played bogeyfree and were at 67, along with Wyndham Clark from the morning wave. Adam Schenk and Harold Varner III each had 67 in the afternoon under a little more breeze and greens that were bumpier from so much foot traffic during the day.
Rory McIlroy opened with a 68 in his return to No. 1 in the world.
NFL: The Tennessee Titans started working on their long list of pending free agents by agreeing to a oneyear extension with tight end Anthony Firkser. Financial terms were not disclosed. Firkser had 14 catches for 204 yards and a touchdown this season, and he had three catches for 45 yards and two TDs in three playoff games.
Soccer: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late penalty to help Juventus salvage a 11 draw at 10man AC Milan in the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal.
Tennis: Defending champion Reilly Opelka earned his first win of the season, beating Yoshihito Nishioka 64, 64 at the New York Open.
Twotime major winner Petra Kvitova advanced to the quarterfinals at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy in Russia by beating Alison van Uytvanck 76 (1), 16, 62. Last year’s St. Petersburg champion, Kiki Bertens, breezed past Veronika Kudermetova 61, 62 in a secondround match that lasted just 59 minutes.
WNBA: The Atlanta Dream signed twotime AllStar forward Glory Johnson, 29, who has averaged 12 points and 7.7 rebounds through seven seasons with the Tulsa/Dallas franchise.
Obituary: Katsuya Nomura, a mainstay of the baseball world in postwar Japan who was one of the country’s greatest catchers before going on to a long second career as a manager, died Tuesday of a heart attack in Tokyo at 84. In his 26 years as a player and a playermanager, Nomura hit 657 home runs and had 1,988 RBIs, both second on the alltime list to the great Sadaharu Oh. Nomura collected 2,901 hits in 3,017 games, also the secondhighest totals in Japan.