McIlroy emerges after 3-week swing reworking

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Matthew Wolff arrived at Mayakoba and quickly realized El Camaleon might not be a good course for what he calls his “rip dog” length. Then again, he’s playing so well it doesn’t matter. RELATED: Leaderboard | Viktor Hovland uses borrowed driver to open with 67 at Mayakoba Wolff hit only one driver Thursday, followed his script of keeping the ball in play and ripped off a 10-under 61 to match his career low on the PGA TOUR. It gave him a two-shot lead among early starters in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Aaron Wise had the better start, reaching 8 under through 10 holes. No one started better than Chris Kirk, who opened with a 6-iron on the par-3 10th that he couldn’t find until realizing it was in the cup for a hole-in-one. Sergio Garcia and Talor Gooch had the low scores from the afternoon session and joined Kirk and Billy Horschel at 64. Wolff kept it steady from start to finish, such a thoroughly efficient round that only later did he realize he had the course record at the resort along the Gulf of Mexico. “As soon as I finished the round, my caddie said to me, ‘You know, I’ve been caddying for you quite a few rounds and that was not the one that I thought was going to be the lowest,’” Wolff said. “It was very steady. Birdies came evenly throughout the round, didn’t really make any mistakes. … Every shot I was comfortable over.” There is some serious comfort in Wolff’s game at the moment, which has been trending this direction since he learned not to let his score affect his outlook on life. He last played three weeks ago in Las Vegas at the Shriners Hospitals Open, and he had a share of the lead with nine holes to play until Sungjae Im left everyone in his wake with a 62. Wolff finished alone in second. The break gave the 22-year-old Californian time to put serious concentration into his game with swing coach George Gankas. The result was feeling confident in his setup, which feeds through the rest of his athletic game. His only driver Thursday was on the par-5 13th. “It’s obviously nice being able to rip dog because it’s a big advantage,” Wolff said. “I can carry some stuff that most people can’t, so obviously I love courses that I can hit driver on. But I think along with me — every other player out here — when we’re playing good, I mean, it doesn’t matter if a course doesn’t suit you well. “When you’re on, you’re on,” he said. “And stuff was just kind of going right for me.” Nothing was going right for Justin Thomas, who was 3 over through 11 holes and toward the bottom of the pack. He birdied six of his last seven holes for a 68. A year ago, Thomas was lagging behind when he shot 62 to at least give himself a chance going into the final round. He tied for 12th. So he’s not the fastest starter at Mayakoba. More bothersome was another slow start at the CJ CUP @ SUMMIT in Las Vegas until he closed with a 64. “I should be and I will be more pleased with the turnaround, but at the moment I’ve got to figure out how to just get off to a little bit better start,” Thomas said. Kirk was in the first group, started on the par-3 10th and figured it was a perfect 6-iron from 204 yards. He couldn’t see with great clarity at dawn, but he knew he hit a good shot and his caddie thought he saw it rolling on the green. But there wasn’t a ball on the green. “It was just light enough to kind of see what we were doing, but I hit a really good shot and saw it going right at it and that was it,” Kirk said. “Once we got up there and didn’t see a ball on the green, we had a decent idea of where it might be. But Jonas (Blixt) and Danny (Lee) got up to the hole before and saw that immediate reaction of arms in the air and started clapping. “It was pretty cool.” John Huh also had a hole-in-one at No. 8 and shot 66. Rickie Fowler also opened with a 66 along with Ian Poulter, who is trying to nudge his way back into the top 50 in the world. Defending champion Viktor Hovland and Tony Finau were in the group at 67, while Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry had to settle for 71.

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SYDNEY, Australia – When South African legend Ernie Els accepted the job as International captain for the Presidents Cup, he assumed he’d be leading a handful of his countrymen into battle. Traditionally, Australian and South African players have dominated the International team and Els would have expected at least three, perhaps even four, of his brethren to be there with him in the trenches. But all the pre-orders of biltong and boerewors will now have to be consumed by Louis Oosthuizen, the lone South African in the 12-man squad. Well… Els and his assistant Trevor Immelman can help, of course. But, perhaps there is a good omen brewing. Related: Internationals hoping to turn loss into gain | U.S. Team first-timers an unusually accomplished group The last time an International team had just one South African was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne – the same course the two teams will do battle on next week. That player was Els and he was part of the lone International team to ever win the Presidents Cup. “That is a good omen,â€� Els said with a smile. “Obviously Louis is in form and hopefully he can keep that up. “It is certainly a surprise we have just one, but the strength of South African golf is still something to be proud of. Quite a few guys came close… but I’ve picked guys who have played well for a long time.â€� Indeed, a year ago, there were several South Africans in the mix. First, former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, a member of the last four International teams, came down with a long term wrist injury. Then Branden Grace – an 11-time European Tour winner and champion at the 2016 RBC Heritage on the PGA TOUR – lost any semblance of form. Grace went 5-0 in the 2015 Presidents Cup in Korea with Oosthuizen as his partner. But after a runner-up finish at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February, he had just one top-10 in 23 worldwide starts prior to the captain’s picks. “It was unfortunate that Gracie couldn’t make it,â€� Oosthuizen said. “I know he was trying really hard at the end there and pushing and pushing, but the other guys just played so well. I think Ernie wanted to pick Gracie, but he couldn’t because the other guys were just playing too good and Branden understands that.â€� Other South Africans on the periphery of selection at times also failed to force Els’ hand into a pick after showing flashes of brillianc,e but not maintaining it. Justin Harding won the Qatar Masters in March and followed it up with a runner-up at the Kenya Open. After he was T10 at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May, he reached 42nd in the world rankings. But from there, his results petered out, and he sits 66th now. Erik Van Rooyen thrust himself into the mix with a win at the Scandinavian Invitation in August and was on a short list to come into the team once Jason Day withdrew given four top-15 results since before Els ultimately went with Byeong Hun An. Dylan Fritelli won the John Deere Classic in July but failed to really back it up with much consistency, and Shaun Norris rich vein of form came late, and was on the Japan Tour, which didn’t carry as much weight in Els’ decision process. And so the weight of a nation falls to Oosthuizen, the only team member with an individual winning record at 7-5-3 over the last three Presidents Cups. While he will fly the flag with pride, Oosthuizen also has a close watch on the next breed coming from his homeland, thanks to his Louis57 Foundation that has been fostering junior talent for the last 10 years. Three of his players will be on the International Team this weekend in the Junior Presidents Cup to be also held at Royal Melbourne. “It will be strange being the only South African in the team but I’ve been with Leish and Scotty in all the other teams that I’ve played in, so they feel just as close as what the South Africans would feel to me,â€� Oosthuizen says. “And we have Christo Lamprecht, Jordan Duminy and Martin Vorster from my academy playing next week. Vorster is going to be the next big thing out of South Africa… Duminy as well… they’ve been in my academy from get go and are great ball-strikers. Martin has won in South Africa and overseas and is on a great path. “So there is plenty of potential coming for future Presidents Cups.â€� For this Presidents Cup, Oosthuizen says he won’t be a lone wolf. “Everyone always says that we don’t have team spirit or don’t have enough. I can promise you, when Thursday comes, we’re like 12 brothers in that team. We’ve bonded, we’re ready to go, we want to win,â€� he said of the International team. “We need to get our name on the trophy again and show the Americans we’re here to play. We’re here to win the trophy, to win the Cup and not just show up to just have a good week.â€� SOUTH AFRICA’S HISTORY AT PRESIDENTS CUP 1994: Fulton Allem, David Frost 1996: Ernie Els, David Frost 1998: Ernie Els 2000: Ernie Els, Retief Goosen 2003: Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark. (Captain Gary Player) 2005: Tim Clark, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman. (Captain Gary Player) 2007: Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Rory Sabbatini. (Captain Gary Player) 2009: Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark. (Captain Gary Player). 2011: Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Charl Schwartzel. (Tim Clark Captain’s Assistant) 2013: Ernie Els, Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Richard Sterne. 2015: Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel. 2017: Branden Grace, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel. (Ernie Els Captain’s Assistant) 2019: Louis Oosthuizen. (Ernie Els Captain, Trevor Immelman Captain’s Assistant)

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