Charley Hoffman opened play Sunday with a commanding lead, but Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose were both within striking distance of him.
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MEXICO CITY — Rory McIlroy switched back to his old putter for the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and it made a world of difference. It helps that he’s still hitting the ball like the best player in the world. Related: Leaderboard | Brotherhood of the slump: How TOUR pros found their way back McIlroy ripped a 4-iron from 275 yards into the thin air at Chapultepec to 15 feet for eagle on his second hole Thursday, made five more birdies and opened the WGC-Mexico Championship with a 6-under 65 for a two-shot lead. This is the only World Golf Championships event that McIlroy hasn’t won as he tries to join Dustin Johnson as the only players to win all four of them. Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson were at 67. Abraham Ancer of Mexico got some of the biggest cheers, especially when he ran off three straight birdies to overcome a rough start. He opened with a 70. The course, at about 7,800 feet above sea level, is ideal for McIlroy the way he launches the ball. But this was about his putting. He took only 26 putts and ranked No. 4 in the key putting statistic for the round. He attributes that to his regular 34-inch putter. A week ago at Riviera, he tried a 35-inch putter to help get his shoulder and elbow in a better position. But he said it hurt with lining up the putts, and it cost him. McIlroy was tied for the 54-hole lead and shot 73 in the final round — including a triple bogey on the fifth hole — and tied for fifth “It didn’t quite work out the way I want it to, so I went back to the 34-inch,” he said. “I just felt a little bit more comfortable today and was seeing my lines a little bit better. And yeah, it was a good day.” As for his swing? Efficient as ever. The best example of his advantage was the par-5 15th hole early in his round. U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, who hits low-trajectory bullets, caught it a little high on the face of the club and it came out low with little spin. McIlroy launched a rocket and was 55 yards past him. McIlroy hit 9-iron from 192 yards that set up a two-putt birdie. It was like that all day. “I think with the fairways being so soft, as well, on a coule of the par 5s I teed it up high and sort of launched it,” he said. “And then even the drive on the eighth hole, getting it up and over the trees, I hit a 9-iron in there, where Gary and Tommy (Fleetwood) were hitting 6’s in. So that’s a pretty big difference.” Woodland was even with him until a few mistakes on the front nine sent him to a 70. He’s not about to change his game for one week in high altitude. “Rory likes to hit it up in the air,” Woodland said. “This golf course … I’m surprised he hasn’t won here because it sets up perfectly for him.” McIlroy played nicely last year, finishing at 16-under 268, and lost by five shots to Dustin Johnson, another guy whom the course suits well — just not this year. Johnson, who has gone a year without winning, opened with a 76, his highest opening round since The Open Championship at Carnoustie in 2018. His only birdie was on No. 1 after making the turn. He hit 3-wood on the 303-yard hole to 8 feet and missed the eagle putt. Chapultepec has plenty of scoring holes, but it’s easy to get out of position and the poa annua greens are every bit as difficult to putt as Riviera last week. Not making it any easier was a wind with gusts up to 15 mph, unusual in the four years this World Golf Championships event has come to Mexico City. “You can go so low, but man, if you’re not playing well, you can shoot over par in a heart beat,” Thomas said. “It’s pretty tough to manage your score.” Louis Oosthuizen, Billy Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau and Corey Conners were at 67. Conners was in position to keep pace with McIlroy until missing a 10-foot birdie on the 15th hole, and then missing the 18-inch par putt. Watson arrived in Mexico in a good frame of mind after missing the cut in Los Angeles, where he said he hit the ball great but couldn’t make a putt. He stuck around for the weekend, called Justin Bieber and had a foursome of fun at Lakeside. “Freed it up and just had some fun and realized I was in a good frame of mind,” he said. “Who cares about missing a cut, really? We’ve got other things to worry about.” His only worry Thursday was wind and elevation, a tough combination. Jon Rahm didn’t make a birdie until the 15th hole and still salvaged a 72. Adam Scott, who won last week at Riviera, opened with a 74, along with Jordan Spieth. Only 18 players from the 72-man field broke par.
Medicals extensions in order of the 2021-22 PGA TOUR Priority Ranking ^ – If Ryan Moore or Briny Baird fails to meet the terms of his medical, he’ll be demoted to conditional status. • Kiradech Aphibarnrat … In the only start on his Minor Medical Extension, he missed the cut at the Fortinet Championship. He fell 341.155 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms, so he will play out of no worse than Category No. 26 of the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. • Joseph Bramlett … In the only start on his Minor Medical Extension, he finished in a five-way T42 at the Fortinet Championship. He fell 100.017 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms, so he will play out of no worse than Category No. 23 of the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. • Cameron Percy … In the only start on his Minor Medical Extension, he finished in a two-way T64 at the Fortinet Championship. He fell 36.197 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms, but he cleared the threshold for conditional status by 117.021 FedExCup points, so he will play out of no worse than Category No. 32 in the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. • Vincent Whaley … In the only start on his Minor Medical Extension, he missed the cut at the Fortinet Championship. He fell 67.409 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms, so he will play out of no worse than Category No. 26 of the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. • Kevin Stadler … In the last start on his Major Medical Extension, he missed the cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He fell 438.570 FedExCup points or $685,699 shy of fulfilling its terms and 303.045 FedExCup points short of securing conditional status. As a result, the Past Champion has been demoted to Category 35 in the Priority Ranking. • Jim Knous … In the last start on his medical extension in the Graduate Reshuffle, he finished in a five-way T57 at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He fell 85.863 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms, but he cleared the threshold for conditional status by 1.684 FedExCup points, so he will play out of no worse than Category No. 32 in the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. • Danny Lee … In the second-to-last start on his Minor Medical Extension, he fulfilled its terms with a four-way T7 at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. As a result, he will play out of no worse than Category No. 22 in the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. • David Hearn … In the last start on his Minor Medical Extension, he missed the cut at The RSM Classic. He fell 199.051 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms and 45.833 FedExCup points short of securing conditional status. As a result, the Veteran Member has been demoted to Category 34 in the Priority Ranking. • D.J. Trahan … In the last start on his Minor Medical Extension, he missed the cut at The RSM Classic. He fell 318.084 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms and 164.866 FedExCup points short of securing conditional status. As a result, the Past Champion has been demoted to Category 35 in the Priority Ranking. • Kevin Chappell … In the last start on his Major Medical Extension, he finished in a six-way T43 at the WM Phoenix Open. He fell 98.127 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms and 10.580 FedExCup points short of securing conditional status. As a result, the Past Champion has been demoted to Category 34 in the Priority Ranking. • Grayson Murray … In the last start on his medical extension in the Graduate Reshuffle, he missed the cut at The Honda Classic. He fell 315.111 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms and 161.893 FedExCup points short of conditional status. As a result, the Past Champion has been demoted to Category 34 in the Priority Ranking. • Ryan Brehm … In the only start on his Minor Medical Extension, he won the Puerto Rico Open. So, he will play out of no worse than Category No. 9 for the remainder of the season. • Wesley Bryan … In the last start on his Major Medical Extension, he finished in a four-way T62 at the Valspar Championship. He fell 91.054 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms and 3.507 FedExCup points short of conditional status. As a result, the Past Champion has been demoted to Category 34 in the Priority Ranking. • Kelly Kraft … In the last start on his Major Medical Extension, he missed the cut at the Valspar Championship. He fell 234.190 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms, so the Korn Ferry Tour Finals graduate will play out of no worse than Category 26 of the Priority Ranking for the remainder of the season. • Ryan Blaum … In the last start on his Non-exempt Medical Extension, he missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship. He fell 402.510 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms and 249.292 FedExCup points short of securing conditional status. As a result, he no longer has status on the PGA TOUR. • Seung-Yul Noh … In the last start on his Major Medical Extension, he missed the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He fell 217.355 FedExCup points shy of fulfilling its terms and 106.033 FedExCup points short of conditional status. As a result, the Past Champion has been demoted to Category 34 in the Priority Ranking. # – In the field at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday as of May 27. * – Because the FedExCup points structure was modified for the 2016-17 season, when golfers on medicals granted to time missed before the conversion earn FedExCup points in a tournament in 2021-22, they will be credited with the values distributed through the 2015-16 season. Thus, both “FedExCup points earned” and “FedExCup points remaining” for these golfers reflect the distribution through 2015-16 and not actual points earned that apply to their FedExCup ranking in the 2021-22 season.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Anirban Lahiri was dirty on himself. Sang-Moon Bae was near inconsolable. Jason Day had had a week to forget in a year he’d otherwise bottle for life. Adam Scott was cut deep, emotionally wallowing in the pain of a sixth consecutive defeat. But in those first few moments after the heartbreaking loss in the 2015 Presidents Cup in Korea the International Team captain Nick Price proved – for the 1000th time – why he is the man for the job again this week at Liberty National in New Jersey. Price told Lahiri, who had missed a four-foot putt that could have clinched at worst a tie, and Bae, who had chunked a chip trying to win the now tying point, that they would never face pressure like that again in their lives. He lifted the world off their shoulders and tried to place it on his own. He shifted the focus and told the pair it was their first crack at the event and they would get another chance and be better for it. It wasn’t lip service. While Bae was not in the mix this year thanks to leaving the game for military service, Lahiri was one of Price’s captains picks. There were five players ahead of him on the points list but Lahiri got the nod. Price believes in his man. And in return, Lahiri and the rest of the team believe in him. “He’s a player’s captain. The boys usually rally around him. When he talks, everyone shuts up and listens,â€� Day says. Showing the brave face in Korea can’t have been easy. After taking over from Greg Norman for the 2013 Presidents Cup, the former world No. 1 Price came into the job ready to rumble. He’d played on five International teams, including the only two successful ones. A win in 1998 and draw in 2003. But what he found was a sense of defeat before the competition had even begun. The players liked to represent their countries but just felt like they were on a hiding to nothing given the 34 points they played for. With nowhere to hide the depth of the International Team was being severely tested. For context – Lahiri is the 68th ranked player in the world this week, the lowest mark of all 24 players involved. Phil Mickelson sits at 30th in the world, the “worstâ€� of the Americans. All up, there are currently 34 American players ranked higher than Lahiri in the world. So, the disparity had made life hard on the International Team and the mounting losses had affected morale. Price had already begun campaigning for a points reduction prior to 2013. When his team fell 18.5-15.5 at Muirfield Village despite a rousing effort in singles where they began six points in arrears, he really ramped it up. He called for it publically in the post mortem press conference. He then spent every effort he could pleading his case with the powers that be before having success. In 2015 they played for a total of 30 points and bar those late mistakes an “upsetâ€� would have transpired. Not only had he worked his butt off to get the change, but he had learned from his first trip out and focused heavily on team unity and comradery in the lead up. Price affected more change also. Now there are four Captains Assistants on the books of both teams allowing someone to cover each match during team sessions. “Americans play every year under their own flag. We don’t have that, but Pricey has made everyone feel like we are under the same banner,â€� Day adds. “He has us together. He has us wanting to fight for the guy next to us as well as for ourselves. And that’s huge.â€� In the reception after the loss in Korea, Adam Scott stood up to thank their captain. It was expected to be his last go around at the top and gratitude was in order. It wasn’t a prepared speech. It wasn’t fully polished. But it was emotional and powerful. “Adam was incredibly kind to both my wife and I, because I think they appreciated the amount of time that we put in,â€� Price recalled of the night. “This wasn’t something that we took lightly. We put in a lot of time and effort into this, and so that was what made me feel so good was I think the boys recognized that. “It’s a time‑consuming thing, but I think the guys understand the passion that I have for the Presidents Cup, and I want to pass that passion on to the other guys.â€� By the time Scott was winding up the speech he made a point to say he wanted Price back again in 2017. The players hadn’t planned it or really spoken of it but to a man they started to bang their fists on the tables in agreement. Their cheers grew more raucous. Glasses were raised in toast. It was clear, Price was their man. “Nick is such an incredible guy. It’s been documented his entire career. An amazing champion, an amazing competitor,â€� Scott says. “He’s a very relaxed guy. He can make anyone feel comfortable around him, and that’s important for all players on the team.â€� Scott was also extremely impressed in the no stone unturned strategy improvement from Price from 2013 to 2015. It was evident Price had spent many late nights planning from the moment they left Ohio in 2013. “He learned so much from doing it the first time on how to manage his team, have a strategy, get the team to embrace it,â€� Scott adds. “It just was a different level for me when he was in Korea than the time before and the captains before that. “He really had a great plan and executed it. When we didn’t execute on the course, he had a backup plan for us. He was really prepared, and I think he led so well.â€� And so, Price left Korea finding positivity in his efforts. He thought about the Ryder Cup in the early 1980s when Europe came close to winning and the late Seve Ballesteros called it a victory because they were finally competitive. Perhaps Price is overseeing the changing of the guard. With the 2019 Presidents Cup heading to Royal Melbourne in Australia, the International team is quietly confident the trend could continue to shift towards them. There is a real hunger to get the Cup now. A hunger that had dwindled with each drubbing they’d taken. But this International Team is inspired to not only win for themselves, but also for Price. “He will be the first guy who should get to touch the Cup if we win it,â€� Day says. “He’s earned it.â€�
