MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Will Gordon matched the lowest round of his PGA career with a nine-under-par 62 to grab a one-stroke lead after Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Mayakoba Championship.
The 26-year-old American made eight birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey to stand one stroke ahead of compatriot Russell Henley after 18 holes at El Camaleon in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
“I was in a fairway almost every hole,” Gordon said. “So you have a lot of opportunity to hit the ball close. And with the putter hot, it was a pretty smooth day.”
“It’s just really about managing my expectations and my emotions, so I feel like I did a good job of that today. Kind of let the round come to me and I putted it really well.”
Sharing third on 64 were Italy’s Francesco Molinari, the 2018 British Open champion, and Americans Scott Piercy, Sam Ryder and Harris English.
Two-time defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway and second-ranked Scottie Scheffler, the reigning Masters champion who could overtake Rory McIlroy for world number one with a victory,
were in a pack on 65.
Gordon, chasing his first PGA title, had a chance at breaking 60 after a sizzling start but settled for tying his prior best from the second round of the 2020 Travelers Championship, where he achieved his best career PGA finish by sharing third.
World number 205 birdied the second and third holes and eagled the par-5 fifth, then got up and down out of a greenside bunker to birdie the par-5 seventh hole.
