Will Gordon has tied his career-low round on the PGA Tour with a nine-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
Gordon, of the US, used an eagle, eight birdies and one bogey to shoot ahead at El Camaleon Golf Club near Cancun on Thursday. Compatriot Russell Henley is alone in second place after an eight-under 63.
Francesco Molinari of Italy, and American trio Scott Piercy, Sam Ryder and Harris English are tied for third at seven under.
Aaron Baddeley is the leading Australian after his even-par 71, with Jason Day (73) and Harrison Endycott (75) further adrift.
The 26-year-old Gordon did not play on the PGA Tour last season and earned his tour card back via the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021-22.
“There’s a lot of guys my age and younger that are having a lot of success out here and guys that have been out here and had some major success that I grew up playing with,” Gordon said.
“Yeah, it does kind of take the fear away in a sense because you know you can do it, but you’ve still got to go out and do it and earn it. So it’s been good to see the KFT class play well this fall and I’ve gotten to see a bunch of those guys, so it’s been a cool transition this fall.”
Gordon holed an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole and made four straight birdies en route to reaching nine under through 13 holes. He shot even par the rest of the way with one bogey and one birdies.
Henley’s 63 was bogey-free, with six of his eight birdies coming on the back nine.
“I haven’t played as much golf the last couple months as I normally do, and the last few tournaments I’ve played I’ve been a little off,” Henley said.
“Just felt really comfortable out there today with my driver, which is big out here for me, a lot of intimidating-looking shots. And rolled some putts in, too. So it was just a nice clean round.”
World No.2 Scottie Scheffler and two-time defending Mayakoba champ Viktor Hovland of Norway are two of 12 players at six under.
Scheffler was recently passed by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy for the No.1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. With McIlroy not playing this week, Scheffler can regain the top spot with a win or a solo second finish.
“I felt like a lot of my birdies today I just hit it really close to the hole,” Scheffler said.
“Like 4 was really close, 5 was a tap-in. No.9 may have been the longest birdie putt I made today and it was like seven feet.”
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