That didn’t take long, did it?
World No. 5 Henrik Stenson is out, he got in all of 11 holes before he was forced to withdraw, suffering from what was termed “a stomach virus,” which we all know is code for “he drank the wrong water.”
World’s No. 3 wasn’t feeling so hot himself Thursday as he labored through the first round of the WGC-Mexico. Despite his own queasy stomach, Rory McIlroy at his 15th hole of the day, the par five sixth at the Club Golf de Chapultepec, squashed his golf ball with a 368-yard drive then hit his second to about 18 feet and holed it. Turned a so-so day into a queasy-stomach and all effort that got him within a shot of the leaders and there’s a bunch of ’em at four-under par 67.
First, this was far different than Doral where they used to play the WGC Cadillac. Caddy dropped out as the sponsor and maybe the richest man in Mexico jumped in and high-jacked the event to Mexico City. Grupo Salinas is huge and Mr. Salinas, a billionaire, may well be the richest man in a very poor country.
Cadillac wanted to remain as the WGC sponsor at Doral but at a reduced cost. The PGA Tour’s secret motto is “greed is good” and said no thanks and promptly took up Mr. Salinas on his offer.
But we digress, that is history and there were the boys of winter, spring, fall and summer strolling around in the 7,800-foot altitude at good old Chapultepec, a tree-lined throwback of a course with those drive-you-crazy poa annua greens, a perfect setting for our favorite 46-year-old golfer and that would be Mr. Phil Mickelson.
Lefty had it all on display the first day — recovery shots from the trees, spectacular sand saves, you know the whole Lefty nine yards. Does Phil The Thrill speak Spanish? Evidently his game does.
When it was all over, he was part of a leader board where the guys at the top were packed in tight like a bunch of Tamales.
There with Mickelson at four-under were Ryan Moore, Jimmy Walker, Ross Fisher, Lee Westwood and the new kid on the block — Jon Rahm, who will delight the locals because he can speak Spanish, a common trait for those who come from Spain.
Phil was particularly chatty after his 67 with that huge grin of his.
“Beautiful poa annua greens, very much like the ones I grew up on. I love this, I’ve had success at altitude,” Lefty reminded everyone. Indeed he has, he’s won the International twice back in the day at Castle Pines which is 6,300 feet above sea level and he won the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills in Denver which is a meager 5,300 feet, about 2,500 short of where the lads are this week.
Phil then started rambling about how creative he can get with his irons because the thin air takes the spin off the ball and he can hit a nine-iron 185 yards if he chooses to do that. “I enjoy when feel and touch comes into play,” Mickelson said and that’s the case this week with players trying to guess how far their shots will carry along with the poa greens and dreaded Kikuyu grasses around them.
He was fired up and he should be, it’s been a couple of years since Lefty jumped out and led a PGA Tour event in the first round.
McIlroy reported his healed rib was fine and he performed despite the rumblings below.
Dustin Johnson had an insane day on the poa greens where he missed seven putts inside 10-feet “and six of the seven were inside five feet,” D.J. informed everyone. “Obviously I didn’t score well but I played well,” he said after shooting 70 and that kept him very much in touch with the leaders.
World’s No. 4, Hideki Matsuyama struggled and shot 72, No. 5 Stennie’s on his way home and Jordan Spieth struggled a bit but still shot even par 71. World’s No. 2 Jason Day, also known as The Human Ailment is not here, he’s home recovering from a double ear infection. Otherwise, it’s going to be a shootout the rest of the way by the world’s best.
Should be more than entertaining.
