World No. 2 Jon Rahm got off to a great start Thursday at the Mexico Open, firing a first-round 7-under 64 to hold a share of the lead early in the day.
Rahm made a 4-footer for par on the ninth hole – his final hole of the day – to stay bogey-free on the round.
Full-field scores from Mexico Open at Vidanta
The Spaniard has struggled on the greens this season, ranking 132nd in strokes gained: putting and averaging just 70.5 feet of putts made per round, which also ranks 132nd on the PGA Tour.
The putter wouldn’t be an issue Thursday at Vidanta, as Rahm was just an inch shy of 97 feet of putts holed in his first round.
One of the highlights of the day for Rahm came at the drivable par-4 seventh, which was playing just 311 yards. After driving the green, the former world No. 1 rolled in a putt of nearly 42 feet for eagle.
As good as that eagle was, Rahm pointed to a chip-in birdie early in his round on No. 13 as the biggest shot of the day.
“I hadn’t hit my best iron shots early on, right,” Rahm said. “Misjudged it on 10, double crossed it on 11, double crossed it on 13 and got the first two up-and-downs and then chipped that one in from an uncomfortable lie and tough one, right? That was a huge bonus. I think a lot of people obviously would look at the eagle on 7, but that one early on was a huge booster.”
Following the conclusion of Round 1, Rahm is tied for the lead alongside Jonathan Byrd, Brendon Todd, Trey Mullinax, Bryson Nimmer and Kurt Kitayama. Scott Brown, Sahith Theegala, Aaron Wise and Aaron Rai are one shot back at 6 under and there’s 10 players T-11 at 5 under.
Rahm, who has only one top-10 in his last five starts, is trying to win for the first time since capturing his first major championship at last summer’s U.S. Open.