Jon Rahm was en fuego to start the Mexico Open: ‘Probably as solid a round as I’ve had all year’

Jon Rahm had a simple plan for playing Vidanta Golf Course in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico — hit driver everywhere.

“If it doesn’t fit,” he said, “we’ll figure it out.”

Rahm found the generous fairways fit his trademark fade just fine in the opening round of the Mexico Open, finding the short grass on 12 of 13 holes on his way to shooting a bogey-free 7-under 64 and grabbing a share of the lead at the PGA Tour’s newest event on the schedule.

“When I feel at my best, I’m pretty much comfortable hitting driver anywhere,” Rahm said. “It was one of those rounds where it felt like everything clicked together. Short game was good, had a chip-in, putting was good and tee to green was fantastic.”

Taking advantage of the drivable 7th.

Nothing to it, @JonRahmPGA 🦅 pic.twitter.com/aFUQzYCtye

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 28, 2022

Rahm, who was unseated as World No. 1 last month and entered the week at No. 2, started on the back nine with a couple of nifty par saves and jumpstarted his round with three birdies in a row starting at No. 12, where he holed a 15-foot putt. Then he chipped in from 30 feet at 13 – “a huge bonus,” he said – and capped the birdie streak with a 2-putt birdie at the par-5 14th.

Rahm’s birdie pace slowed as he worked hard to add circles on the card by sinking a nine-foot putt at 18 and drilling an approach from 206 yards to 3 feet. That improved the Spaniard to 5 under.

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“Although I went into a little dry spell, I didn’t care about it so much because it is not the easiest golf course,” Rahm said. “The one thing to keep in mind for people watching the scores, there’s a big difference between morning and afternoon (conditions). We had no wind for 13, 14 holes, it’s very, very scorable. Once the wind starts going 20, 30 miles an hour, this golf course starts showing some teeth.”

Rahm took advantage of his ball-striking prowess and said he felt especially comfortable with the driver, averaging 325 yards off the tee with a long of 336 yards. He had missed a pair of makeable birdie putts in a row when he stepped to the tee at the 311-yard par-4 seventh, drove the green and his 42-foot putt turned right and crept in for eagle.

“I never really lost patience here,” said Rahm, who deemed his performance as “probably as solid a round as I played all year,” and for the eighth time since 2018, posted an opening round of 64 or better, most of any player on Tour in that period.

Rahm shared the lead with Monday qualifier Bryson Nimmer, rookie Kurt Kitayama, Trey Mullinax and veterans Jonathan Byrd and Brendon Todd. Starting on the back nine, Todd heated up on the front side, dropping six birdies between the second hole and the seventh. His streak of four in a row began with a 5-wood from 235 yards that rolled to within a foot of the hole.

“That was just kind of a big momentum birdie,” said Todd, 36, who could use a good week having recorded just one top-10 finish in 16 starts this season.

Byrd, 44, hit eight of nine greens on the front nine and at the one he missed he chipped in from 25 feet for birdie en route to shooting an opening-nine 29.

The second ace of the day on the 5th hole!@S_Gutschewski one-hops it in for his second career hole-in-one on TOUR. pic.twitter.com/62TEOqraZY

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 28, 2022

“When you catch a run, you’ve just got to press down the pedal and see what you can get out of it,” Byrd said.

Two more birdies and his lone hiccup of the day, a bogey at 15, and Byrd, who last won in 2001, signed for his best start to a tournament this season. All facets of his game were cooperating but none more so than his putting. As part of his practice routine, Byrd attempts to make at least 100 feet of putts.

“Today I did it on the course,” he said.