Battling Shubhankar Sharma holds ground in WGC Mexico, Rory McIlroy leads with a 63

Shubhankar Sharma gets off to a 70 in the opening round of the WGC Mexico Championship. Rory McIlroy took charge with a brilliant eight under 63 at the Club de Golf Chapultepec

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Shubhankar Sharma during the third round of the CJ CUP - Getty Images

22 February 2019: Back at the site of his international emergence, Shubhankar Sharma drew from muscle memory in an engaging battle with the course and conditions at the Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico. The 109th ranked Indian made one under 70 in the first round to slot inside the top twenty at the WGC Mexico Championship. Rory McIlroy made a rousing start, posting 8-under 63 to take charge of the leaderboard. Dustin Johnson is trailing by one with Justin Thomas and Matt Kuchar tapping on his heels at -5.

After getting off to a nice tap in birdie at the par-4 second hole, Shubhankar slipped over par when he conceded bogeys at the 3rd and 9th holes. A birdie at the 11th was negated quickly when he slipped back to over par at the par-3 13th hole. But he fought back from there to come home on birdies at the 15th and 18th to sign off in good style.

After a 349 yard drive on the 387-yard par-4 second, Shubhankar Sharma chipped his second shot to 2 feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie on the hole. This moved Shubhankar Sharma to 1 under for the round.

PGA TOUR Notes

On the 186-yard par-3 third, Sharma’s tee shot went 197 yards to the right rough, his second shot went 9 yards to the left intermediate rough, and his chip went 11 yards to the green where he rolled a one-putt for bogey. This moved him to even for the round.

On the 382-yard par-4 ninth, Sharma had a bogey after hitting the green in 3 and two putting, moving Sharma to 1 over for the round.

After a 351 yard drive on the 622-yard par-5 11th, Sharma chipped his third shot to 3 feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie on the hole. This moved Sharma to even-par for the round.

On the 225-yard par-3 13th, Sharma’s tee shot went 189 yards to the right rough, tee shot was a drop, and his chip went 17 yards to the green where he rolled a two-putt for bogey. This moved him to 1 over for the round.

On the 575-yard par-5 15th hole, Sharma reached the green in 3 and sunk a 5-foot putt for birdie. This moved Sharma to even for the round.

After a drive to the left side of the fairway on the 388-yard par-4 18th hole, Sharma had a 154 yard approach shot, setting himself up for the birdie. This moved Sharma to 1 under for the round.

Jordan Spieth’s struggle for consistency found no answers in the opening round. He birdied the first hole, but struggled thereafter signing on a disappointing 75 with his father on the bag. Michael Greller had to fly back home after receiving the news of his father passing away after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s.

“I wish I would have done more for him,” Spieth said of his father, who last caddied for him at the 2011 U.S. Amateur. “But glad he’s stepping in. Our bright moment was probably No. 1. Just trying to progress each day.”

Spieth said Bear Greller had been in hospice, and Michael had visited him early last week. He and Spieth were caught by surprise to learn of his passing in Mexico.

“I thought it would be sometime in the next month or so, based on how he was doing,” Spieth said. “It took a lot for (Michael Greller) to ask to go see him Monday and Tuesday of L.A., which it shouldn’t. That’s where he needed to be. When he said that, I knew it wasn’t good.”

A bogey at the par-5 sixth hole was the only black spot on a brilliant card for Rory. He has been in great form recently and seven birdies and an eagle at the par-4 first was another message that the Northen Irishman was tracking in the right direction as he works his way towards the Masters, the only major missing from his illustrious resume.

“It felt pretty stress-free. I wouldn’t say it was easy. I hit a lot of good golf shots, I left myself a lot of tap-ins for birdies and had a nice eagle on the first hole as well.

“I think for the most part my wedge play was pretty good. I was able to control my distance as well, control trajectories well, but my putting felt great all year, so if I’m excited about anything in my game, it’s the way I’ve putted the last few weeks. 

“Also just my attitude. I’m not putting myself under any pressure, I’ve sort of got things in a really nice perspective. I think that’s probably 80 percent of the reason why I’m playing this good golf over the first few weeks of the year.

“I saw some really good signs last year. I played myself into final groups and had some good chances to win and I think this year is just building upon the good stuff that I was able to do last year.”

Shubhankar made 13 of 18 greens in regulation and even though he is well off the leaders, gave him just enough to work with for the rest of the week. And a dose of positive energy with that nice finish toward the end of the first round.