Denny McCarthy, chasing his first US PGA Tour triumph, closed with a seven-foot eagle putt to seize a one-stroke lead after a wet first spherical of the Genesis Invitational.
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The 31-year-old American fired a four-under par 68 at shower-softened Torrey Pines close to San Diego, the place the occasion was moved from Riviera because of Los Angeles wildfires harm.
Gamers battled chilly, windy and wet circumstances, with McCarthy’s first Torrey Pines go to in 4 years off to a brutal however profitable begin.
“I’m a grindy competitor so I knew it was going to be a problem and I got here out with the angle that I used to be simply going to have enjoyable and attempt to embrace it as a lot as I may,” McCarthy stated.
“Was an enormous assist to play the pro-am yesterday in even nastier circumstances, so it ready me very well for the pictures I knew I used to be going to face.”
Eire’s Seamus Energy and American Patrick Rodgers shared second on 69 with Individuals Wyndham Clark, Davis Thompson and Scottie Scheffler sharing fourth on 70.
Min Woo Lee made a robust begin to lead the Australian contingent with a 71, with Adam Scott carding 74 and Jason Day 76.
World quantity three Rory McIlroy, a winner two weeks in the past at Pebble Seaside, was in a pack on 72 however turned heads with an unimaginable spinning shot out of the infamous Torrey Pines tough on the fifth gap.
Prime-ranked Scheffler lipped out from simply inside 4 ft on a birdie putt on the par-5 18th to remain two adrift.
“Very troublesome to attain. It obtained fairly windy on the market and that makes it troublesome to putt,” Scheffler stated.
“Lacking putts is one thing that’s going to occur. You may hit putts that not go in however I did a reasonably good job of staying affected person,” added Scheffler, whose 9 victories final 12 months included Paris Olympic gold, his second Masters inexperienced jacket and the PGA Tour Championship.
World quantity 50 McCarthy’s finest PGA profession finishes have been playoff losses in final April’s Texas Open and the 2023 Memorial match.
McCarthy sank a 42-foot birdie putt from the perimeter on the primary gap, shook off bogeys on the par-3 third and par-4 fifth with birdies on the par-5 sixth and par-3 eleventh.
He made a birdie putt at 15 from simply inside 20 ft, missed the inexperienced to bogey the par-3 sixteenth, sank a 25-foot birdie putt at 17 and dropped his second shot at 18 to seven ft, organising his eagle.
“It was very troublesome, particularly with the rain and the tough size. The tough’s gnarly and the rain makes it much more troublesome,” stated McCarthy.
“Despite the fact that the greens are smooth, it was nonetheless actually arduous to get near sure flags, particularly with the wind course.” Energy birdied two of the final 4 holes, sinking a birdie putt from simply outdoors 10 ft at 15 and touchdown his strategy inside three ft at 17 to arrange a tap-in birdie.
“Hardest half was simply getting it on the fairways,” Energy stated. “You’re carrying further layers. It virtually feels tougher in these kind of circumstances and as quickly as you miss a fairway you’re in huge hassle.” Rodgers birdied the final two holes, sinking an 11-foot birdie putt at 17 and discovering the par-5 18th inexperienced in two to arrange a tap-in birdie.
“You’re simply making an attempt to get again below the umbrella or get the heated mitts again on,” Rodgers stated.
Scheffler birdied the second from simply inside 14 ft and the fourth on a five-foot putt.
After a three-putt bogey on the fifth, he answered with a tap-in birdie on the par-5 sixth and a 10-foot birdie putt on the seventh.
Scheffler discovered deep left tough on a bunker’s edge at 14 and his strategy sank in greenside tough on the best way to a bogey earlier than his birdie miss at 18.
“All the things was moist on the market. It was fairly loopy,” Scheffler stated. “You simply needed to handle your method across the golf course and know par is a very good rating.”
Main scores after Thursday’s first spherical of the PGA Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines (par 72, USA until famous):
68 – Denny McCarthy
69 – Seamus Energy (IRL), Patrick Rodgers
70 – Davis Thompson, Wyndham Clark, Scottie Scheffler
71 – Nick Dunlap, Sam Burns, Nico Echavarria (COL), Jake Knapp, Andrew Novak, Min Woo Lee (AUS), Michael Kim
72 – Corey Conners (CAN), Sahith Theegala, Russell Henley, Aaron Rai (ENG), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Sam Stevens
73 – Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland (NOR), Tom Kim (KOR), Shane Lowry (IRL), Collin Morikawa