Scheffler can steal No. 1 back, Hovland lurking and a Molinari sighting on tour for the first time in months

By Evin Priest
Worldwide by name, worldwide by nature. With the PGA Tour in Mexico this week for the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, it’s the fourth different country the tour has visited in the seven fall tournaments this season after playing in the US, Japan and Bermuda.
Will Gordon, a Korn Ferry Tour graduate, leads at nine-under par after a sensational 62, which was one shot off the course record at the par-71 El Camaleón Golf Course. Veterans Russell Henley (63), Scott Piercy (64) and Francesco Molinari (64) also put their names in the mix, while Sweden’s David Lingmerth, defending champion Viktor Hovland and Scotland’s Martin Laird (65) are among a group of players at six-under.
The international flavor is just one of the takeaways from Round 1 at Mayakoba. Here are a handful of other observations:

World No. 1 watch
The golf world welcomed Rory McIlroy returning to World No. 1 for the first time in over two years when he won the CJ Cup in South Carolina last month. But McIlroy’s ninth stint as top dog is under threat by the guy he usurped, Scottie Scheffler. The reigning Masters champ and PGA Tour Player of the Year could reclaim the top spot with a victory or a solo second place this week. Scheffler fired a well-balanced 65 on Thursday with three birdies on both nines and no bogeys. The Texan attributed his blemish-free round to solid approach play.
“I hit a few shots today that were like really, really close to the hole,” he said. “[The birdie on] No. 4 was really close, and No. 5 was a tap-in. No. 9 may have been the longest birdie putt I made today and it was like seven feet. I hit it to about two feet on 11. I had a tap-in birdie on the par 5 [13th], and on 16, I hit it to like a foot for a birdie.”

Viktor Hovland on the 13th green during the first round of the World Wide Technology Championship. Hector Vivas

Defending champion in the mix
Scheffler played alongside Hovland, who has won each of the past two years at Mayakoba. While there are still three rounds remaining, Hovland gave himself a chance at a three-peat in Mexico with a 65. [Sidenote: The last player to win a PGA Tour event three years in a row was Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic from 2009-2011].
Hovland jumped out of the gates Thursday with four birdies and an eagle for a front nine of 30 before cooling down with an even-par back nine.
“I think the last two years I’ve started [with a] 4- and 5-under [opening rounds], so I improved on that,” Hovland said. “I made a couple putts and holed out from a bunker. I did a lot of good stuff today. But at the same time, I felt like I hit some really bad shots, too. So I feel like there’s still opportunities to improve.”

When in Rome
Molinari, who played the autumn solely on the DP World Tour before this week, got his PGA Tour season off to a flyer Thursday with eight birdies and a bogey for a tidy 64. The 2018 Open Championship winner is hoping to qualify for the European team for the next year’s Ryder Cup in his homeland, and not have to lean on captain Luke Donald for a pick when the cup heads to Rome in September.
A hero of the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, Molinari will have his work cut out; he is well outside the standings for Europe given his recent T-9 at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA at Wentworth was his first worldwide top-10 since a T-6 at the PGA Tour’s American Express back in January.
With Rome on his mind, Molinari is hoping to make a statement over the next three days at Mayakoba.
“I think [El Camaleón] is a course that should suit my game quite well,” Molinari said. “I was happy to come back and hopefully improve the performance from [a missed cut at the event] last year.”

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Scheffler can steal No. 1 back, Hovland lurking and a Molinari sighting on tour for the first time in months

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