World No. 1 Jon Rahm is out to show, as soon as once more, that he’s the perfect golfer on the planet proper now.
The Spanish star made an enormous transfer on the finish of his first spherical to put up a 7-under-par 65 and set up a two-shot lead on the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday in Orlando, Fla.
After Rahm made an enormous, 35-foot putt to save lots of par on the par-4 fifteenth gap at Bay Hill Club Lodge, he completed his spherical eagle-birdie-birdie to surge previous a trio of gamers within the clubhouse at 5-under 67.
“That one on 15 was huge. I made my worst swing of the day and ended up having 30 feet for par,” Rahm mentioned. “So to make that having a birdie hole coming up is always a big deal.”
Chris Kirk, Cameron Young and Kurt Kitayama are tied for second at 5 beneath after Thursday’s motion. A big tie for fifth at 4-under 68 consists of defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley.
For now, they’re all wanting up at Rahm, who has received 5 of his previous 9 begins worldwide and completed within the high 10 of every his previous 10 begins. He received the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles his final day out for his third title of the younger PGA Tour season.
Rahm was requested if it felt as simple as he was making it look.
“I think the only difference between some of my rounds last year and this one was just putting,” Rahm mentioned. “I don’t think in four days I made a single putt out here. And I made my fair share today. I’ve been putting a lot better this year. But from good putting to bad putting is the smallest difference imaginable. Especially on these greens. These greens can get difficult very quick.”
Rahm birdied the primary three holes at Bay Hill and took his solely bogey of the day on the par-4 eighth. He birdied the par-5 twelfth, and after the par save at No. 15, he drained a 24-foot eagle putt on the par-5 sixteenth.
Rahm landed his tee shot on the par-3 seventeenth inside 3 ft of the cup. He had a birdie putt of simply 6 ft at No. 18.
Kirk, coming off a win eventually week’s Honda Classic, was a co-leader within the clubhouse for a lot of the afternoon. He began his spherical on the again 9 and bogeyed his first and final holes (Nos. 10 and 9) however rolled in seven birdies in between.
“I felt a little bit like a zombie this morning, but can’t really take away from the excitement that I have playing this event every year,” Kirk mentioned. “I talked about it some the last few days, the personal relationship I had with Mr. Palmer, and I just have always loved this golf tournament. He was a big influence and somebody that I really looked up to, and so this tournament is something.”
Young, final season’s PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, is within the hunt for his breakthrough Tour victory because of an early eagle. He additionally began his spherical on the again 9 and chipped in from 27 ft for an eagle on the par-5 twelfth.
Rahm’s direct competitors for the title of finest golfer on the planet is Scheffler, who briefly regained the No. 1 rating when he defended his title on the Waste Management Phoenix Open final month earlier than Rahm overtook him.
Scheffler made six birdies and two bogeys, together with one at his closing gap, the par-4 ninth.
“I appreciate the fact that this golf course is very challenging and I feel like it’s a place where I can just try and hang in there. That’s what I did last year,” Scheffler mentioned. “I did not play wonderful for 4 days. One of the fellows I performed a observe spherical with this week requested me what I did so nicely final 12 months, and I simply advised him I survived. That’s actually what it felt like.
“This place is brutal and it’s only going to get harder as the week goes on.”
World No. 3 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland made a double-bogey 7 on the sixth gap and stumbled to a 1-over 73.
Other notables on the top-tier “designated event” embrace Adam Scott of Australia at 3-under 69; Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, Tony Finau and Max Homa at 2-under 70; and Jason Day of Australia, Sungjae Im of South Korea, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Viktor Hovland of Norway all at 1-under 71.
–Field Level Media