Rory McIlroy shot a superb 65 to lead the World Golf Championship in Mexico City by two as he seeks to complete the WGC Grand Slam. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

RORY McIlroy soared into a two-stroke first round lead at the WGC-Mexico Championship in his bid to complete the WGC Grand Slam.

The World No. 1 continued a stunning run of recent form with a six-under par 65, at Chapultepec Golf Club, in Mexico City.

The Northern Irishman has won every other World Golf Championships title and is hoping to complete the clean sweep this week in Mexico City.

McIlroy completed the third leg of the WGC Grand Slam when he triumphed at the most recent one – the WGC-HSBC Champions – in November.

“It was good. All aspects of my game were working pretty well,” said McIlroy after his first round.

“I drove the ball well, and I took advantage of that. I think the big thing was I putted well. I didn’t putt so well at Riviera last week.

“I went back to my old putter, I was trying a new one last week. It didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to, but I was comfortable on the greens and holed some nice ones coming in.”

While questions may remain over McIlroy’s putting prowess, there was no doubting his premium ball-striking, regardless of the effect of playing at altitude, with Chapultepec some 7,600 feet above sea level.

Rory revealed: “I think I’ve got the altitude pretty figured out. I’ve always played well at altitude.

“I’ve played well in Crans over in Europe a few years. I finished second there last year, I obviously finished second here last year.

“I think I have a pretty good formula for it, and I can hit the ball a long way here, which helps, and then my distance control has been pretty good.

“That combined with not really guessing too much over things. Certainty goes a long way, especially around this place.”

McIlroy got off to a fast start after a stunning second shot into the par five 11th hole – his second – yielded an eagle, and he finished in some style too as a pair of closing birdies moved the 30-year-old two clear of Bubba Watson and Justin Thomas.

Louis Oosthuizen was one of four players a shot further back on three under, while his fellow European Tour Members Tyrrell Hatton, Paul Casey, Patrick Reed and Lee Westwood all carded 69s to sit four off the lead on two-under.

Oosthuizen said: “I felt like I was really unlucky on one. I pitched it on the downslope in the bunker and it stayed there, and had absolutely no shot – ended up leaving myself 10 feet for par and missed that.

So not the start I wanted, but I just fought it out really, and there’s still a lot of work to do.

“I’m struggling finding a driver that I’m comfortable with, so you’ll see me a few times in places that I’m normally not at.

“But I’m fighting it out, and I’ve done a good job on the greens today,” added Oosthuizen, who was third behind McIlroy at Sheshan Golf Club, in the HSBC Champions, in 2019.

•To follow Rory McIlroy’s hopes of completing the WGC Grand Slam click here.

Hatton happy to be playing again

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE pro Tyrrell Hatton was relieved to play well having missing three months while waiting for a persistent wrist injury to heal.

Hatton, who won the Turkish Airlines Open, in November, said: “Overall, I’m pretty happy with that.

“I’ve only been back hitting balls for the last three and a half weeks, so it was a long lay-off. I’m quite happy,” said the Harleyford GC member.

“Obviously I’ve done well here in the past, so I know the course pretty well, and yeah, it was just good to kind of get back out there and play competitive golf again.

“I always enjoy short, fiddly golf courses, I guess, and this is certainly up there with the best of them,” said Hatton, who also won the 2017 Italian Open on a tight parkland track.

“And I guess it’s funny because you need patience around here, and that’s something that I don’t really have.

“For some reason the course has kind of been fairly kind to me, and hopefully it continues this week.”

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Rory McIlroy has won three of the four World Golf Championships – victory in the WGC-Mexico Championship would give him a Grand Slam. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

RORY McIlroy is hoping to convert his impressive recent form into a second successive World Golf Championships victory at the WGC-Mexico Championship – and to keep his coveted World No. 1 spot.

Spaniard Jon Rahm is aiming to depose the Northern Irishman at the top of Official World Golf Ranking in the first WGC event of 2020 at Mexico City’s Chapultepec Golf Club.

McIlroy claimed his third World Golf Championships title at the WGC-HSBC Champions in November – and is eyeing victory in the of the four to have so far eluded him in his stellar career.

The Northern Ireland ace has picked up three consecutive top five finishes since – a purple patch which helped him overtake Brooks Koepka to return to the World No. 1 spot for the first time since 2015.

McIlroy, who is still without a Major win since 2014, and has spent the last two seasons trying to improve his early season preparation before The Masters, said: “It’s good to be back in Mexico.

“I’ve played well here the last couple of times I’ve played. DJ (Dustin Johnson) was just sort of too good for all of us last year – I played in the final group with him – but it’s good to be back.

“I’ve always felt like I played well at altitude. I’ve played well here. I’ve played well over in Europe and Switzerland a couple of times.

“I feel like I adjust pretty well to it, and that’s really what it’s all about.

“That’s what it’s all about this week, just trying to adjust and trust your numbers and make sure you know how far the ball is going. That’s really it.

“I feel like this tournament has gone from strength to strength the last few years, and I obviously would love to add it to the list of winners here.

“That would be pretty cool, to have won all of the World Golf Championships.

“WGCs are big events, with the top players in the world, and I’ve always played pretty well in them.

“I had a chance when this was played in Doral a few years ago, or a couple of chances, and obviously I’ve played okay here.

“To complete the set would be nice. Those wedge wood trophies look pretty good in the trophy case, so I’d like to add one more there.”

This week, he tied Nick Faldo in third place on the list of players with most cumulative weeks at the top of the World Rankings on 97.

And another week would move him to outright third position, behind only Tiger Woods (683) and Greg Norman (331).

Rahm, however, could move to the top spot for the first time in his career.

The Spaniard – who received the Seve Ballesteros Award as the 2019 European Tour Players’ Player of the Year ahead of the opening day of the WGC-Mexico Championship – would need a win if he is to have any chance of doing so this week.

Rahm said: “It’s always nice to come to a country where they speak Spanish.

“The culture is a lot more similar to what it is in Spain. There’s good food, good hospitality and a good golf course. It doesn’t really get much better than this.

“My perspective hasn’t changed at all this week, honestly. I’m here to win a tournament. That’s what I’m here to do.

“I’m hoping for the rest of the year, it’s going to be like that where at some point I’m going to win or have a good performance and get to No. 1 in the world, but the main goal is to win championships, win tournaments, and play my best every week I can.

“Those rankings are basically a consequence of what I do on the golf course, so I’ve got to take care of business first.”

Johnson aims for hat-trick in Mexico

Dustin Johnson has won two of the three WGC-Mexico Championships – sandwiching’s Phil Mickelson win over Justin Thomas in a play-off in 2017.

Johnson said: “I feel like the game is in good form, but obviously you’ve got to do a lot of things well around here if you want to win.

“But I like the golf course. I’ve felt comfortable on it, and I’m comfortable up here playing at the altitude.

“But you’ve got to do everything. It’s really narrow, so first and foremost, you’ve got to drive it well, and then obviously these greens are really small and undulated.

“So if I can control the distance of my golf ball, then it’ll be a pretty good week.”

•To follow lives scoring in the WGC-Mexico Championship click here.

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Graeme McDowell was delighted this month’s Saudi International victory got him back in the world’s top 50 for the first time in five years – and a start in the WGC-Mexico Championship.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

GRAEME McDowell tees it up in his first World Golf Championships event since 2016 at the WGC-Mexico Championship this week.

And the Northern Irishman is excited about the challenge of taking on a new course, at Chapultec Golf Club.

McDowell said: “I’ve played a lot of WGCs in my career and I think you do take them for granted a little. They are amazing tournaments when you get the best players from all over the world to come together here in Mexico.

“It’s the first time seeing the golf course for me and it’s a great track, reminds me a little of Valderrama – and obviously you’ve got the altitude so the ball goes a long way. But I’m excited to be back in these WGC events.

“It’s important for me, if I have aspirations of being in the Ryder Cup team, that I’ve got to be in the WGCs and Major Championships.

“So it’s really important to take that first step, to get my schedule to where it needs to be and hopefully I can kick on from here.

“We’re here to do a job this week. This is certainly not some icing on the cake from the win out in Saudi Arabia.

“This is about kicking on into the rest of the season and using these events as platforms to get where I want to be.”

Thirty-nine-year-old GMac claimed his 11th European Tour title at the Saudi International, earlier this month.

It was his first victory on the tour in six years and one which moved him inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in five years.

That in turn earned him a place in the field for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship, and McDowell – who will host this year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in May – is not taking it lightly as he strives to reach his goal of a return to the European Ryder Cup team in September.

Another Irishman targeting a place in Padraig Harrington’s side is Open Champion and a former World Golf Championships winner Shane Lowry, who returns to action after a two-week break.

Lowry is playing his first WGC since claiming the Claret Jug, having missed the Fedex St Jude Invitational while celebrating his Open win at Royal Portrush,

A refreshed Lowry, who claimed the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, in 2015, said: “I’ve had a nice couple of weeks off.

“I had four weeks in a row at the start of the year so it’s a long four weeks when it’s the first run of the year.

“I felt like I played OK in Dubai and Saudi and I’m happy to be over here now, in Mexico this week and in the USA for the next couple of months.

“Hopefully I can put in a few good performances,” said Shane.

“Obviously I’ve won a WGC before so it’s nice and it’s a very tricky golf course here this week in Mexico.

“It’s going to take a lot of good golf to do well here, so we’ll see how it goes.

“I wouldn’t be overly optimistic but I never usually am and I try to come in under the radar and do my thing for the week.

“Hopefully I can pop up on the leaderboard come Saturday afternoon and give it a run on Sunday.”

Kinhult ready for WGC debut

Betfred British Masters winner Marcus Kinhult at Hillside GC, in May

MARKUS Kinhult, meanwhile, is one of 11 European Tour members making their debut in Mexico, and one of two – alongside Benjamin Hebert – to be playing in a World Golf Championships event for the first time.

Swede Kinhult, who won the Betfred British Masters at Hillside, in May, said: “I think it will be a lot of fun this week.

“Obviously I’ve been looking forward to this event since I got in. It’s my first WGC so playing against these guys is nice, to see where your game is at and how you can compete.

“I came here earlier than normal, late Saturday so I had Sunday to just walk around and get to know the place a little bit.

“I played the course, did my numbers and did my drills as I always do on every tournament week so it’s not too different.

“I’m happy to be here at 23, that’s nice, but my goals are set higher long term and I’m just trying to reach the next level and improve every day.

“But I’m happy with the progression so far and I look forward to what comes next,” who announced his potential when winning the Lytham Trophy by eight shots in 2015.

The teeanger, who played in the Summer Olympics for Sweden in 2014, led the Nordea Masters after 36 holes a month after his win at Royal Lythyam.

The son of a golf pro, who was a junior member at the same Swedish club where Berkshire’s Barry Lane and fellow European Tour member Joel Sjöholm are members, turned pro later in 2015.

But the Junior Ryder Cup player only made two cuts in his first season on Tour in 2016, having earned his card at the European Tour Qualifying School, at Spain’s PGA de Catalunya.

•For tee times in the WGC-Mexico Championship, click here.

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