Austin Smotherman shot a bogey-free 8-under 63 to lead after the opening round of the Mexico Open at Vidanta on Thursday in Vallarta.
Smotherman won this event in Tijuana in 2018, when it was part of PGA Tour Latinoamerica. On Thursday, he started on the back nine and put together birdie runs at Nos. 12-14 and Nos. 6-9 as well as a birdie on par-4 No. 3 at the par-71 Vidanta Vallarta.
He said he played “super steady” with a parade of six consecutive pars in the middle of his round.
“Middle part of the round, it’s not like I didn’t have any good looks, some putts just didn’t drop and some tougher holes in there as well, which you’re fine making 3s,” said Smotherman, noting his par at the par-5 No. 18, which was his ninth hole.
“The one I kind of felt let slip away was hitting that tee ball left on 18, having to lay up and then leaving myself 15 feet instead of being able to go for that green in two, that would have been that one in the middle just to kind of keep me on pace.”
Erik van Rooyen of South Africa is tied for second with a 64 highlighted by an eagle at the par-4 No. 15. He collected six birdies and one bogey. Argentina’s Tano Goya was one of the last finishers and closed with his seventh birdie at No. 18 against no bogeys to join van Rooyen in second.
Tied for fourth at 6 under are Mexico’s Raul Pereda, Germany’s Stephan Jaeger, Canada’s Taylor Pendrith, and Eric Cole and Tony Finau, the No. 16 player in the world.
Finau tied for runner-up in this event last year and liked his opening round Thursday.
“I liked that it was really clean, I didn’t make any big mistakes, any terrible swings off the tee to put myself in bad position,” Finau said. “It was a solid way to start this golf tournament, no question.”
Smotherman’s 63 was one stroke off his career low on the PGA Tour, where he has never won. The 28-year-old said he felt momentum despite missing the cut last with two-man team partner Harry Higgs last week at the Zurich Open in New Orleans.
“Harry and I played really good golf last week at the Zurich, we ended up missing the cut by two, but I mean we were feeding off each other, hitting good shots,” Smotherman said.
Defending champion Jon Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world, is tied with 16 others in 14th place at 4 under. He started on the back nine, where he carded two bogeys and two birdies, before a bogey-free front nine with four birdies.
“It’s a good score, I’m happy with the score,” Rahm said of his 67. “Those first 13 holes we had virtually no wind, about as easy conditions as it can get. I wish I would have taken advantage of it more. I did make some good swings early on, I just couldn’t quite get the number and judge some lies off the fairway, but that’s just things that happen.”
Rahm, who has four wins in 10 starts in 2023, is seeking to become the first player to win five times in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17.
–Field Level Media