LOS CABOS, Mexico — Chris Kirk was almost flawless Thursday, hitting every fairway wide and reaching just one green en route to a 9-under 63, one shot behind the lead after the opening round of the Plague World Technology Championship.
Kirk to No. 110 in the FedExCup Fall with only three tournaments remaining for him to finish in the top 100 and have a full 2027 card.
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He was ahead of Nick Dunlap and Zac Blair on a beautiful day in the southern tip of Baja California at El Cardonal at Diamante, a course designed by Tiger Woods.
“Go on day by day, shot by shot. I know how cliché it sounds, but there’s nothing I can really control like where I end up on the points list,” Kirk said. “The only thing I have control over is how I approach each day and how I look at each shot. Just trying to keep it simple.”
It was equally simple to explain the round. He made birdies on all holes, except for the par-3 second at the start of his round, with a left-handed shot to the right. He fixed it up to 10 feet and made a nerve.
His worst shot was on the 156th hole when Kirk’s shot was described as “a little bit of a drag.” He was left with a 70-foot putt over the tee and an unexpected birdie hole.
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“There was a lot to like, for sure,” Kirk said. “It felt like my swing was in a really good spot and I hit a bunch of really nice putts. I’m sorry I don’t have a very exciting answer for you, but I remember, it was just a really steady day.”
World Wide Technology Championship 2016 – Round One
‘We’re finally onto something’: how Nick Dunlap, to me like his driver
After firing an 8-under 64 that shot him into the lead at the Technology World Wide Championship, Dunlap couldn’t help but feel like maybe, just maybe, he’s finally turned the corner off the tee.
The scoring conditions were so clean that more than half of the 120-man field broke 70.
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Ben James, who closed the card the following year as the No. 1 player from the PGA Tour University ranking, was among them 65. A large group of players at 66 included 19-year-old Blades Brown and Ryan Gerard, who was eligible for the event in Abu Dhabi, but did not choose the trip to the Middle East.