Rahm Fires 62, Leads CareerBuilder After Round One

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Jon Rahm
Credit: Getty Images

Jon Rahm, at No. 3 in the world, is the top-ranked player in the field this week at PGA West, and he played like it on Thursday, opening with a 10-under 62 to claim the first-round lead at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

The 23-year old Spaniard, who won three times in 2017 (two on the European Tour and one on the PGA Tour), played his first seven holes in 6-under par (birdie-birdie-par-par-eagle-birdie-birdie) en route to a bogey-free round at La Quinta Country Club.

Those first seven holes were cited by the Arizona State product as the primary reason for his career-low round.

“It’s all thanks to the start I had. I was 6-under through seven holes and with a couple missed putts. Any time you have that going for you, you get thoughts come into your head, 60, maybe 59, Adam Hadwin did it last year with worse weather than this,” said Rahm, who hit 12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens.

“But it was thanks to that. It was a couple great shots on 1 and 2 and then a great one on number 4 to set up the eagle putt and after that kind of just kept it going, stayed patient, I knew that if I kept playing good I was going to have more birdie opportunities and I tried not to get ahead of myself and I was able to do it.”

Austin Cook sits tied for second at 9 under, alongside Andrew Landry and Jason Kokrak.

Cook, the recent winner of the RSM Classic, hit a perfect 14 of 14 fairways in regulation and missed only three greens on the Nicklaus Course.

“The conditions were perfect, but I always loved desert golf and I was just hitting the ball well and seeing good lines on the greens and hitting good putts,” said Cook, who finished bogey-free with seven birdies and an eagle.

One further back, at 8 under, was a group of four players tied for fifth, including rookie Beau Hossler, Martin Piller, Brandon Harkins and Aaron Wise.

A logjam of six players, headlined by red-hot Brian Harman, were tied for ninth at 7 under.

Tournament Ambassador Phil Mickelson opened with a 2-under 70 at the La Quinta course.

“I need to be a little sharper with my iron play, but I thought that I drove it well — with the exception of one tee shot, I drove it pretty well today and putted okay,” said Mickelson, a two-winner here (2002, 2004).

Charlie Reiter, a star at Palm Springs High School, bogeyed two of his first four holes at the La Quinta course but settled down to finish with an impressive 4-under 68, which included five birdies and an eagle.

“There were a lot of people I knew, a couple of my teachers were out here, the whole golf team pretty much was out here on the first tee, we got a little photo in. My mom and dad and a lot of people I knew were out here,” said Reiter, who will be attending USC in the fall.

Patrick Reed, playing in his first event of 2018, struggled to a 2-over 74. Two-time CareerBuilder Challenge winner, Corey Pavin, withdrew with a neck injury after 17 holes.


TOP 10: ROUND ONE

1 Jon Rahm -10
2 Andrew Landry -9
2 Austin Cook -9
2 Jason Kokrak -9
5 Beau Hossler -8
5 Aaron Wise -8
5 Martin Piller -8
5 Brandon Harkins -8
9 Grayson Murray -7
9 Wesley Bryan -7
9 Nick Watney -7
9 Talor Gooch -7
9 Jhonattan Vegas -7
9 Brian Harman -7


OTHER NOTABLES

23 Zach Johnson -5
23 Kevin Kisner -5
42 Jimmy Walker -4
64 John Daly -3
64 Smylie Kaufman -3
64 Jason Dufner -3
88 Bubba Watson -2
88 Phil Mickelson -2
107 Kevin Chappell -1
107 Brendan Steele -1
125 Brandt Snedeker E
125 Bill Haas E
141 Patrick Reed +2


VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS


QUOTABLE

“This type of golf is something I love, La Quinta is really, really similar to Phoenix Country Club, which I played many times, I’ve also shot 10-under there, funny enough, and it’s just really familiar to what I’m used to playing. Four years of college on these golf courses, it’s something you’re not going to forget, so just happy to start the tournament the way I did.”
– Jon Rahm


LEADERBOARD: ROUND ONE

POSPLAYERPARTOT
1Jon Rahm-1062
T2Andrew Landry-963
T2Austin Cook-963
T2Jason Kokrak-963
T5Beau Hossler-864
T5Aaron Wise-864
T5Martin Piller-864
T5Brandon Harkins-864
T9Grayson Murray-765
T9Wesley Bryan-765
T9Nick Watney-765
T9Talor Gooch-765
T9Jhonattan Vegas-765
T9Brian Harman-765
T15Lucas Glover-666
T15Alex Cejka-666
T15Colt Knost-666
T15Kevin Na-666
T15Matt Every-666
T15Hudson Swafford-666
T15Adam Hadwin-666
T15Maverick McNealy-666
T23Chez Reavie-567
T23Michael Kim-567
T23Ze-cheng Dou-567
T23Harris English-567
T23Richy Werenski-567
T23Zach Johnson-567
T23Kevin Streelman-567
T23Sam Ryder-567
T23Nate Lashley-567
T23Rob Oppenheim-567
T23Conrad Shindler-567
T23Matt Atkins-567
T23Charles Howell III-567
T23Benjamin Silverman-567
T23Jonathan Byrd-567
T23Daniel Summerhays-567
T23Kevin Kisner-567
T23Bud Cauley-567
T23C.T. Pan-567
T42Sean O'Hair-468
T42Greg Chalmers-468
T42Tyler Duncan-468
T42James Hahn-468
T42Ryan Armour-468
T42Stewart Cink-468
T42Joel Dahmen-468
T42Troy Merritt-468
T42Tyrone van Aswegen-468
T42Jimmy Walker-468
T42Bronson Burgoon-468
T42Tom Whitney-468
T42Hunter Mahan-468
T42Nick Taylor-468
T42Mark Brooks-468
T42John Huh-468
T42Brian Gay-468
T42Scott Piercy-468
T42Ryan Blaum-468
T42Sung-hoon Kang-468
T42Corey Conners-468
T42Charles Reiter-468
T64Lee Janzen-369
T64Matt Jones-369
T64John Daly-369
T64Steve Wheatcroft-369
T64Peter Malnati-369
T64Russell Knox-369
T64Ben Martin-369
T64Chad Campbell-369
T64Rory Sabbatini-369
T64Sang-Moon Bae-369
T64Vaughn Taylor-369
T64Smylie Kaufman-369
T64Martin Flores-369
T64Webb Simpson-369
T64Jason Dufner-369
T64Camilo Villegas-369
T64Andrew Putnam-369
T64Jon Curran-369
T64Scott Stallings-369
T64Ryan Palmer-369
T64Jim Herman-369
T64Roberto Diaz-369
T64Abraham Ancer-369
T64Tom Hoge-369
T88Bubba Watson-270
T88Chris Stroud-270
T88Brian Stuard-270
T88Danny Lee-270
T88Phil Mickelson-270
T88Sam Saunders-270
T88Peter Uihlein-270
T88Seamus Power-270
T88Scott Brown-270
T88Mackenzie Hughes-270
T88John Peterson-270
T88Keith Mitchell-270
T88Jeff Gove-270
T88Whee Kim-270
T88Patton Kizzire-270
T88Martin Laird-270
T88Cameron Tringale-270
T88Ben Crane-270
T88Trey Mullinax-270
T107Chesson Hadley-171
T107David Lingmerth-171
T107D.J. Trahan-171
T107Derek Fathauer-171
T107Michael Block-171
T107Jonathan Randolph-171
T107Ted Potter Jr.-171
T107David Hearn-171
T107Kevin Chappell-171
T107Brett Stegmaier-171
T107Blayne Barber-171
T107Harold Varner, III-171
T107J.J. Spaun-171
T107Brendan Steele-171
T107Ricky Barnes-171
T107Stephan Jaeger-171
T107Chris Kirk-171
T107Shawn Stefani-171
T125Fabian GomezE72
T125Brandt SnedekerE72
T125Lanto GriffinE72
T125Rick LambE72
T125Geoff OgilvyE72
T125Dominic BozzelliE72
T125JT PostonE72
T125Robert GarrigusE72
T125Bill HaasE72
T125Cameron PercyE72
T125Kyle ThompsonE72
T125Xin-jun ZhangE72
T125Adam SchenkE72
T138Tom Lovelady173
T138Johnson Wagner173
T138Billy Hurley III173
T141Mike Weir274
T141Patrick Reed274
T141Ethan Tracy274
T141Andrew Loupe274
T141Brice Garnett274
T141Luke List274
T147J.J. Henry375
T147Zac Blair375
T147Denny McCarthy375
T150Andrew Yun476
T150Charlie Beljan476
T150Nicholas Lindheim476
153Rod Pampling577
154Mark Wilson678
155Jason Gore779
-Corey PavinWD

Credits: ASAP Sports, Getty Images


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