PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) 鈥� Matthew Wolff arrived at Mayakoba and quickly realized El Camaleon might not be a good course for what he calls his 鈥渞ip dog鈥� length. Then again, he's playing so well it doesn't matter.
Wolff hit only one driver Thursday, followed his script of keeping the ball in play and ripped off a 10-under 61 to match his career low on the PGA Tour. It gave him a two-shot lead among early starters in the World Wide Technology Championship.
Aaron Wise had the better start, reaching 8 under through 10 holes. No one started better than Chris Kirk, who opened with a 6-iron on the par-3 10th that he couldn't find until realizing it was in the cup for a hole-in-one.
Sergio Garcia and Talor Gooch had the low scores from the afternoon at and joined Kirk and Billy Horschel at 64.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, sa国际传媒, posted the best opening score among Canadians with a 4-under 67 to sit tied for 20th.
Wolff kept it steady from start to finish, such a thoroughly efficient round that only later did he realize he had the course record at the resort along the Gulf of Mexico.
鈥淎s soon as I finished the round, my caddie said to me, 鈥榊ou know, I鈥檝e been caddying for you quite a few rounds and that was not the one that I thought was going to be the lowest,'鈥� Wolff said. 鈥淚t was very steady. Birdies came evenly throughout the round, didn't really make any mistakes. ... Every shot I was comfortable over.鈥�
There is some serious comfort in Wolff's game at the moment, which has been trending this direction since he learned not to let his score affect his outlook on life.
He last played three weeks ago in Las Vegas at the Shriners Hospitals Open, and he had a share of the lead with nine holes to play until Sungjae Im left everyone in his wake with a 62. Wolff finished alone in second.
The break gave the 22-year-old Californian time to put serious concentration into his game with swing coach George Gankas. The result was feeling confident in his setup, which feeds through the rest of his athletic game.
His only driver Thursday was on the par-5 13th.
鈥淚t's obviously nice being able to rip dog because it's a big advantage,鈥� Wolff said. "I can carry some stuff that most people can鈥檛, so obviously I love courses that I can hit driver on. But I think along with me 鈥� every other player out here 鈥� when we鈥檙e playing good, I mean, it doesn鈥檛 matter if a course doesn鈥檛 suit you well.
鈥淲hen you're on, you're on,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd stuff was just kind of going right for me.鈥�
Nothing was going right for Justin Thomas, who was 3 over through 11 holes and toward the bottom of the pack. He birdied six of his last seven holes for a 68.
A year ago, Thomas was lagging behind when he shot 62 to at least give himself a chance going into the final round. He tied for 12th. So he's not the fastest starter at Mayakoba. More bothersome was another slow start at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas until he closed with a 64.
鈥淚 should be and I will be more pleased with the turnaround, but at the moment I鈥檝e got to figure out how to just get off to a little bit better start,鈥� Thomas said.
Kirk was in the first group, started on the par-3 10th and figured it was a perfect 6-iron from 204 yards. He couldn't see with great clarity at dawn, but he knew he hit a good shot and his caddie thought he saw it rolling on the green. But there wasn't a ball on the green.
鈥淚t was just light enough to kind of see what we were doing, but I hit a really good shot and saw it going right at it and that was it,鈥� Kirk said. "Once we got up there and didn鈥檛 see a ball on the green, we had a decent idea of where it might be. But Jonas (Blixt) and Danny (Lee) got up to the hole before and saw that immediate reaction of arms in the air and started clapping.
鈥淚t was pretty cool.鈥�
John Huh also had a hole-in-one at No. 8 and shot 66.
Rickie Fowler also opened with a 66 along with Ian Poulter, who is trying to nudge his way back into the top 50 in the world. Defending champion Viktor Hovland and Tony Finau were in the group at 67, while Brooks Koepka and Shane Lowry had to settle for 71.
Roger Sloan of Merritt, sa国际传媒, and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford both shot a 69. Adam Svensson of Surrey, sa国际传媒, posted a 1-over 72.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., had a tough first day at 5-over 76.
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