Recap of the day
“I’m a bit rusty,” tweeted Phil Mickelson on the eve of the tournament. And then he turned up and shot a 60. The full story unfolds below. An early delay for fog and damp, cold air greeted the players but lots of rain in the build-up made the greens incredibly receptive.
Stadium Course (SC): The host course is the hardest on the rotation and showed its teeth again. However, Adam Hadwin took it apart over the final six holes, playing them in 5-under to shoot a superb 7-under 65. ‘SC’s on the leaderboard were rare although Adam Schenk, Steve Marino and Jhonattan Vegas, the 2011 winner of this event, all crept on with 6-under 66s.
La Quinta (LQ): Ranked the easiest of the 51 courses used on the PGA TOUR last year, Phil Mickelson brought down the averages even further with a remarkable 12-under 60, good enough for a four-shot lead over the field. Elsewhere at La Quinta, Curtis Luck came in with a 64.
Nicklaus Tournament Course (NT): Adam Long was the golden boy at the Golden Bear’s layout, firing a career-low, 9-under 63 to take sole possession of second place.
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Stadium – Low Round: Adam Hadwin (65), Average Score: 70.88
La Quinta – Low Round: Phil Mickelson (60), Average Score: 69.42
Nicklaus – Low Round: Adam Long (63), Average Score: 69.71
R1 leaderboard: -12 Phil Mickelson (LQ), -9 Adam Long (NT), -8 Curtis Luck (LQ), -7 Trey Mullinax (NT), Adam Hadwin (SC), Wyndham Clark (LQ), Martin Laird (NT).
Selected others: -6 Jon Rahm (LQ), -5 Charles Howell III (NT), -4 Justin Rose (LQ)
Revised outright betting: 11/4 Mickelson, 11/2 Rahm, 10/1 Hadwin, 16/1 Rose, 20/1 Cantlay, 22/1 Ancer.
Friday weather forecast
Temperatures should pick up and reach the early 70s after the cool conditions in round one. Sunshine is predicted for most of the day, with winds picking up compared to day one. The forecast suggests a shift in directions (moving to N/NW) and picking up to 10-15 MPH with potential for gusts up to 20 MPH.
Leaders after 18 holes
Phil Mickelson (60) – His third lap of 60 on the PGA TOUR (he’d done it twice before at TPC Scottsdale in 2005 and 2013). Needed three closing birdies to shoot the magic 59 but ‘only’ managed circles at 16 and 18. His 18th round of 66 or better in this event since 2002 (no-one can beat that) was achieved by hitting 14 greens and taking just 21 swishes with the putter.
Curtis Luck (64) – Like Mickelson, Luck cashed in at La Quinta thanks mainly to a hot blade (23 putts). Eight birdies, ten pars and his lowest score on the PGA TOUR by three shots.
Adam Hadwin (65) – Hadwin shot a 59 at La Quinta when runner-up two years ago and he was at it again today with the low round at The Stadium Course. Hit all 18 greens in regulation despite missing five of the 14 fairways. Gained over fives strokes tee-to-green (these full stats only available at The Stadium Course).
Fate of the favorites
Jon Rahm (68) – Defending champion Rahm was +1 after three holes at La Quinta but surged into the top ten with seven birdies, ticking all four par 5s. As you might expect really. Found 15 greens in regulation.
Justin Rose (68) – Another handed the easy examination at La Quinta and, for a while, he fluffed his lines. A bogey-6 at No. 13 left him at just 1-under for the day but closed with a trio of birdies. Hit 9 (of 14) fairways and an unremarkable 13 greens with his new Honma equipment.
Patrick Cantlay (66) – Played the Nicklaus Tournament Course and eased into his day on the back nine. After making the turn at even par he stormed the homeward nine with three birdies and a pair of eagles to offset two bogeys. The California native has been out of action since the Hero World Challenge and may have needed to shake off a little rust but it looks like he’s ready to rock now.
Quotes
Phil Mickelson (60): “It was kind of a lucky day for me in the sense that I did not feel sharp heading in. I felt like all parts were okay and it just clicked. Sometimes you have those days. The bad shots I hit I got away with. It was a fun day.”
Martin Laird (65): “The course (NT) was playing pretty easy in terms of no wind but the ball was going nowhere so it played a little longer than normal. A full club different from my normal numbers.”
Justin Rose (pre-tournament): “There’s a few unknowns, there’s always a settling in period with change generally. Obviously I believe that I’ve made some good decisions and some good changes. I feel confident about things, but you never quite know until the scorecard is in your hand. Equipment-wise I’m in a great spot, now it’s just about going out and getting comfortable with it. There will be a lot of learning this week and potentially tweaking next week.”
Road to victory at the Desert Classic
2018 Jon Rahm – R1: 1st, R2: 2nd, R3: 4th
2017 Hudson Swafford – R1: 2nd, R2: 1st, R3: 3rd
2016 Jason Dufner – R1: 1st, R2: 1st, R3: 1st
2015 Bill Haas – R1: 16th, R2: 2nd, R3: 1st
2014 Patrick Reed – R1: 1st, R2: 1st, R3: 1st
Notes: In a tournament featuring three different courses you might expect a slightly fuzzy picture but, in four of the last five years, the winner was already in the top two after day one.
Fate of the 18-hole leaders in the Desert Classic – where did they finish?
2018 Jon Rahm – 1st
2017 Dominic Bozzelli – 5th
2016 Jason Dufner – 1st, Anirban Lahiri – 28th, Jerry Kelly – 42nd, Jeff Overton – 56th
2015 Michael Putnam – 15th
2014 Patrick Reed – 1st
Notes: A R1 leader went on to lift the trophy in 2014, 2016 and 2018 but it hasn’t been such a story of success in the odd-numbered years. Of the above, Rahm was the only one to shoot 62.
Focus on – Tournament specialists
Plenty of players have thrown in some super-low numbers in this event down the years, including the man in the CBS commentary box, David Duval, who memorably won the event in 1999 with a closing 59. But which players have done it on a sustained basis?
Taking scores from the last five years, here are the leading players and how they performed in round one today:
-81 Bill Haas (Evs, Stadium Course)
-76 Ryan Palmer (-3, La Quinta)
-71 Adam Hadwin (-7, Stadium Course)
-71 Brendan Steele (-3, Nicklaus Tournament)
-71 Webb Simpson (not playing)
-71 Patrick Reed (not playing)
With the addition of today’s action, Hadwin jumps to second and within three of Haas.
Focus on – Battle for World No.1
Justin Rose started the week at the top of the world rankings but the No.1 position has been a hot potato for several months and he could lose it again to Brooks Koepka, who is playing the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week.
The scenarios that keep Rose at No.1:
Koepka wins, Rose has to win
Koepka solo second, Rose has to finish solo 3rd
Koepka 2-way tie for 2nd, Rose solo fifth
Koepka 3-way tie for 2nd, Rose 2-way tie for 8th
Koepka 4-way tie for 2nd, Rose solo 15th to share No. 1
Koepka is lurking in tied 13th after 36 holes in Abu Dhabi, five back from leader Shane Lowry.
Rose’s late birdies in R1 kept him in touch with a 68 but, right now, he looks vulnerable to a last 36-hole surge from Koepka in Abu Dhabi.
