Patrick Cantlay emerged as the leader after the first round of the Genesis Invitational, shooting an impressive 64 at Riviera Country Club. Cantlay's round included eight birdies and only one bogey, giving him a one-shot lead over Jason Day, Cameron Davis, and Luke List. Jordan Spieth is not far behind, sitting two shots off the lead at five under.
However, it was a day of mixed fortunes for some of the big names in golf. Scottie Scheffler struggled with his putting, missing multiple short putts throughout his round. Despite his struggles, Scheffler managed to shoot a three-under 68 and is within four shots of the lead.
Tiger Woods, making his first official PGA Tour start since The Masters in April, finished the day with a one-over 72. While not a spectacular round, there were positive signs for Woods as he showed flashes of his old form. Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, had a disappointing back-nine, dropping five shots in two holes and finishing with a 74.
Cantlay started strong, carding birdies on his first two holes and adding two more at the fourth and sixth. He continued his momentum with a 25-foot birdie putt on the eighth, making the turn at 30. He then birdied the 11th and added two more gains from the 13th to reach eight under. A mistake on the par-three 16th resulted in his only bogey of the day.
Joining Cantlay at seven under par are Jason Day, Cameron Davis, and Luke List. Day and List had a clean first round, not dropping any shots, while Davis finished strong with three birdies in his last five holes. Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris are tied for fifth at five under, while Tom Hoge also sits in that group briefly leading the leaderboard.
Further down the leaderboard, Byeong-Hun An and Adam Svensson are three shots off the lead, while Scottie Scheffler is one shot behind them and tied for 10th. Scheffler, who currently holds the world No. 1 spot, needs to perform well to fend off the challenge from Rory McIlroy, who is in danger of missing the cut after his tough opening round.
Woods had a mixed day, with two birdies in his front nine and still under par with seven holes left. However, he struggled to hit greens and found himself with just seven pars on his scorecard. A disappointing shank from the final fairway led to a closing bogey, leaving him eight strokes behind the leader.
McIlroy started well with a front-nine 33 and a birdie on the 10th hole. Unfortunately, things unraveled quickly for him. A three-putt par on the 11th was followed by a bogey on the 12th. His round took a turn for the worse with a double-bogey on the 15th and a triple-bogey on the par-three 16th. Despite a birdie on the 17th, he ended his round with a bogey on the final hole.
The Genesis Invitational will feature a 36-hole cut, including the top 50 players and ties, as well as anyone within 10 strokes of the lead. The winner of this PGA Tour Signature Event will take home a first prize of $3.6 million.
You can catch all the action from the Genesis Invitational on Sky Sports. Live coverage will continue on Friday, starting with early coverage at 3:30 pm and full coverage from 8 pm. Don't forget to stay tuned for the latest breaking sports news, analysis, features, and videos by subscribing to our dedicated WhatsApp channel.
