On Wednesday night, on the eve of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Scottie Scheffler took part in a cooking class at the Fairmont Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico, host of the tournament. How is Scheffler, the reigning Masters and PGA Tour Player of the Year, in the kitchen?
“I mean, I get by,” he said. “Last night was fun having them show us what to do. Yeah, it was definitely a lot of fun.”
Scheffler’s game was cooking on Thursday morning at El Camaleón Golf Course as he carded a bogey-free 6-under 65, his lowest opening round score to par on Tour this year and three strokes off the lead set by Will Gordon in the first round.
“I think when you’re hitting the ball well here, you’re going to get a ton of looks,” said Scheffler, who enjoyed a bunch of tap-in birdies. “No. 9 may have been the longest birdie putt I made today and it was like seven feet.”
Scheffler’s 30-week reign at World No. 1 ended two weeks ago when Rory McIlroy won the CJ Cup in South Carolina, but a victory or solo second would lift him back to the top spot. Scheffler’s sizzling start was matched by Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who played in the same threesome and is striving for his own unique measure of achievement this week.
Hovland is the two-time defending champion of the event and seeking to become just the fourth player to win the same tournament three consecutive years in the last 30 years on the PGA Tour. Hovland started slowly, mixing two birdies and two bogeys on his first nine holes, before coming alive.
“I just kept telling myself that I’m playing well,” he said. “I was a little frustrated being only even par after that front nine making really nice birdies, but bogeying 13, that’s usually – I mean, that’s two shots right there. Then hit it in the water on 17 as well and that just shouldn’t happen. So I gave away a few shots on that side, but really happy on the back there.”
Hovland carded four birdies and holed a bunker shot for eagle at the par-5 seventh hole to post 65, two strokes better than his opening-round performance on his way to his two victories in the Yucatan Peninsula.
“So even improved on that,” said Hovland, who is 49 under in his last nine rounds at El Camaleón.
It was a day to go low or be left in the dust. Over an inch of rain fell on Wednesday, leaving the course soft and meant the Tour implemented preferred lies. The big guns weren’t the only ones who took advantage. Second-year Tour pro Will Gordon, the 2019 SEC Player of the Year out of Vanderbilt and a first-team All-American, birdied the first four holes on the back nine en route to shooting 9-under 62. Gordon turned pro the same year as Hovland and Scheffler but is still searching for his first Tour title.
He earned his Tour card for the 2020-21 season but finished 159th in the FedEx Cup standings and needed another year of seasoning on the Korn Ferry Tour. Last season, the 26-year-old notched his first professional victory at the Albertson Boise Open to return to the big leagues.
“For Will, the biggest thing was for him to understand how good he truly is,” said Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio’s John Rollins. “I think he’s finally starting to figure that out and kind of get his feet underneath of him. Expect some good things out of Will Gordon this season.”
So far, so good. He’s made the cut in all four of his starts this season and played the weekend at nine straight tournaments in all. Gordon’s prodigious length off the tee and a dialed in putter – he took just 25 putts – were a winning combination in the first round.
“I don’t know what the rest of the week holds, nothing’s promised and nothing’s given, so I’ve just got to continue to try to go out and earn it,” he said.
