(Reuters) – Spaniard Jon Rahm enjoyed a dream day with the putter and charged into the lead with an eight-under-par 62 in the first round of the WGC-St. Jude Classic in Memphis on Thursday.
Rahm sank a bunch of medium-length putts in the 15-to-20-foot range, notching eight birdies at TPC Southwind, where he got up-and-down from 60 yards at his final hole to keep his card bogey-free.
He enjoyed a three-shot lead over a large group including Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and American Bubba Watson.
An elite 63-man field is contesting the World Golf Championships event, which has replaced the old regular full-field PGA Tour event held on the same course until last year.
Tiger Woods and British Open champion Shane Lowry are among a handful of eligible players skipping the tournament.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Toby Davis)
