Kuchar grabs three-shot Riviera lead as Woods falters; Park, Ewart Shadoff share top spot

Los Angeles: Matt Kuchar fired a sparkling seven-under 64 on Thursday to seize a three-shot lead after the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.

South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-hoon and Americans Russell Henley, Wyndham Clark, Adam Schenk and Harold Varner shared second on 67 with Rory McIlroy -- newly returned to world number one -- headlining a group of 10 on 68 that also included Australia’s Jason Day and former Masters champion Patrick Reed.

Tournament host Tiger Woods closed with a bogey to fall out of that bunch, cooling off after a hot start to post a two-under par 69 as he pursues a record 83rd US PGA Tour title.

Woods was still a teenager when he played his first US tour event at Riviera, but he has never won on the classic course in the Pacific Palisades west of Los Angeles in 12 prior tries, and his struggles continued on Thursday.

“I got off to a nice start on the front nine and just didn’t hit many good shots on the back nine,” said Woods, who opened with an eagle at the first and added two birdies before the turn but had two bogeys without a birdie coming in.

“Made a couple loose swings and made a couple good saves on the back nine for par, but just wasn’t able to get any birdies on the back nine,” Woods said.

Kuchar, meanwhile, started hot and stayed that way.

“It was a fun, fun day out there playing Riviera,” said the nine-time US PGA Tour winner, who opened with back-to-back birdies at the 10th and 11th.

His seven birdies included a 28-footer at the 18th and a 33-footer at the eighth -- his penultimate hole of the day.

“Eighteen was a little bit more doable, basically a straight uphill putt,” he said of his first birdie bomb. The downhill putt at the eighth was even more of a bonus.

“You can’t count on that every day, but it sure is fun when they do go in,” Kuchar said.

Kuchar, who hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation, said missing in the right spot was the key to getting up and down when needed.

After getting up and down for par from an awkward lie in a bunker at the 10th, McIlroy was scrambling until an eagle at 17, followed by another eagle at the first.

The chilly morning temperatures were a factor in his “very sluggish start” as McIlroy saw his three-wood into the 11th come up 40 yards shorter than the 285 yards he can usually expect.

Six holes later, with the weather warming up, he had 289 yards into the 17th and put a three-wood pin-high, 35 feet from the hole.

Brooks Koepka, who had held the number one ranking for the last eight months, opened his week on 69, joining a big group that also included not only Woods but also 2016 Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose and fellow Englishman Paul Casey, defending champion JB Holmes and South Koreans Im Sung-jae, Kang Sung and Kim Si-woo.

Elsewhere, reigning Olympic champion Park In-bee vaulted into the joint lead at the LPGA Australian Open on Friday in her quest to make South Korea’s team for the Tokyo Games and defend her 2016 gold medal.

The seven-time major winner and former world number one carded a four-under-par 69 at the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, with England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff, the overnight leader, sinking birdies on the final two holes for a 70 to join her.

They are one clear of American LPGA Tour rookie Jillian Hollis and two ahead of South Korea’s Ayean Cho and American Marina Alex.

Agencie France-Presse