Chris Kirk figured two putts would do at the 16th. His worst swing of the day had left him on the front-left portion of the green, with roughly 60 feet and a ridge between his ball and the hole.
He made it. On a Thursday when Kirk did plenty right, even that mistake produced a birdie.
A bogey-free, 9-under 63 gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Dunlap and Zac Blair at the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico. Five players were another stroke back at 7 under when darkness suspended the first round at El Cardonal at Diamante.
Four players still had holes to finish. Play stopped at 5:48 p.m. local time, with the opening round scheduled to resume Friday at 7:20 a.m.
Kirk’s long putt helped him hold off a particularly sharp finish from Blair, who birdied four of his final five holes for a bogey-free 64. Dunlap matched that score a year after opening this tournament with a record-tying 61. There was plenty of scoring around Kirk, and very little room to waste a shot.
Kirk’s Form Has Been Building Toward This
The 63 matched Kirk’s best round of the season and came within a stroke of his career low on the PGA Tour. It also followed a stretch that makes this start easier to understand: two top-10 finishes in his previous three appearances, including a tie for sixth at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Kirk described a swing that felt good and a day of productive putting. The speed of the greens reminded him of Bermuda, where he had also putted well, although the grass surfaces differ.
His own assessment was fairly understated: “it was just a really steady day.”
The putt at 16 was the exception to that description. A player can strike the ball well enough to shoot 63 and still need something unexpected to separate himself. Kirk had been looking to leave himself a manageable second putt; instead, he gained a stroke on the hole.
He entered the week 110th in the FedExCup Fall standings. With this the sixth of eight fall events, the opportunity to turn good recent golf into a much stronger position is getting shorter. The final top 100 earn full exemption into the following season’s full-field events and The Players Championship.
There is another piece of Kirk’s record worth handling carefully. He has won six times on Tour, most recently at the 2024 Sentry, but has never converted an opening-round lead or co-lead into a victory in eight previous opportunities. Thursday put him in position for a ninth such lead, pending completion of the round.
That history describes how his previous tournaments unfolded. It offers little explanation for how he played this one. A bogey-free 63, backed by those recent finishes, is a sounder place to begin assessing his chances than an 0-for-8 statistic.
Dunlap Finds a Better Fit Off the Tee
Dunlap’s 64 carried an encouraging detail beyond the score. After making only 10 cuts in 22 starts this season and arriving 165th in the fall standings, he described progress with a driver that had been holding him back.
He had tried Camilo Villegas’ driver at Vidanta the previous Saturday, an experience that prompted more work on his own equipment. This week’s changes included a longer, softer shaft, which Dunlap said helped him launch the ball higher and produce the fade he wanted to see.
The important part of that explanation is the fit between the club and the shot. Dunlap said he had been swinging his driver differently from the rest of his clubs. He now feels closer to making his normal swing and getting a ball flight he recognizes.
That is a useful distinction when assessing a struggling player. An unfamiliar ball flight can invite another swing adjustment, even when the equipment deserves attention. Dunlap’s account points to a more specific problem than simply having lost his game, although one round cannot establish that it has been solved.
“You’re never as bad as you think you are and you’re never as good as you think you are,” Dunlap said.
His standing also needs context: Dunlap confirmed he is exempt through 2027. His position on the points list and Blair’s do not carry identical consequences. For Dunlap, Thursday provided evidence that work off the tee is beginning to show up in a tournament score.
Blair’s Closing Birdies Keep Kirk Within Reach
Blair began the week 121st in the fall standings. He already had six top-25 finishes in 17 starts this season, including two during the fall, but Thursday gave him a chance to aim considerably higher.
Birdies at Nos. 14 and 15, followed by two more at 17 and 18, brought him within one of Kirk. His description of the round included good chips on the greens he missed, a less conspicuous contribution to a card without a bogey.
Blair also cautioned against confusing generous driving room with an absence of trouble. He emphasized finding the correct areas of the large greens and avoiding misses in the wrong places. His finish drew attention, but those recoveries helped preserve the opportunity to make it count.
Behind the leading three, Taylor Montgomery supplied one of the day’s strongest combinations: all 14 fairways hit and a field-leading 4.985 strokes gained putting at the suspension. His 65 left him in the five-way tie for fourth, alongside a group that included Matthieu Pavon and Kensei Hirata.
Ryan Gerard, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 23, shot 66. Defending champion Ben Griffin opened with 70, leaving him seven strokes behind Kirk. Among the Mexican players, Alvaro Ortiz and Alejandro Madariaga each shot 69, while Jorge Villar finished at 15 over.
Friday’s second round is scheduled to begin at 6:30 a.m. local time, before the four remaining first-round players resume.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on RG.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
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Brendon Elliott
Senior Golf Writer
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