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Chris Kirk shot a spotless 9-under-par 63 on Thursday to snatch a one-shot lead at the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Play was suspended due to darkness with just four players left to complete their rounds, including amateur Jay Leng, who was 5 under par. They’ll finish their rounds Friday morning while the second round goes off on time.
Zac Blair birdied four of his final five holes to reach 8-under 64 and tie Nick Dunlap for second. Tied for third at 7-under 65 were Taylor Montgomery, Ben James, Frenchman Matthieu Pavon, Englishman Harry Hall and Japan’s Kensei Hirata.
Kirk birdied five of the final seven holes at El Cardonal at Diamante. The biggest highlight was a 70-foot birdie putt he hammered home at the par-3 16th.
“I made easily my worst swing of the day,” Kirk said of his tee shot on No. 16. “Hit kind of like a little bit of a chunk-pull that ended up on the front left of the green and had, I don’t know, probably 60 feet or something like that up and over a ridge and made it. That was one that I’m just trying to get it up there close and two-putt and get out of there, so huge bonus right there for sure.”
Kirk, 41, entered the week No. 110 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and his PGA Tour exempt status expiring at year’s end. A victory would rocket him up to a projected 57th in the points race. The top 100 players at the end of the fall retain full-time status on tour.
“Just go day by day, shot by shot,” the six-time PGA Tour winner said. “I know how cliche that sounds, but there’s not really anything I can do to control like where I finish on a points list. The only thing that I have somewhat of control over is just how I approach each day and how I look at each shot, just trying to keep it as simple as that.”
Blair, who also went bogey-free, stuck his approach at the par-4 15th hole just 3 inches from the cup and a would-be eagle. He coupled that birdie with putts of 18 feet at No. 14 and 18 1/2 feet at No. 17.
Blair, who hit all 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in regulation, said finding the right spots on the greens was key.
“They’re kind of big and can be some tricky spots, so ball-striking and kind of chipping and putting is important,” he said. “Obviously pretty generous off the tee, but can’t miss. If you miss big or in the wrong spot, it’s pretty dead. But yeah, just kind of got to do everything well.”
Blair could jump into the top 100 from 121st place this week, while Dunlap is way back at No. 165. He is exempt on tour through 2027 thanks to his two-win 2024 season, but he’d like to end his season strong after missing 12 of 22 cuts and failing to get a top-10 so far.
“Through the last little stretch of not being in the playoffs, having a little bit of time off was to really just get comfortable off the tee,” Dunlap said. “I’m not trying to drive it great — it’s hard to go from being, in my eyes, awful to one of the best, it’s really hard to do — but I just wanted to be comfortable. I felt like if I’m comfortable, the rest of my game’s in a really nice spot to where I could start seeing some results.”
Notable names lower on the leaderboard included Tony Finau, Jackson Koivun, Ben Griffin, Lucas Glover and Billy Horschel, all part of a tie at 2-under 70. They will have work to do to make the 36-hole cut Friday.
–Field Level Media
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