Published July 17, 2008 on March 2, 2018

Louis Near his Sweet-Swinging Best to Lead in Mexico

---

 

A flawless seven under par 64 saw Louis Oosthuizen set the pace on day one of the WGC – Mexico Championship.

The South African, seeking a first World Golf Championships title in his 33rd appearance, carded five birdies before a late eagle saw him snatch the outright lead.

Current Race to Dubai Number One Shubhankar Sharma of India, England’s Chris Paisley and American Xander Schauffele were a shot further back after matching six under par rounds of 65, with Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello tied on five under.

Oosthuizen made a perfect start with close-range birdies at the first and second, before converting from 16 feet at the fifth.

Further gains came from six feet at the tenth and 12 feet at the 12th, before the former Open Champion hit a stunning approach to four feet on the par five 15th to set up a simple eagle putt which enabled him to post the first round lead.

Sharma and Paisley were particularly impressive during round one. Both men are making their World Golf Championship debuts this week, after superb starts to 2018 on the European Tour.

Sharma is the only man to have won twice on the 2018 European Tour so far after his victories at the Joburg Open and Maybank Championship while Paisley won the BMW SA Open and followed that result with top-five finishes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to move to sixth place in the Race to Dubai.