WGC-Mexico: Patrick Reed wins as Rory McIlroy comes fifth

Leaderboard

-18 Reed

-17 DeChambeau

-15 Rahm, Van Rooyen

-14 McIlroy

-13 Matsuyama, Hatton, Thomas

Final day report

Rory McIlroy's last round bid faltered as the Northern Irishman finished fifth behind American Patrick Reed in the European Tour's WGC-Mexico Championship on Sunday.

World number one McIlroy started the round four shots off the pace and made an early charge, with birdies at the first, third and sixth holes in a bogey-free front nine at Chapultepec Golf Club.

But a bogey five at the 12th cost McIlroy his momentum as Reed and countryman Bryson DeChambeau surged clear.

Starting the day one off the pace, the 29-year-old Reed was two under through a bogey-free first 14 holes, including a stretch of 10 successive pars from the second to the 11th.

DeChambeau set the course alight en route to the day's second-best round, making eight birdies and one bogey through his first 14 holes to challenge for victory.

But Reed responded beautifully with three straight birdies from holes 15 to 17.

And when DeChambeau made three putts for a bogey four at the 17th, it meant Reed could afford his own bogey, on the 18th, and cling on for a one-shot win, his four-under 67 leaving him at 18-under 266.

The 26-year-old DeChambeau had to settle for a six-under 65.

McIlroy's three-under 68 left him four shots behind Reed and one shot behind joint third-placed Jon Rahm of Spain and South African Erik van Rooyen, who shot 67 and 70 respectively.

England's Tyrrell Hatton completed four sub-par rounds with a three-under 68 to grab a share of sixth place at 13 under, alongside overnight leader Justin Thomas and Japan's Matsuyama Hideki.

Hatton made five birdies against one bogey through 15 holes but tarnished his work with a bogey four at the 17th.

England's Paul Casey was a further two shots back in 11th place after a one-under 70.

Tommy Fleetwood shot a 69 to share 18th place at six under, while Lee Westwood was the fifth Briton to play four rounds under par, his third straight one-under 70 leaving him tied for 22nd.

Reed said the win felt "very rewarding".

"My team and I, we've worked so hard through the end of last year and also at the beginning of this year and kept on feeling like we were playing some good golf, just we weren't quite able to get over that hump," he told the European Tour's website.

"To come back and win my second World Golf Championship, especially with how I had to finish from basically 15 onwards ... the last hole was ugly but it was what I needed just to get the job done.

"And I think because of that, it just has built up so much confidence with how I've played so far in my career with putting myself in these positions, I feel like I have a chance to continue and to have a chance to win these golf tournaments. The confidence is through the roof."

Day three report

On the day he let go of his course record, Justin Thomas took a major step towards landing a deserved first success in the WGC-Mexico Championship.

Twice before, Thomas has shot 62 at Chapultepec, including on his way to a play-off defeat to Phil Mickelson in 2018. On Saturday, that score was bettered by Jon Rahm's breathless 61, but it's Thomas who is in pole position having moved into the lead.

Rahm's 10-under-par round - which included a hole-in-one at the 17th - was enough to climb inside the top five, but he's five adrift of Thomas, who will go in search of his second World Golf Championship title.

Patrick Reed and Erik van Rooyen sit a shot adrift and tied for second, with Bryson DeChambeau falling from first to fourth as his game unravelled during what was a gripping afternoon in Mexico City.

It started, in essence, with fireworks from Rahm, who birdied his first three holes and was six-under through seven before a clumsy bogey at the eighth, where he three-putted.

That looked to have ended his slim title hopes, but the Spaniard reignited them with birdies at holes 10, 13 and 15, before his approach to the par-three 17th hopped in after one bounce for a spectacular ace.

At 11-under-par, he's now within hailing distance - albeit he'll need to follow up Saturday's effort with something in the low-sixties once more given the quality both around and ahead of him.

Thomas bogeyed the short first hole but birdied the next two, and by the end of another excellent round at the course had taken just 65 shots - three fewer than McIlroy. Birdies at 14 and 15 helped him into a share of the lead which was his alone when a 13-foot putt found its target at the 17th and while dropping a shot at the final hole, so too did Reed as the lead remained one.

"It's already done with," was Thomas's reply when asked how the bogey at the last would affect him. "There's not much I can do now.

"I'm going to go home, get some rest and probably eat some more tacos."

Reed started the day one ahead of his US team-mate and was one behind come the end of it, his short-game failing for once to rescue him after his approach to the last came up short.

DeChambeau's putter started to seriously misbehave on the back-nine, although his woes can be traced back to a poor approach to the par-five sixth, where he ran up a costly double-bogey which wiped out his two-shot lead.

Short misses at the 14th, 15th and 17th holes made for a nightmare end to the round for DeChambeau, but at 11-under he shares fourth with Rahm and McIlroy and forms part of a high-class chasing pack.

It seems almost certain the winner will come from these six, although Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton may yet have something to say about that having moved to 10-under on a day of low-scoring in the first World Golf Championship of 2020.

In the Puerto Rico Open, Norway's Viktor Hovland leads by a shot as he looks for his first professional win - just seven months on from his professional debut.

Hovland is one of the most highly-rated prospects in the sport and has showed why on his debut in the event, birdies at three of the final four holes on Saturday enough to edge ahead of Sporting Life's 50/1 tip, Martin Laird.

The latter carded a course record-tying 63 to post 17-under but was passed late on by Hovland, who will start the final round as a strong odds-on favourite.

Day two report

Rory McIlroy produced a strong finish to his second round at the WGC-Mexico Championship but still lost ground at Chapultepec Golf Club.

The world number one held a two-shot overnight lead but, with low scoring the order of the day, the Northern Irishman found himself one over par 13 holes into his round.

Three birdies in the last five holes saw McIlroy sign for a two-under-par 69, with his eight under total three shots behind American leader Bryson DeChambeau.

"It was a lot of fun," DeChambeau said after coming home in 29.

"Making those putts the way I did, striking the ball the way I did, it's surely a joy out there.

"The confidence has got to be high. It is high and it's a lot of fun to see putts finally going in. Overall everything is going pretty well, firing on all cylinders."

Having kicked off his round with eight consecutive pars, McIlroy bogeyed the ninth but holed from 21 feet at the 12th to get the shot back.

A three-putt from 10 feet at the 13th cost him another dropped shot but the four-time major winner produced a superb approach at the 14th before holing from 16 feet at the 16th and 24 feet at the 17th to keep himself in contention.

"There's a long way to go," McIlroy said on quotes reported on the European Tour website.

"I just stayed patient and try to bide my time and made a couple of nice putts coming in, and I guess my patience was rewarded a little bit."

DeChambeau made six gains in seven holes from the first - his 10th - en route to an eight-under 63 and 11 under halfway total.

That was one ahead of compatriot Patrick Reed (63) and South Africa's Erik Van Rooyen, who equalled the course record with a flawless 62 on his 30th birthday.

"The first thing I told my wife this morning: 'Man, I feel really old'," Van Rooyen said in quotes reported on the European Tour website.

"But I guess I'm still quite young and what a way to kick off the 30th and shoot nine under. A little bit of a gift to myself.

"I've been working really hard on the game, as we all do, and things came together nicely today, so I'm happy."

World number four Justin Thomas and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama share fourth on nine under after rounds of 66 and 64 respectively.

Meanwhile, there's a four-way tie for the lead in the Puerto Rico Open which includes pre-tournament favourite Viktor Hovland.

Sporting Life followers have weekend interest with Ben Martin and Martin Laird, advised at 60/1 and 50/1 respectively before the tournament, currently two off the lead.

Day one report

A return to his old putter paid instant dividends for world number one Rory McIlroy as he set the pace in the WGC-Mexico Championship.

McIlroy carded an eagle, five birdies and a solitary bogey in an opening six-under-par 65 at Chapultepec Golf Club to enjoy a two-shot lead over Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson.

"It was good, all aspects of my game were working pretty well today," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "I drove the ball well and I took advantage of that, but I think the big thing was that I putted well.

"I didn't putt so well at Riviera last week so went back to my old putter. I was trying a new one last week and it didn't quite work out the way I wanted to. I was comfortable on the greens today and held some nice ones coming in."

After starting from the 10th, McIlroy holed from 15 feet for an eagle on the par-five 11th and birdied the 15th and second before dropping his only shot of the day on the fourth after coming up short of the green with his approach.

Three birdies in the last four holes put McIlroy in pole position to go one better than 12 months ago when he finished second to Dustin Johnson, who struggled to an opening 76.

"I've always played well at altitude," McIlroy added. "I finished second in Crans (Omega European Masters) last year, second here last year - I think I've got the altitude pretty figured out, I've got a pretty good formula for it."

McIlroy also performed well on the difficult poa annua greens at Chapultepec and added: "You have to read it as well as you can, try and start it on your line and if it goes in, it goes in.

"That was sort of the saving grace last week, I knew everyone was struggling on the greens. If a putt misses and you've hit a good putt you just have to step up to the next one and try again. That's what I did today, I had a really good attitude on the greens and it paid off."

Meanwhile, Kyle Stanley leads the way in the Puerto Rico Open after an opening 64 in the afternoon.

Stanley, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, found a return to form having taken a drop in grade and holds a two-shot advantage over a group including Peter Uihlein and former Presidents Cup player Emiliano Grillo.