LOS CABOS, Mexico – Ever since Cameron Younger teed it up with Justin Timberlake on Wednesday in the course of the pro-am on the World Vast Know-how Championship, he can’t cease that feeling, to borrow the track title and catchy lyrics from one of many musician and songwriter’s hit tunes.
“I truly had no thought I used to be taking part in with him,” Younger stated. “I noticed his title on the scorecard and I assumed that should be type of another person named Justin Timberlake, nevertheless it was not.”
At some point later, on a heat, sunny day when the wind did not blow, Younger couldn’t cease the birdie feeling at El Cardonal Golf Course at Diamante, channeling the facility sport after all designer Tiger Woods and beating the course into submission with seven birdies in all. Younger posted 7-under 65, three strokes off the first-round lead held by Cameron Percy.
Younger is making his first begin of the FedEx Cup Fall – he final appeared on the BMW Championship, the second of three FedEx Cup Playoff occasions in August – however his sport confirmed no rust as he hit all 14 fairways and, relying who’s counting, all 18 greens.
“It was shut, however I don’t know if it was fairly that,” Younger stated of hitting each inexperienced in regulation. “It’s been years I really feel like since I’ve truly been dwelling for that lengthy. Simply the power to exit and actually strive some issues and work by means of some points that I felt like I had was truthfully, one, was type of enjoyable for me, I haven’t had the prospect to do this with out the stress of an occasion arising in a very long time, and two, I believe very productive. I believe I discovered some issues in my golf swing. It’s good to return out and see ’em type of work within the first aggressive spherical.”
At No. 17 within the Official World Golf Ranking (and No. 18 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings), Younger is the top-ranked participant within the area this week and he’s simply two spots behind Tommy Fleetwood for being the best-ranked participant on the earth with out a PGA Tour title. Younger, 26, stated there was a time the place he was urgent for that first win however he’s realized it’s a matter of when not if he’ll hoist a trophy and is now not sweating it.
“I believe I’ve type of come to phrases with the truth that I’ve performed loads of golf that’s worthy of successful a golf match out right here,” he stated. “Clearly, it hasn’t labored out that manner but, however I believe I’ve performed loads of good golf and I absolutely consider that that golf can win a match out right here. So I’ve let go of it a little bit bit and I’m far more centered on making an attempt to get higher as a lot as I can.”
Michael Kim of the US performs his shot from the sixth tee in the course of the first spherical of the World Vast Know-how Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante on November 02, 2023, in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. (Photograph by Hector Vivas/Getty Photos)
Michael Kim has one victory underneath his belt on the 2018 John Deere Basic, however the quest for a second title has been an extended and winding street. Since his lone triumph, the previous Cal Bears golfer’s sport went off the rails, at one level lacking 25 consecutive cuts and tumbling outdoors the highest 1,000 on the earth. Kim, 30, has climbed again to No. 118 coming into this week and opened with 64.
“It was simply tremendous strong,” Kim stated. “I most likely went into bother simply a few times as we speak and only a actually strong day that I might have shot even decrease if I made a pair extra putts.”
Villegas, who has 4 Tour titles to his credit score however hasn’t received since 2014, posted a bogey-free 64. It marked the 41-year-old Villegas’s lowest rating because the second spherical of the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii and he hit all 14 fairways for the primary time because the last spherical of the 2007 RBC Canadian Open. Villegas has made simply 10 begins and three cuts this season – with a T-48 on the Puerto Rico Open his greatest exhibiting – and entered the week at No. 224 within the FedEx Cup standings.
“Low scoring’s on the market as you may see on the leaderboard,” he stated, “and it’s going to be that kind of week, so we’ve obtained to maintain pushing.”
