Rory McIlroy off to flying start with 63 in WGC-Mexico event

Rory McIlroy took pole position at the WGC-Mexico Championship after an impressive opening round.

The Northern Irishman hit 17 of 18 greens to get round Club de Golf Chapultepec in 63 - eight under par and his joint-best effort of the season.

The impressive round left him a shot ahead of Dustin Johnson in second and three ahead of Justin Thomas and Matt Kuchar in joint-third.

McIlroy, whose last PGA Tour triumph was at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, suggested victory at the WGC would be a happy by-product of his current focus on the fundamentals.

“Practising the right way, thinking well, training well, eating well, all the stuff that I try to do,” he said in comments published by the Golf Channel.

“Winning is a by-product of doing all the little things well and I feel like I’m on a really good journey of doing that. I think it’s just a matter of time.

“I can’t put pressure on myself, I can’t push it. I’m off to a great start this week but I literally have taken each and every day this year one day at a time and that’s the way I’m going to treat it. Not just this week, but going forward.”

Starting on the back nine, two-time WGC winner McIlroy picked up shots on the 11th, 12th, 15th and 17th.

He then started for home by coming close to making a hole-in-one on the 305-yard first hole with a 2-iron.

Picking up an eagle, he notched up more birdies on the second and fourth and, after dropping a shot on the par-5 sixth, he hit another birdie on the eighth and parred the ninth.

It was an encouraging performance for McIlroy, who announced on Thursday that he will miss the Irish Open to focus on preparing for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

It was also a decent day for Englishman Tyrell Hatton, whose 67 put him just behind the chasing pack of Johnson, Thomas and Kuchar.

Tied for fifth with South African George Coetzee, Hatton is a shot ahead of fellow Englishman Ian Poulter, who sits in seventh with Billy Horschel, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and David Lipsky.

Tiger Woods, who has 18 WGC wins under his belt, had to settle for a level-par 71 to sit tied for 25th with England’s Paul Casey and eight others.

Russell Knox, the sole Scot in the field, had to settle for a 72 after being three-under standing on the ninth tee.

He had two double-bogeys and two bogeys in the next eight holes before finishing with a birdie-3.

It was a disappointing day for defending champion and recent Pebble Beach winner Phil Mickelson, who sits a shot off bottom spot after an error-strewn 79.