By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer
PACIFIC PALISADES — Rory McIlroy would have preferred playing in the rain compared with the wind that followed on Thursday at Riviera Country Club. He handled both well enough for a 5-under-par 66 to share the clubhouse lead with Jacob Bridgeman in the Genesis Invitational.
Scottie Scheffler couldn’t get off the course fast enough. He was tied for last in the 72-man field, without a birdie through 10 holes when play was suspended by darkness.
The rain that formed puddles on the already soft greens led to a 3-hour stoppage. Players returned to far more difficult conditions with a wind that was strong and cold, and putting surfaces with a rare combination of being super soft and super quick.
McIlroy opened with three birdies in four holes. He saved par on the par-3 sixth by chipping over the bunker in the middle of the green. He dropped only one shot to join Bridgeman, who contended last week at Pebble Beach and played his best in the strongest conditions.
“I’ve started to just really enjoy this style of golf,” said McIlroy, who grew up in Northern Ireland but spoke early in his career of his fondness for warmth and sunshine.
“If you had asked me 10 years ago, I didn’t enjoy these conditions, but it’s been a shift in a mindset and maybe just a continuation of trying to build upon the skill set that I have,” he said. “Then when it does get to conditions like this, I’m a lot more prepared. I wouldn’t say I enjoy them, but I can certainly handle them better.”
Aaron Rai was at 6 under with two holes remaining when it was too dark to continue. The round was to resume Friday morning, and the forecast was dry for the rest of the week.
Ryan Fox had a 67, and Pebble Beach winner Collin Morikawa from La Cañada was in the group at 68.
But it was an odd combination of conditions, particularly the greens. Most amazing was Adam Scott’s tee shot on the par-3 sixth that landed inches from the cup and plugged into the turf.
McIlroy was poised to make one last birdie when he ripped a 9-iron downwind from 181 yards near the pin, only to see it spin back off the front of the green. Another shot rarely seen came on the short 10th when he was well left of the green in the rough, 60 yards away, to a pin all the way to the right. He flew it all the way to pin and it stopped inches from where it landed.
“I honestly don’t know how they got it to this. Like, I’ve never seen greens like this,” Morikawa said. “You could stop any club from anyplace – from the rough, flyer lies. I think I had two or three shots today, flyers out of the first cut and rough and I’m not worried about missing the green at all.”
The biggest surprise was Scheffler, who was headed toward a third straight tournament where he failed to break par in the opening round. He hasn’t done that since his rookie season in 2020, and this was more frustrating based on how hard he slammed a bathroom door on No. 9.
He opened with a three-putt par from the 30 feet on the opening hole. He missed greens and missed putts from the 6-foot range. On the par-5 eighth, his tee shot found the barranca that divides the fairways, flew 30 yards beyond the pin, chipped to the fringe and three-putted from 20 feet.
He was 5 over for his round and had an 8-foot birdie putt – after missing the fairway to the left and his approach well to the right – on the par-5 11th hole.
Bridgeman, who reached the Tour Championship and is in the signature events for the first time, made his debut at Riviera with 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 opening hole only to chop up the par-3 fourth, where the tee was played forward to make it only 220 (the scorecard yardage is 273). He was short on the apron, left his chip short and chipped the next one 35 feet by the hole.
But he was at his best when play resumed and the wind peaked, picking up five birdies in a 10-hole stretch and missing only one green after the delay.
“I think one of my strengths is flighting shots down, hitting shots where people don’t really know how far it’s playing, what the number actually is and just kind of feeling it out,” Bridgeman said. “I think today, especially in the wind, it played into my favor. I got to hit some of those shots that I saw some people hitting high ballooning shots that were getting smoked by the wind.”
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