Chez Reavie, Bubba Watson and Luke List were tied second with 66 each. Riviera is considered a shotmaker’s course and while four-time major champion McIlroy had his game in high gear, Spieth did not as his eight-over 79 resulted in a 12-stroke swing between two of the sport’s brightest young stars. Fourteen players did not finish the round.
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On the par-4 9, he hit an errant tee shot, failed to reach the green with his approach and still nearly made birdie when his chip from the rough ran toward the cup and lipped out.
Spieth found himself in trouble on the front nine after he missed a number of straightforward par putts to record four bogeys.
He was 16 shots behind Camilo Villegas and needing something in the low 60s to make the cut. He was three shots behind going into the final round in 2014 until closing with a 71.
The guy who won the Masters and U.S. Open a year ago, and is No. 1 in the world rankings, made eight bogies and a double-bogey – meaning he had worse than pars on half the holes – and finished with an eight-over 79 and in next-to-last place in the 144-man field.
With extensive experience playing Riviera that includes a T4 in the 2015 Northern Trust and his key role in alma mater Texas winning the 2012 NCAA team championship, Spieth said he struggled with the rain-softened Riviera.
The surprise was Danielson, who won the collegiate qualifier on Monday and made his PGA Tour debut.
“With the trees and the way the golf course is designed, I think anyone who is very visual in their pre-shot routine, it plays into their hands – and I like to see shots”.
“I wanted to get off to a good start and I was pleased with the way I putted”.
“There are some holes where you can stand up on a tee shot and you can see a variety of different ways to play it”, McIlroy said.
But his round really fell apart when he missed a par putt from just inside 3 feet on the 12th. Seven of the past 15 tournaments at Pacific Palisades have gone to a sudden-death playoff – including three times in the past four years.
He took 27 putts for the round, and having hit only 11 of 18 greens in regulation, he did well to register just one bogey on his card. “I liked California and I liked being out here”, he said.
“I’ve shot in the 80s a couple times on Tour”, Spieth told reporters. “So getting in the gym, eating better, and I think from the start of 2011, the direct correlation between leading a healthier lifestyle and my performance on the course was the same”, he said.
Even though the notorious Los Angeles traffic makes getting to this PGA Tour venue worse than any other, that has not kept quality fields from flowing into Riviera every year, and this week’s edition has attracted five players in the world’s top 10.
He expects it to get tougher with a forecast for sunshine the rest of the way.
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– Among the top 26 players on the leaderboard, only Troy Merritt did not birdie or eagle the par-5 No. 1 that was playing 491 yards.
