Friday 25 January 2019 07:32, UK
Jon Rahm and Justin Rose enjoyed flying starts to the Farmers Insurance Open on a low-scoring opening day at Torrey Pines.
The Ryder Cup partners took advantage of near-perfect conditions on the easier North Course in San Diego, with Rahm's high-quality 10-under 62 earning him the outright lead by a shot from the current world No 1.
Tiger Woods made a steady start in his first competitive round of the year and ground out a 70 on the South Course, where Rory McIlroy also struggled for birdies and made only two in his uneventful 71.
But it was Rahm who stole the show from the moment he struck a towering hybrid to six feet at his first hole - the 10th - and converted the chance for eagle, although he then missed a three-foot putt for birdie before atoning at the 14th and 15th.
The Spaniard, whose thrilling eagle at the 72nd hole clinched the title in 2017, holed from 30 feet for his second eagle of the round at 17, and he got another putt to drop at 18 to race to the turn in just 29 strokes.
Rahm could not avoid giving a shot back at the short third after missing the green with his tee shot, but he bounced back with four consecutive birdies from the fifth and narrowly failed to make it five in a row at the par-five ninth.
But he had done enough to ensure the outright lead over Rose, whose form clearly has not suffered from his much-publicised change of equipment as he opened with a bogey-free 63.
Rose also started on the back nine and matched Rahm's eagle at the 10th when he nailed a perfect 20-foot putt, and birdies at 13, 16 and 18 saw the Englishman cruise to the turn in 31.
He picked up another shot at the first and birdied three of his last five holes to close on nine under, where he was later joined by Doug Ghim after the American responded to an early bogey with an astonishing run of nine birdies in 11 holes.
Ghim capped an excellent day with an eagle at the 17th and claimed a share of second, with CT Pan a stroke further adrift after returning a 10-birdie 64.
Jordan Spieth, still without a victory since his memorable Open triumph at Royal Birkdale in 2017, made an encouraging start with nine birdies and two bogeys adding up to a 65, while a resurgent Charles Howell III equalled the best round of the day on the South Course with a six-under 66.
Scotland's Russell Knox produced a similar fightback to Ghim's after he bogeyed two of the first four holes on the North Course, responding with an eagle at the fifth and then six birdies over the next seven holes as he salvaged a commendable 67.
Defending champion Jason Day was also in the group at five under, while Woods and McIlroy will be hoping the North Course plays as friendly on Friday after a tough day for both on the South.
McIlroy's frustrations on the greens were evident as he made only one putt for birdie from 10 feet, at the fifth, before a run of 10 consecutive pars came to an end when he was unable to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the 16th.
The 29-year-old did manage to get back under the card with a classy sand-save for birdie at the long 18th, while Woods also finished with a flourish when he rolled in his fifth birdie putt of the day from 15 feet to climb to two under par.
