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Here’s what you missed from Round 1 of the Mayakoba Golf Classic

November 15, 2019

After a deluge of rain that resulted in the postponement of the entire first round of the tournament until Friday, 18 holes of golf have been played at last at El Camaleon.

Here’s everything you missed from Friday’s action at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Danny Lee leads by one

After an epic start that saw Danny Lee get to 10 under par through 13 holes and on an official 59-watch, the 29-year-old made bogey at 14, which seemed to break the red-number spell. He parred out after that to sign for a nine-under-par 62.

Lee’s round included eight birdies and an eagle. He currently leads by one shot over Brendon Todd, Adam Long and Chris Baker.

Lee has one career PGA Tour win on his resume, the 2015 Greenbrier Classic.

How did Matt Kuchar play?

Defending champ Matt Kuchar has his regular, full-time caddie on the bag this week, and had an up-and-down round that included seven birdies unfortunately mitigated by two doubles and a bogey. Kuchar ultimately signed for a two-under-par 69, which is currently T44.

Is El Tucan caddying this year?

As a matter of fact, yes. Local looper David “El Tucan” Ortiz, who shot to fame last year when he helped shepherd Matt Kuchar to his first victory in over four years and then later revealed that Kuchar only paid him $5,000 for his efforts, did manage to grab another bag this year.

Rob Oppenheim got into the tournament field when Jason Dufner WDed at the last minute. Oppenheim’s caddie couldn’t make the trip in time, so Oppenheim connected with El Tucan instead.

Oppenheim shot a two-over-par 73 in the first round, so he’ll need a little bit of Tucan’s former magic to get back in the mix to make the cut on Saturday.

How did the big names play?

Not all that well, unfortunately. Young stud Viktor Hovland had the best showing of the name-recognition set, with a first round of three-under-par 68. Kuchar was next at two under, followed by Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau, Cameron Champ and Jason Day at one under.

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