Branden Grace leads WGC-HSBC Champions with 9-under 63
Branden Grace continued his breakout 2015 on Thursday, shooting a first round of 9-under 63 to take the Day 1 lead at the WGC-HSBC Champions.
The South African, who finished T-4 at the U.S. Open and third at the PGA Championship, leads by a shot at Sheshan International in Shanghai, China, over American Kevin Kisner, who lost three sudden-death playoffs on the PGA Tour last season, Steven Bowditch and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Grace lauded the ideal scoring conditions.
“There was barely a breath of wind out there and the golf course is playing probably as easy as it could be playing,” he said. “There’s some low scores out there. The guys are playing some great golf, and when you play on greens like this, as well, it helps. You just have to get the ball on the right line and it goes in.”
Patrick Reed, 2013 champion Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett are tied for fifth at 7 under par.
Rory McIlroy is a handful of shots off the lead, fortunate to play after having to deal with food poisoning thanks to a bad club sandwich he had earlier in the week. McIlroy admits he’s still weak, but expects to improve on course with his health and appetite.
“I’ve lost ten pounds since being here,” McIlroy said. “I can’t remember the last time I was this light. But hopefully I’ll have a couple of good meals over the next couple days and rehydrate and I’ll be feeling a lot better. I felt like I played okay. Tee-to-green was pretty good. I was disappointed I missed three good chances coming in there on the front nine and didn’t quite capitalize on those. So it was a score that I thought could have been a lot better, but considering the position I was in this time yesterday, it’s not a bad start.”
Jordan Spieth and defending champion Bubba Watson are tied with McIlroy in 16th place with 68.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
