Fil-American Rico Hoey fired a 5-under-par 67 for a share of the first-round lead with two others in the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico on Thursday, Nov. 7.
Rico Hoey fires 67, ties for lead with 2 others in Mexico
Nov 8, 2024 04:27 AM
At a glance
Fil-American Rico Hoey fired a 5-under-par 67 for a share of the first-round lead with two others in the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico on Thursday, Nov. 7.
The 29-year-old Hoey navigated the windy conditions at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal at Diamante with an impressive performance at the back nine, where he shot five birdies against a bogey on the par-4 15th to go along with two more birdies and a bogey on the first nine holes.
He tied with Americans Tom Whitney and Kevin Streelman at the helm of the FedExCup Fall tournament, just one stroke ahead of seven other players composed of defending champion Erik van Rooyen, Taylor Montgomery, Max Greyserman, Nate Lashley, Austrin Eckroat, Kelly Kraft, and Ryan McCormick.
Hoey, who was born in Manila but grew up in the United States where he was a three-time all-American at the University of Southern California, highlighted his round with a brilliant chip-in birdie on the 11th, on blustery day where he hit all 14 fairways.
“I shot 1 under on the front. I felt like I was hitting good shots. It's just blowing so hard that any shot on the green is a great shot. I caught fire on the back nine starting on 10, hit it to 12 feet and made that. And then chipped in on 11, so that was pretty cool, just kind of kept rolling from there,” said Hoey to PGA Tour International.
Hoey, who missed the cut 10 times this season, seeks his first PGA title after coming close twice -- a playoff loss at the ISCO Championship last July and a third-place finish at the Shriners Children’s Open last month.
Prior to this tournament, he came in tied for 22nd and 11 shots behind eventual champion Nico Echavarria at the ZOZO Championship in Chiba, Japan late in October.
Meanwhile, Whitney opened his campaign with three straight birdies before managing three more against a lone bogey on the fourth.
Streelman, who was winless on the PGA Tour since 2014, opened his round with an eagle and a birdie, then went on carding three more birdies at the back nine against a bogey on the eighth.