RICO Hoey of the Philippines mastered high winds to fire an opening 5-under 67 for the joint first-round lead at the World Wide Technology Championship on Friday as he seeks a maiden PGA TOUR victory.
The 29-year-old fought his way to seven birdies against two bogeys at El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos, Mexico to share first-day honors with Tom Whitney and Kevin Streelman in the FedExCup Fall tournament. Defending champion Erik van Rooyen of South Africa carded a 68 to lie one back.
With three Fall events remaining, several Asian golfers are battling hard to end the year inside the top-125 of the FedExCup Fall rankings and secure their TOUR cards for next year. Korea’s S.H. Kim, who started the week ranked 122nd, opened with a 78 while countryman S.Y. Noh, who is 181st, returned a 71. China’s Carl Yuan carded a 72 as he seeks to improve on his 131st position.
Hoey, 29, arrived in Mexico without any concerns about his playing status where he is ranked 85th in his rookie season. After missing 10 cuts in his first 15 starts, he has since registered four top-10s, including a playoff loss at the ISCO Championship and third at the Shriners Children’s Open.
Hoey driver on fire
His first round at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal featured a brilliant chip-in birdie on 11, on blustery day where he hit all 14 fairways to cement his reputation as one of the best drivers of the golf ball.
“I shot one 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,” said Hoey, who was born in Manila, left the country when he was five, and grew up in the U.S where he was a three-time all American at the University of Southern California.
"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."
He earned his 2024 PGA TOUR card by finishing top-30 on the Korn Ferry Tour last season where he notched seven top-10s, including a win at the Visit Knoxville Open. His first season on TOUR has allowed him to compete on many golf courses for the first time, and he has found himself enjoying his trip to El Cardonal.
“I like the layout, it's fun, there's a lot of good holes that you have to drive it well,” said Hoey, who played for the Philippines in the 2013 Putra Cup. “I just tried hitting it lower and luckily I hit the right shots. Just keep sticking to the game plan, listen to my caddie, Brian and we'll go from there.”
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