Corey Pereira (Sacramento, California) and Brantley Scott (Dothan, Alabama) fired opening rounds of 8-under 63 to share the clubhouse lead at the Mexico Championship presented by Scotia Wealth Management. The co-leaders of the fifth event of the PGA TOUR Americas season went bogey-free at Club de Golf La Hacienda, north of Mexico City.
Pereira, a 31-year-old University of Washington alum in his ninth season as a pro, didn’t record a single five in his early start off No. 10 at 7:23 a.m. Currently No. 20 on the PGA TOUR Americas points list, he has had three top-25 finishes in four starts, with a season-best T10 at the 94 Abierto del Centro Zurich presentado por Personal in Cordoba, Argentina.
Scott, a 22-year-old in his second pro season after graduating from Troy College last year, caught up with Pereira by birdieing five of his last seven holes in the last group of the morning wave. After finishing No. 55 on the points list in his PGA TOUR Americas debut season last year, he has missed three consecutive cuts after a T49 finish at the season-opening ECP Brazil Open.
Riley Lewis (Prescott, Arizona) had an eagle and five birdies and is solo third at 7-under 64. Canadian Brady McKinlay (Lacombe, Alberta) had seven birdies and a bogey at the last to rank solo fourth at 6-under 65.
Making his first start of the PGA TOUR Americas season, conditional member Eduardo Carrete (Queretaro, Mexico) is the leading local. He is T6 following a round of 4-under 67.
Points List No. 1, Patrick Flavin (Highwood, Illinois), is among the 72 players from the afternoon wave who were unable to complete the first round due to lightning in the area.
Flavin teed off at 12:01 p.m. local time Thursday. He and the rest of the field will resume their first rounds at 7 a.m. Friday.
