Jeremy Paul of Germany carded two eagles on his way to a 7-under-par 64, giving him a share of the lead with England’s Harry Hall and Norway’s Kris Ventura after one round of the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld on Thursday in Vallarta, Mexico.
The trio have a one-shot lead over Isaiah Salinda, Brian Campbell, Patrick Fishburn, Argentina’s Alejandro Tosti and South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter. Among those tied at 5-under 66 are World No. 30 Akshay Bhatia and Italy’s Francesco Molinari, who is seeking his first victory since 2019.
Paul, the No. 344 player in the world rankings entering the week, is making just his fourth start on the PGA Tour after earning his card last fall. He is enjoying his first trip to Puerto Vallarta.
“(The setting) really puts you in a good mind frame and it helps when you’re not really thinking about golf when you’re off the golf course,” Paul said. “That really helps you sort of just be mentally ready because it’s super draining playing golf all the time, you’re always on.”
After ripping off three straight birdies at Nos. 4-6, he holed out for eagle from 27 feet away at the short par-4 seventh hole, which played just 297 yards Thursday.
“Hit a really good tee shot just over the green, basically back fringe and managed to roll that one in. That was a nice bonus,” Paul said.
Paul gave one back at the next hole with his only bogey but reached the green in two at the par-5 12th and made a 13-foot eagle putt.
Hall, the only co-leader with a previous PGA Tour win to his name (2024 ISCO Championship), was also the only one to post a bogey-free round. He logged five birdies and an eagle pitch-in at the par-5 sixth.
“I was 4 under going into that hole and you want to birdie 6 and 7 because they’re quite gettable,” Hall said. “I put myself in a good position just short of the green there and wasn’t thinking about chipping it in, but that one went in.”
Ventura was 8 under par and bogey-free through 17 holes but missed the green at the par-3 ninth, his final hole, and closed with a bogey.
“Obviously just keep doing the same thing,” Ventura said of his plan for the rest of the week. “I can’t expect to hit it like this every single day. (Thursday) was just one of those days where everything was spot on. I was hitting my spots and just managing my game really well.”
Defending champion Jake Knapp birdied three of his last five holes to post a 4-under 67, tied for 18th.
There are six amateurs in the field, and two of them shot 2-under 69: Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands, the 2025 Latin American Amateur champion, and Spaniard Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, the 2024 U.S. Amateur champ.
–Field Level Media
