The first round of the World Golf Championship

The first round of the World Golf Championship was a balance between study and adjustments for the world's best golfers visiting Mexico after 40 years of absence.

After playing the 18 holes of the Chapultepec grass, American Phil Mickelson leads a group of five players who tied for first place with a score of 67 strokes, four under par.

"This week we will try to control the distance with our irons and the difference will be influenced by the altitude. I really enjoyed the challenge, it's fun. I had very good shots with my irons and I hit the ball very well, which allowed me to play several holes aggressively," said the California native after completing the first round.

Mickelson played aggressively at the end of his game, and the course punished him with two bogeys, the first on the fourth hole and then on the fifth, but the change of strategy - to something more conservative - allowed him to recover and sign a total of six birdies. None of the leaders were spared from mistakes and each committed at least a couple of bogeys at the start.

One stroke behind the leaders, with a -3 on their cards, are another seven players, including Irish Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar, and Spanish Sergio García,

"It was not an easy round, besides the fact that the course has very good defenses, you immediately feel the altitude. Physically, it is an important challenge, your head hurts, your body feels different, but we are getting used to it little by little. I hope that tomorrow the effects are less noticeable," said García.

The second round will start at 11 am, where Latin American golfers will seek to climb the leaderboard.

The best positioned is Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti, who is tied in 7th place with a -3, while Colombian Jhonatthan Vegas with a -2 shares the 14th position. Mexican Roberto Díaz is in 28th place at par and Argentine Emiliano Grillo is in 41st position with +1.

Stenson is out

After playing 11 holes on the first day of the Mexico Championship, Henrik Stenson had to withdraw due to a stomach virus.

The player who was looking to maintain his streak decided to withdraw, ending a run of 10 consecutive top tens.

Irish Rory McIlroy is also not feeling well in the stomach, so he ensured that when it comes to food, he had to "play it safe" to avoid problems, now that he's returning from an injury.

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