Rory leads in Mexico

MEXICO CITY: Rory McIlroy started strong in his bid to complete his WGC trophy collection, firing a six-under par 65 Thursday for a two-shot lead in the Mexico Golf Championship.

The Northern Ireland star eagled his second hole of the day at Club de Golf Chapultepec, the par-five 11th.

He closed with back-to-back birdies to break free atop a crowded leaderboard with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas two shots back on four-under 67.

It was a further stroke back to South African Louis Oosthuizen, Canadian Corey Conners and Americans Billy Horschel and Bryson DeCh­ambeau. McIlroy, No 1 in the world again for the first time since 2015, is coming off a tie for fifth at the Genesis Open at Riviera in Los Angeles — where he shared the 54-hole lead but couldn’t match eventual winner Adam Scott in the final round.

He said the Chapultepec greens were a little softer than those at Riviera, and a return to his old, 34-inch putter had him feeling more comfortable after he experimented with a 35-inch flat stick in California.

McIlroy rolled in a 10-footer at the ninth to cap his round. He had drained a 27-footer at the sixth and a 15-footer at the eighth to move atop the leaderboard.

McIlroy won the WGC-HSBC Championship in Sha­n­ghai for the first time in November, and a victory on Sunday would see him complete the “grand slam” of the elite series.