John Daly II opens with a 70 at the Mexico Open on a sponsor exemption

John Daly II shot a 1-under 70 in the first round of the VidantaWorld Mexico Open on Thursday, October 29, and he closed it with a 46-foot putt for par on his final hole. Golf Channel aired the putt, and the AP and PGA Tour round reports confirm the 70. The 23-year-old son of two-time major champion John Daly is in the field at Vidanta Vallarta on a sponsor exemption.

How the round went

The AP scoreboard has Daly II at 38 on his first nine and 32 on his second, so he played the closing stretch four shots better than the opening one. Vidanta Vallarta plays to a par of 71 this week, and lift, clean and place was in effect, which rewarded anyone who found fairways.

Karl Vilips leads at 9-under 62. Kensei Hirata is a shot back, and Ben Griffin, Marco Penge, Garrick Higgo and Jeffrey Kang sit at 64. Wyndham Clark, the only top-10 player in the field, shot 69, one better than Daly II.

Q-School is the bigger goal

The Mexico Open start comes a week after Daly II got through First Stage of PGA Tour Q-School. The Korn Ferry Tour says he drove 10 hours to his site, then closed with a 5-under 67 while pushing his own cart and advanced with two shots to spare.

"The last four holes were definitely stressful ... I was definitely a little shaky," he told the tour.

Second Stage is in early December. Top finishers there earn 2027 Korn Ferry Tour membership and a spot at Final Stage, where PGA Tour cards are on the line. This is his first PGA Tour start as a professional; his only other start this season came as an amateur at the Puerto Rico Open in March, where he tied for 37th.

What to watch

Friday's second round decides the 36-hole cut. A weekend at Vallarta would be his first made cut on the PGA Tour as a pro and a useful run of reps before Second Stage. For sim golfers who grind lag putting on indoor greens, the 22-second Golf Channel clip above is worth a look at how the 46-footer tracked to the hole. Check the leaderboard Friday afternoon to see whether the 32 he shot coming home carries into round two.