LOS CABOS, Mexico (AP) — Chris Kirk was practically flawless Thursday, hitting each of the wide fairways and missing only one green on his way to a 9-under 63 for a one-shot lead after the opening round of the World Wide Technology Championship.

Kirk is at No. 110 in the FedEx Cup Fall with only three tournaments remaining for him to finish in the top 100 and keep a full card for 2027.

“Just go day by day, shot by shot. I know how cliché that sounds, but there’s not really anything I can do to control like where I finish on a points list,” Kirk said. “The only thing that I have somewhat of control over is just how I approach each day and how I look at each shot. Just trying to keep it as simple as that.”

Equally simple was explaining his round. He putted for birdie on every hole except the par-3 second at the start of his round, when he left his tee shot out to the right. He pitched that up to 10 feet and made par.

His worst swing was on the 156-yard 16th hole, when Kirk hit a shot he described as a “little bit of a chunk pull.” He was left with a 70-foot putt over the ridge and holed it for an unlikely birdie.

Chris Kirk buries 70-foot birdie putt on No. 16 at World Wide Technology

“There was a lot to like, for sure,” Kirk said. “It felt like my swing was in a really good spot and hit a bunch of really nice putts. I’m sorry I’m not going to have a very exciting answer for you, but yeah, it was just a really steady day.”

Scoring conditions were so pure that more than half of the 120-man field broke 70.

Ben James, who has a card locked up for next year as the No. 1 player from the PGA Tour University ranking, was among those at 65. The large group of players at 66 included 19-year-old Blades Brown and Ryan Gerard.