Karl Vilips Shoots 62 to Lead the Mexico Open

Karl Vilips caught fire twice in one round. The 25-year-old Australian shot a 9-under 62 Thursday at Vidanta Vallarta to take the first-round lead at the Mexico Open, running off five straight birdies on Nos. 11 through 15 and then closing with four in a row.

The stakes are real for him. Vilips is 141st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, and players are fighting to finish inside the top 100 to keep full status for next season. A week like this is exactly what moves that number.

Driver On a String

Vilips started on the back nine in the afternoon wave and was locked in off the tee early. Between the two birdie streaks he had one more birdie and his only bogey.

"Had it on a string for the first nine," Vilips said. "Got a little loose in the middle and got it back on course toward the end of the round. It was lift, clean and place today so being in the fairway was a must for me and I took advantage of those drives that I hit."

That lift, clean and place note matters. When you can wipe off the ball in the fairway, hitting it straight turns into a scoring weapon, and Vilips took full advantage. The former Stanford player already has a PGA Tour win at the 2025 Puerto Rico Open, so this is not a total out-of-nowhere run.

The Chase Pack

Kensei Hirata of Japan sits one back at 63 after holing a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 3 with what he called "a perfect 7-wood." Hirata is trying to climb from 170th in the standings. A group at 7 under includes Ben Griffin, Marco Penge, Garrick Higgo and Jeffrey Kang, and Mexico's own Alvaro Ortiz opened with a bogey-free 65.

U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, the only top-10 player in the field, shot 69. Defending champion Brian Campbell and Tom Kim, back for the first time since winning Asian Games gold, both posted 67. John Daly II, playing on a sponsor exemption, opened with a 70.

Why This Week Matters

This is the first of two straight PGA Tour stops in Mexico, with the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos next week. For guys on the bubble like Vilips, Hirata and Penge (112th), two good weeks in a row could decide their 2027 schedules. A 62 on Thursday does not win anything, but it changes the whole math.

Smacktok Pick Lean

We lean higher on Vilips' birdies in Friday's second round if preferred lies stay in play. He made 10 on Thursday by hitting fairways and taking advantage of clean lies, and he said himself that the fairway was a must. Keep riding the driver until it cools off.