Mexico Open Round 1: Paul, Hall and Ventura Turn Vidanta Into a Three-Flag Race

Thursday at Vidanta Vallarta handed out passports to the top of the leaderboard. Germany, England and Norway all have a flag at the summit of the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, and none of the three players holding them would have been on many shortlists coming into the week.

Jeremy Paul, Harry Hall and Kris Ventura each shot 7-under 64 to share the first-round lead. Five players sit one shot back at 6-under 65: Brian Campbell, Aldrich Potgieter, Isaiah Salinda, Patrick Fishburn and Argentina's Alejandro Tosti. Behind them, a crowd at 66 includes Akshay Bhatia, Stephan Jaeger, Ryo Hisatsune, Ryan Gerard and Francesco Molinari. On a day when 70 of the 132 players broke 70, per the AP, being merely good was not enough to make the first page.

Paul Brings the Fireworks

Paul's round had the most noise in it. The German came into the week ranked No. 344 in the world, making only his fourth PGA TOUR start after earning his card last fall, according to Field Level Media. You would not have guessed it from the way he attacked the front nine.

After three straight birdies on Nos. 4 through 6, Paul went at the drivable seventh, which played under 300 yards, and walked off with an eagle. A bogey at the eighth was the only blemish. Then came the par-5 12th, a monster of a hole that stretches past 650 yards on the card. Paul hit 3-wood from 309 yards, and with the wind helping, it ran up to roughly a dozen feet. He rolled that in for his second eagle of the day.

The finish showed some nerve too. On the par-5 18th his second shot drifted into the water behind the green, and instead of leaking a shot he pitched from 50 yards to about 6 feet and saved par. Two eagles, a scramble on the last, and a share of the lead in a field where nobody knew his name on Wednesday. For the record, there is another Paul to keep tabs on: his twin brother Yannik plays on the DP World Tour.

Hall Keeps It Clean

Hall's 64 was the tidiest card of the three, and the only bogey-free one. The Englishman went off in the morning, when the wind was gusty, and still found a way to go low. The highlight was a 30-yard chip that dropped for eagle on the par-5 sixth, and Hall followed it by driving the green at the 297-yard seventh to set up another eagle look.

That combination matters. Hall is the only one of the co-leaders who has already won on TOUR, taking the ISCO Championship in 2024. Hall knows what it takes to close, which is not nothing when the two players alongside on the leaderboard are still figuring that out.

Ventura's One Bad Swing

Ventura had the best round of the day for 17 holes. The Norwegian piled up three straight birdies late to get to 8 under, the only player in the field to touch that number, and was still bogey-free on the tee at the par-3 ninth, the last hole of the day. Ventura missed the green, then missed a 10-footer for par, and the outright lead became a three-way tie.

"Bummer with the last hole, but other than that, really solid," Ventura said, per the AP.

Hard to argue. Ventura and Paul both went out later in the day, and the wind eased in the afternoon, which gave them a slightly friendlier course to work with. Hall did the damage in tougher air, a detail worth remembering as the tee times flip on Friday.

The Chase Pack

The group at 65 is where things get interesting. Potgieter, the 20-year-old South African, is a former Amateur champion who hits it enormous distances, and a course with reachable par 5s suits that game. Campbell put together a quiet, steady 65. Salinda, Fishburn and Tosti round out a group that is close enough to treat Friday as a fresh start.

Jaeger was flirting with the lead, sitting 6 under through 11 holes, before playing the back nine's three par 5s in 1 over combined, then finding water on the way to a bogey at 18. Jaeger still signed for 66. Bhatia, the World No. 30, also posted 66, and Molinari, who has not won since 2019, matched that number.

The Big Names and the Bigger Pattern

Defending champion Jake Knapp birdied three of the final five holes to scrape out a 67, three back. Aaron Rai, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 29, also shot 67.

The leaderboard fits the theme of the season so far. International players had won six of the first seven PGA TOUR events of 2025, with Harris English at Torrey Pines the lone American winner, according to the AP. Thursday's top line, a German, an Englishman and a Norwegian, did nothing to break that run.

What Friday Brings

Eighteen holes in, the margins are tiny. Eight players sit within one shot of the lead, and the cut will reward anyone who handles the wind on the flipped tee times. Paul has the flash, Hall has the résumé and Ventura has the ball striking, at least for 17 holes. The question for Friday is simple: who backs it up?

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR has its own Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap and leaderboard), AP, Field Level Media. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.