Camilo Villegas shoots 63, leads Northern Trust by three

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Bubba Watson warned of the dangers that can befall a golfer at Riviera Country Club.

"This place will bite you," Watson said.

Jordan Spieth was bitten, mauled and trampled in the first round of the Northern Trust Open on Thursday.

The guy who won the Masters and U.S. Open last year, and is No. 1 in the world rankings, made eight bogies and a double-bogey -- meaning he had worse than pars on half the holes -- and finished with an eight-over 79 and in next-to-last place in the 144-man field.

"It was a day to forget," Spieth said. "In the course of a career it's going to happen. It's just unfortunate when it actually does."

At the other end of the scale was Camilo Villegas, who had missed the cuts in four straight tournaments before shooting an 8-under par 63 for a three-stroke lead.

Watson, the 2014 Northern Trust and two-time Masters champion, Chez Reavie, the first-round leader last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and Luke Lust were tied for second.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who has won each major except the Masters, shot a 67 in his first PGA event of the year.

On a clear, sunny afternoon in southern California after Wednesday's rain, it was Spieth who drew the attention and the bewilderment.

"I feel really confident about where my game is," the 22-year-old Spieth insisted. "I felt there were a couple rounds last week (at Pebble) where I shot two-under and was more miserable than I was today. I just played poorly from good positions off the tee and didn't strike the iron shots bad either. I just drew the ball (pulling left) when you can't be left and overcut it when you can't be right. Just bad timing.

"I found it very difficult to trust the way the golf course is playing."

He's played Riviera from the time the NCAA championships were held here in 2012, when he triple-bogeyed the short (300 yards) but vexing 10th hole in the final round. He birdied 10 on Thursday, which few did.

Villegas, 226th in the world rankings, was two shots off the tournament and course record of 61 set by Ted Tryba in 1999. Starting at 10, Villegas was 4-under on the front, picked up another birdie on the short par-5 first and in a flourish birdied Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8. His only bogey in the round of 31-32 came on his final hole.

"It's a crazy game," Villegas said. "You don't really shoot 8-under around this place not playing good. Obviously the rain made the golf course a lot more accessible. A nice front nine, and then the back nine, I got on fire there for a little stretch and obviously a little mishap on the last hole. But man, I thought I made the chip, too. It was a good day out there, fun."

Riviera, with its fairways of kikuyu grass imported from Africa, deep bunkers and one of the finest and most perplexing short par 4s in golf -- the 10th playing Thursday at 307 yards, has been a host of the event known once as the Los Angeles Open on and off since 1929.

"Yeah, I love it because of its history,'' Watson said. "There are some trees down compared to the first time I played here -- I think I started here nine, 10 years ago -- and so you can spray but still manage the golf course.

"It's one of those golf courses where it can bite you at any minute, but at the same time you can score and you can imagine a bunch of shots around the trees and around the greens."

Watson and Reavie each shot 32-34 on the 7,349-yard, par 35-36 layout, which is located in a coastal canyon about a mile inland from the Pacific. List, whose only victory was on the Web.Com Tour, the 2012 South Georgia Classic, shot 33-33.

McIlroy, who was No. 1 in the world rankings but stands No. 3 behind Spieth and Jason Day, began his round at 10 and birdied it. The hole is reachable off the tee, but because the green is virtually surrounded by sand, most players tend to lay up, and still make bogey. As did Watson.

"I made a par," Watson joked. "I made a five ... Over time the green has gotten small because of all the sand out of the bunkers. Today we went for it. I hooked. So I had to play sideways and missed my putt for a par. When I par that hole, it's like a birdie."

"Anywhere short of that (fairway) bunker at 260," said McIlroy of his tee shot on 10. "If you can hit it over there and just try to get it green high, even if you're among those little trees, you'll find some kind of shot. It's one of those greens that if you go for that pin, it's so difficult to hit the green.

"I like it. It's a 300-yard hole. The hole played over par last year. It's a great design. I wouldn't change it."