The world No. 1 is atop the leaderboard at his hometown event.
Scottie Scheffler eagled the ninth hole to shoot 29 on the front nine at TPC Craig Ranch en route to shooting a bogey-free 10-under 61 on Thursday in McKinney, Texas, to take a two-stroke lead over Rico Hoey after the first round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Since missing time in January due to surgery on hand after cutting himself while making ravioli on Christmas, Scheffler hasn’t played poorly but hasn’t been playing the transcendent golf that became commonplace during a seven-victory season in 2024. Scheffler hasn’t finished outside the top 25 in eight starts this season but he’s winless so far.
That may change this week at the tournament where he made his Tour debut as a high school student.
Scheffler was dialed in on a course softened by more than two inches of rain on Wednesday. His irons were as sharp as the tournament namesake. Scheffler stuffed his approach at the third hole to 5 feet for the first of four straight birdies in a row. That was the longest birdie putt during that stretch. He rolled in a 16-footer at No. 8 before drilling his second shot at the par-5 ninth hole to 4 feet to set up eagle.
Forget 59 watch – there was talk of 57. But Scheffler cooled off on the second nine, making three straight pars before breaking the spell with a 12-foot birdie at No. 13 to tie for the lead. Scheffler wasn’t done yet, sticking his tee shot at the par-3 17th to 2 feet. At 18, he had an eagle putt from 26 feet from just off the green for 60 but settled for 61.
Scheffler looked his old self – the one who dominated the Tour, winning the Masters, FedEx Cup and Player of the Year honors for a third straight year.