FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler and John Pak enjoyed the same start to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial with eagles on their respective first holes.
The world No. 1 couldn't keep up with the PGA Tour rookie from there.
Four days after winning his third major at the PGA Championship, Scheffler opened his attempt at three consecutive victories with a 2-under 68 Thursday. Pak shot 63 for a three-shot lead over nine players, J.J. Spaun the highest-ranked among them at 27th.
Tommy Fleetwood and 2023 British Open champion Brian Harman were among a group of nine players four back of Pak, and Scheffler headlined the 15 players who were five strokes behind.
Defending champion Davis Riley, who is playing the first two rounds with Scheffler, had two double bogeys on the front nine and shot 3-over 73 on the cozy course made famous by Ben Hogan, the only player to win Colonial in consecutive years (1946-47 and 1952-53). Riley is coming off a runner-up finish to Scheffler at the PGA.
The others at 4 under with Spaun were Patrick Rodgers, Ryo Hisatsune, Matti Schmid, Beau Hossler, Bud Cauley, J.T. Poston and Ben Griffin.
Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., was four shots back of the lead after a 3-under 67. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., shot 1-under 69
Jordan Spieth, Scheffler's fellow hometown favorite and former Texas Longhorn, shot 69 with birdies on two of his final four holes.
Scheffler opened the second of what he considers his hometown events by holing a putt for eagle from off the green on the par-5 first hole and a 23-footer for birdie on No. 2.
The Dallas resident played the final 16 holes in 1 over, missing enough fairways and greens to prevent a run at Pak, who finished several hours earlier.
The first of Scheffler's consecutive wins came three weeks ago at his hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which he led wire-to-wire for an eight-shot victory while tying the tour scoring record of 253.
Scheffler will have to come from behind this time, just as he did in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where he faced the same first-round deficit before surging into the lead in the third round and repelling a Sunday charge from Jon Rahm.
Scheffler skipped some of his prep work in the interest of rest and recovery, then showed up on the eve of Colonial at Game 1 of the NHL's Western Conference final. The Dallas Stars beat Edmonton 6-3 with a big third-period rally.
“It was fun going to the hockey game last night,” said Scheffler, who will have an early tee time Friday. “I was able to still get home and get a decent amount of rest. Waking up the time I’m going to be waking up tomorrow, I’m going to need a little bit of extra rest. Just get home and get ready for tomorrow.”
Scheffler hit just five fairways on a warm and windy afternoon, and even found trouble with one of those when he delicately tried to shoo a bug off his ball at the par-4 15th after caddie Ted Scott's towel-waving attempt to create enough breeze didn't work. Scheffler's approach landed 30 feet away, and he two-putted for par.
“On a day where I didn’t hit a lot of fairways on a golf course where you have to hit a lot of fairways, I posted a decent score,” Scheffler said. “Anything under par around here in these conditions isn’t a bad score. Obviously, I wish it was a little bit lower, but overall I feel decent about the position I’m in.”
Starting on the par-4 10th, Pak holed a 147-yard approach. He added five birdies in a bogey-free round. The 26-year-old Korn Ferry Tour graduate, and one-time winner on the PGA Tour Canada, is the fifth rookie to hold a first-round lead in an individual event this year.
The New Jersey-raised Pak found all the motivation he needed when his New York Knicks blew a 14-point lead in the final three minutes of a 138-135 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA's Eastern Conference finals.
“I’m a die-hard Knicks fan, and that was historically one of the worst losses I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Pak, who has one top-25 finish among seven made cuts in 12 events this year. “There was a fire lit under me, yeah, this morning. I was a little (mad) about that.”
Joel Dahmen made a hole-in-one on the 186-yard 13th when his tee shot stopped about 25 feet behind the hole, spun back and went in. The 37-year-old's first career ace was followed by seven bogeys as he shot 74.
“Nine years out here, that’s a lot of par-3 attempts,” Dahmen said. “A lot have looked good, and to finally go in was pretty cool.”
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Schuyler Dixon, The Associated Press
