Scottie starts season with 63 to be one behind American Express leaders
LA QUINTA—The idea for Scottie Scheffler was to get a gauge on his game at The American Express and all appeared to be in good working order on Thursday.
He made birdies on half of his holes for a nine-under 63 to join a parade of low scores that left him one shot out of the lead.
Min Woo Lee and Pierceson Coody led the way after 62s at the Nicklaus Tournament course at PGA West, the easiest of the three on the rotation. Scheffler played at La Quinta, where he didn’t miss a green until the 17th hole. He chipped that in for a birdie.
“I think the hardest part about these tests where you have to shoot so low is you can only shoot so many under par in a round of golf,” Scheffler said. “The easier tests, where the scores are crazy low, if you start falling behind, it’s a lot harder to keep up, so you have to keep pace out here.”
Jason Day had the most impressive round of the day with his 63 at the Stadium Course at PGA West, which averaged nearly four shots harder than the Nicklaus course and just over three shots harder than La Quinta.
But it was a solid start for so many of the 156 players—the largest domestic field of the year among regular PGA Tour events because of the three courses. They were treated to ideal conditions they expect in the California desert, with pleasant weather and barely a breath of wind.
Scheffler leads the strongest field in decades at The American Express, approaching the three-year anniversary as No. 1 in the world, with a combined 13 tour titles and three majors the last two years.
Little stress
This was his first competition against a full field—the first time playing when there was a 36-hole cut—since September in Napa, California (which he won).
Six holes into the new year, he was already at five-under par.
Scheffler hit only five of 14 fairways, but was rarely out of position until the end of his round, twice being blocked by trees that required a hard fade on one and a low slider around the trees on another at the 17th. That one ran through the green, leading to a chip that rolled in like a putt.
It was a fast start and routine pars in the middle with a few birdies sprinkled in. About the only thing that caused even a little stress was when the sprinkler came on right below his feet when he was doing interviews after his round.
“Felt I could have hit a few more fairways on the back nine, give myself some more opportunities,” Scheffler said. “Even the fairways I was missing, I was missing on the correct side. And it was nice, even though I wasn’t hitting it my best on the back, but to keep it in play and give myself some opportunities.”
That was the case for just about everybody.
Lee had three straight birdies around the turn and four in a row toward the end of his round. Coody made seven straight birdies on the back nine before closing with a par.
Nine players were at 63, a group that included Ben Griffin and Patrick Cantlay, and eight more players were at 64.
