It may not be an official PGA Tour event, but after the first round of the 2025 Hero World Challenge, Scottie Scheffler’s name is officially at the top of the star-studded leaderboard. The world No. 1 did his part on Thursday at the Albany Golf Course in the Bahamas, posting an opening six-under 66 to share the lead with Windham Clark, JJ Spawn, Sepp Straka and Akshay Bhatia.
Scheffler improved his total to 7 under par with a bogey on the par-4 18th hole. This was his first drop shot in 41 holes at Albany GC since last year’s tournament.
“It felt pretty good. I think there’s always going to be some rust there,” Scheffler said. “But when I’m playing I don’t think about that. I’m just trying to score goals.”
With the introduction of a new driver, Schaeffler continued his old antics. He hit a lot of fairways and greens, hitting 11 of 13 and 15 of 18, respectively, and took risks when he felt it was warranted. For someone as methodical as the two-time defending champion, such slots were few and far between.
“I didn’t feel anything that I didn’t feel in my hands, which is usually pretty good when it comes to drivers,” Scheffler said. “When you feel something, when you look up, you want it to match. So I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary today. So it’s a pretty good place to be.”
Scheffler made a birdie bomb of just about 30 feet on the second hole, played several par-5s, and placed his tee shot just short of the putting surface on the short par-4 seventh. Even when he couldn’t get a birdie on the par-5 ninth, he missed the green and turned at 4 under, seemingly barely breaking a sweat.
Cruise control continued to kick in even as a few left errors crept into his swing. The same mistake held him back at times earlier this year. And some uncharacteristic chip shots ruined the scoring chances.
“I think grain has a lot to do with it,” Scheffler said. “The ball tends to sit on the grass. And a lot of it’s rough here, so you’re under the green and the ball is sitting. It can be pretty difficult.”
Scheffler continued to wander from No. 13 to No. 15, notching back-to-back birdies on his scorecard. His first shot was from 11 feet, his second shot was a two-putt after driving the putting surface, and his third shot was on the final par-5 of the golf course after hitting the green in two.
His lone drop shot in the final round may have knocked Scheffler out of the lead, but he’s not out of the minds of the other 19 players in the tournament, and everyone knows they need to get past Scheffler to claim victory.
new bag man, man
It’s a time when players are debuting new clubs and trying out the feel of new swings, but for Bhatia, it’s time to work with a new caddy. Joe Greiner, of course, played alongside Max Homa for several years and had a brief stint with Collin Morikawa last season.
Both previous players were from California, so Greiner added a California native named Batia to his list of bosses. But unlike Homa and Morikawa, Bhatia stands on the opposite side of the golf ball, in the same spot as Greiner when he plays. He believes this is beneficial when visualizing and discussing golf shots with new caddies.
“It was really cool. We grew up in the same town in California,” Bhatia said. “Obviously, it’s really cool to have a left-handed guy in my bag…I was really eager to work with him, and in the end it worked out timing-wise. So this week was really cool getting to know each other, and yeah, it was fun.”
“I think we have certain golf courses, certain shots, certain cues. He really understands that. And again, from the opinion of the majority of left-handed people that I’ve met, Phil, Bubba and myself are very creative and I think left-handedness has something to do with what I believe in. … It’s exciting for me for someone to see the shot the way I do.”
clark calls coach
After two consecutive stellar seasons, Clark returned to Earth in 2025. With seven top-20 finishes and just two top-five finishes in 25 appearances, the former U.S. Open champion is looking to get back to the form he had during his major-winning campaign a few years ago.
And it starts with the swing and his usual left-to-right shot shape. Clark admitted that left-left errors crept into his game last season, and with the help of a new swing coach, he’s working on eliminating that aspect of the golf course by dealing with wheeling and a lot of fade.
“(I’m) coming off a really bad year, but I’ve been working really hard,” Clark said. “The good thing is it seems like in the last couple of weeks we’ve started to see some improvement and I’m excited about that.
“It really felt like three years without seeing anyone. I met Butch (Harmon) a couple of times last year. I just hired a guy named Pat Coyner to start working with me. I was spending the offseason in Cherry Hills, Colorado. But he had just become the new teaching pro there, and we were bouncing ideas off each other, and I kind of liked what he was saying, and I started getting better at hitting, and I said, “Okay, let me come help you.” ”
Jordan Spieth is back
The three-time major champion said he considered playing in the FedEx Cup in the fall, but instead opted to work on his game, with August’s St. Jude Championship to be his last competitive start. Spieth’s game worked well early in the round, at 3 under after seven holes, but then slowly but surely started going in the wrong direction.
Spieth played the final 11 holes at 3 over, offsetting his early gains and settling for a share of 17th place. Statistically, he ranked second to last in putting and not in the top half in both ball-striking categories. Rust is expected at this time of year, so he continues to practice his swing, but the putter will be the club he will watch over the next 54 holes. It usually acts as a lightning rod for his game, a momentum saver or momentum killer, but unfortunately he lost nearly all of his mojo in round one.
