McKINNEY, Texas (AP) 鈥� Scottie Scheffler won’t be the wire-to-wire winner of his hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson again this year.
For now, the world’s top-ranked player is chasing a leaderboard that includes Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion since from LIV Golf.
Koepka shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday and trailed first-round leader Taylor Moore by one at the revamped TPC Craig Ranch, with Scheffler at 66 while playing with Koepka and Si Woo Kim, one of seven players at 64.
鈥淚 felt like I was getting lapped out there for a little bit,鈥� said Scheffler, who led from the start of last year’s Nelson and while tying the tour’s 72-hole scoring record at 253. 鈥淪o I was fortunate to make a couple birdies late in the round and keep myself in the tournament.鈥�
Moore, whose only win in his first 128 tour starts came at the 2023 Valspar Championship, made a 14-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-5 ninth to finish the best round of his tour career.
The Texas native and Oklahoma resident leads Koepka and Jesper Svensson, who had a chance to join Moore atop the leaderboard but missed a 9-footer on the ninth.
Kim 鈥� the highest-ranked player in the field behind Scheffler at No. 24 鈥� had the only bogey in the threesome, on his 16th hole at the par-3 seventh.
One of several countrymen in the event sponsored by South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, Kim closed the gap on Koepka with a birdie at the ninth while Koepka settled for par.
Emiliano Grillo, Keith Mitchell, Stephan Jaeger, Michael Thorbjornsen, Tyler Duncan and Kensei Hirata were tied with Kim. Doug Ghim was at 65 with Mackenzie Hughes, Hank Lebioda, Austin Eckroat and Lanto Griffin.
Koepka, who contended at last week’s PGA Championship before fading Sunday, eagled the par-5 12th and was 4 under through five holes. He had four more birdies in a span of five holes in his back nine, capped by a 3-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 sixth.
Kim had four birdies on the front and four more on the back while Scheffler was lagging at 2 under before getting birdies on three of his final five holes.
鈥淚t was just a comfortable group,鈥� Koepka said. 鈥淓veryone is just kind of feeding off each other, easy. Everyone鈥檚 having fun. Makes it enjoyable. I feel comfortable on the golf course as well.鈥�
Even though he hardly recognizes parts of it.
Koepka last played at TPC Craig Ranch in 2021, the year before he bolted for LIV. The sixth Nelson at the par-71 layout about 30 miles north of Dallas was the debut of a Lanny Wadkins-led redesign that cost nearly $25 million and added bunkers everywhere and overhauled the greens with mounds and ridges.
鈥淭he greens are totally different than when we played,鈥� Koepka said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 obviously the biggest thing. Off the tee it looks pretty good. Place hasn鈥檛 changed too much. It鈥檚 familiar. I like it.鈥�
Koepka was a regular at the Nelson a decade ago, including a runner-up finish in 2016 when he lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff. The 36-year-old also has a little CJ Cup history. He rose to No. 1 in the world with a victory when the event was in South Korea in 2018.
The title sponsorship moved to the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic and has been associated with the Nelson since 2024.
The move to LIV forced Koepka to put aside things such as the world ranking, and now he’s dealing with stipulations he had to agree to in order to rejoin the PGA Tour. Among them is not being exempt for the $20 million signature events, even though he won a major 鈥� the 2023 PGA 鈥� while with LIV.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 such a huge difference right now of trying to get into signature events, on my way back, coming back to the tour,鈥� Koepka said. 鈥�(Winning) would be a big confidence boost for sure because I feel like I鈥檝e been playing well. I feel like I鈥檓 knocking on the door, and I鈥檓 very, very close.鈥�
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