Entertainment

Scottie Scheffler returns to hometown THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, takes first-round lead with 10-under 61

Published

1 month ago

May 2, 2025

Scottie Scheffler is happy to be back at his hometown event and showed it.

Cameron Champ isn’t far from familiar territory, either, which is a good thing considering he got the call that he was in THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson as an alternate about 18 hours before his tee time.

Scheffler made the turn in 29 on his way to a 10-under 61 for a two-shot lead over Rico Hoey and Jhonattan Vegas, with Champ among six players another shot back at 64.

Defending champion Taylor Pendrith shot 67 with players allowed to lift, clean and replace their shots in the fairways after the par-71 TPC Craig Ranch got heavy rainfall Wednesday.

The top-ranked Scheffler outshined fellow hometown star Jordan Spieth with the former Texas Longhorns paired together along with Si Woo Kim, a South Korean who also calls Dallas home and was showcased in an event sponsored by CJ Group, a conglomerate based in his home country.

Kim shot 67, capping his round with a lofty chip-in for eagle at the par-5 18th and rolling onto his back in celebration. Spieth is 2-under. Vegas, another Texas alum, had a bogey-free round along with Scheffler and Hoey.

The others at 7-under with Champ are Stephan Jaeger, Michael Thorbjornsen, Eric Cole, Andrew Putnam and Patton Kizzire.

Scheffler missed last year’s event in Dallas’ northern suburb of McKinney for the birth of his first child, son Bennett.

“Jordan and I love playing here. This tournament has meant a lot to us over the years,” Scheffler said. “Obviously last year I was missing for some pretty good reasons. I wasn’t too sad about what was going on in my life at the time.”