TPC Craig Ranch was supposed to be more sturdy than this in the redesign ... or so we thought.
Scottie Scheffler’s winning 31 under drew some attention a year ago. No way it could be broken again in 2026, right? Never say never — who knows what can happen over the next 54 holes.
Taylor Moore is the first-round leader after a bogey-free 9-under 62 that was capped off with a brilliant birdie putt on the par-5 ninth hole. He booted Brooks Koepka from the top spot on the CJ Cup Byron Nelson leaderboard.
“I don’t think after the first day,” Moore said when asked if having a lead entering Friday changed his mindset at all. “If I was tied for the lead or one shot lead or whatever, ton of golf left to play, especially here. Got to stay with it.”
Koepka, a five-time major winner with a new putter this week 30 miles north of Dallas, looked comfortable as first-round leader for several hours. That was until Moore surged late, along with Jesper Svensson during what became an eagle-friendly environment.
Svensson, who made four consecutive birdies on his front nine, was able to notch a 63 and tie Koepka for second entering Friday’s second round.
Koepka was bogey-free in his first 18 holes at the redesigned course. A dozen players also went without any mistakes. In addition to Moore and Koepka, those names include:
- Stephan Jaeger (64)
- Michael Thorbjornsen (64)
- Doug Ghim (65)
- Austin Eckroat (65)
- Scottie Scheffler (66)
- Neal Shipley (66)
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (66)
- Adrien Saddier (66)
- Beau Hossler (66)
- Jonathan Byrd (67)
- Rico Hoey (67)
- Zecheng Dou (68)
As for all those eagles, the course gave way to a season-high 24 first-round eagles, including from Lanto Griffin, who finished his round with a ‘3' on the same ninth hole that Moore would go on to birdie 20 minutes later.
