NASSAU, BAHAMAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After a few months off, Cameron Young was pleasantly surprised to come out to the Bahamas and shoot an 8-under-par 64 at Albany Golf Club for the first-round lead on Thursday at the Hero World Challenge.

A field of 20 players is in Albany for the exclusive exhibition event hosted by Tiger Woods. Young has a two-shot lead on Justin Thomas after Day 1.

“Yeah, kind of (surprised). I didn’t play great (Wednesday),” Young said. “You always feel like you can shoot a number like that, but I really felt very well in control, which isn’t necessarily surprising but it’s a nice thing to come out and just feel like yourself.

“Yeah, really happy with it. I feel like with the driver I was just really comfortable and that’s a huge key out here.”

Young spread eight birdies across his card without recording a bogey. His 21-foot birdie putt at the par-3 second hole set the tone for his round, and his last birdie was a 14 1/2-footer at another par-3, the 17th.

“I’m sure I missed a fairway or two, but for the most part I was really well in position,” Young said. “Then I made a couple putts early, which was nice. Just kind of got off to a nice start with the putter. There’s a bunch of par 5s and a couple drivable holes, so I feel that if you’re on top of it, especially off the tee, you can make a bunch of birdies.”

Young, 27, is one of the highest-ranked players in the world who’s yet to win on the PGA Tour. If he were to win the Hero, it would not count as an official tour victory nor gain him any FedEx Cup points, but Official World Golf Ranking points are on offer this week.

Thomas shot a blazing 6-under 30 on the back nine after posting one bogey and one birdie through nine holes. He rolled in four birdies in a row at Nos. 14-17.

“It was nice to make that birdie on 7,” Thomas said, “and had good chances there on 8 and 9, but then once 10, 11 happened I felt like I got in a nice
rhythm there on the back nine.”

Tied for third at 5-under 67 are World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala.

Scheffler, the defending champion, made a change to his putting grip and rolled in six birdies with one bogey Thursday.

“You know, this year I had thought about it from time to time and it was something that we had just said, ‘Let’s table that for the end of the season, take a look at it,’” Scheffler said. “Took a look at it this offseason and figured this is a good week to try stuff just because you can practice and practice and do all the stuff at home, but there’s just something different about being in competition. I really enjoyed the way it felt, I felt like I’m seeing some improvements in my stroke.”

–Field Level Media

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SILVIS (Illinois) – Following T9 and T2 finishes in his two most recent starts (U.S. Open and Rocket Mortgage), Davis Thompson made nine birdies en route to a bogey-free (62) to reach 21-under (192) after 54 holes.

He holds his second 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR (2023 American Express).

Thompson’s (62) matched his career-low score from round one of the 2023 American Express when he finished second.

With birdies on six of his first nine holes – including five straight on Nos. 4-8 – Jordan Spieth turned at 6-under (29) before signing for an 8-under (63). The (63) falls two strokes shy of his career-low score of (61); the first of 61s he posted in round three of the 2015 John Deere Classic en route to his win.

A week removed from his second top-10 finish of the season, a T6 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Eric Cole followed a 9-under (62) in round one with scores of 68-64 in rounds two and three to reach T2 at 19-under (194). Cole played his last three holes in R3 in 3-under par (eagle-birdie-par).

Making his first start in the John Deere Classic, Aaron Rai (T2/-19) followed a second-round 8-under (63) with a 5-under (66) and sits T-2 with Cole.

John Deere Classic | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

1 Davis Thompson 63 67 62 192 (-21)

T2 Eric Cole 62 68 64 194 (-19)

T2 Aaron Rai 65 63 66 194 (-19)

T4 Hayden Springer 59 71 66 196 (-17)

T4 C.T. Pan 65 63 68 196 (-17)

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – It’s back to Texas for the fourth PGA Tour event of the season. This time, it’s THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson to be held in the northern suburbs of Dallas, past Plano and not too far from Frisco.

TPC Craig Ranch will host THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson for the fourth time, honoring the legacy of the tournament namesake, Byron Nelson, the first PGA TOUR event to be named in honor of a professional golfer. Nelson had 52 career PGA TOUR wins, and took a record – 18 titles with 11 straight – in 1945.

Last year, 2,021 birdies were recorded at TPC Craig Ranch course, the third most of any course on TOUR last season with the most: 2,094/El Cardonal at Diamante/World Wide Technology Championship).

This season, the field includes:

• Seven of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by No. 9 Byeong Hun An
• 10 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 20 Jordan Spieth
• Four past champions (Adam Scott/2008, Sung Kang/2019, K.H. Lee/2021-22, JasonDay/2010, 2023)
• 61 PGA TOUR winners
• Four PLAYERS Championship winners
• Six major champions, led by Jordan Spieth (3)

Jason Day, the popular 13-time PGA TOUR winner, snapped a winless streak of 105 starts since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship with his victory at the Byron Nelson back in 2023. Day, who won his maiden TOUR title at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in 2010, became the seventh player in tournament history with multiple titles and seeks to become the fifth back-to-back champion (Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, K.H. Lee).

This week, the CJ Group ambassadors in the field include: Sungjae Im, Si Woo Kim, two-time CJ CUP Byron Nelson champion K.H. Lee and 16-year-old Kris Kim, who received a sponsor exemption and will make his PGA TOUR debut.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas

YARDS/PAR: 7,414 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECT: Tom Weiskopf

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,500,000/$1,71,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jason Day

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

BYRON NELSON ORGANIZATION: (link)

How to Watch | THE CJ CUP | Byron Nelson

Thursday, May 2, 2024 – All Times Eastern

• 7:45am to 7:00pm – ESPN+ Streaming
• 1:00pm to 7:00pm – PGA Tour Radio online and on Sirius XM Radio
• 4:00pm to 7:00pm – Golf Channel and Peacock Network Streaming

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of the Byron Nelson with Thursday and Friday broadcasts from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (ET). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)

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