McKINNEY, Texas — 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 for the first round of the PGA Tour event.
Scheffler made the turn in 29 on his way to a 10-under-par 61 on Thursday for a two-shot lead over Rico Hoey and Jhonattan Vegas, with Champ among seven players another shot back at 64.
Reigning tournament champion Taylor Pendrith shot a 67 with players allowed to lift, clean and replace their golf balls in the fairways after the par-71 TPC Craig Ranch received heavy rainfall Wednesday.
Scheffler, No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for two years, outshined fellow hometown star Jordan Spieth with the former University of Texas standouts paired together along with Si Woo Kim, a South Korea native who also calls Dallas home and was showcased in an event sponsored by CJ Group, a conglomerate based in his home country.