2025 Charles Schwab Challenge leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood in hunt after Round 1

For 134 of the 135 players in the field at the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge, the course at Colonial Country Club posed a lot of difficult questions during Thursday’s opening round. A firm, fast golf surface meant scoring was fairly difficult as the narrow fairways and firm greens combined to create quite the challenge. Inf act, 4 under was good for a tie for second after 18 holes. 

The one man who had no problems getting around Colonial on Thursday was John Pak, who shot a bogey-free 63 to jump out to a three-shot advantage at 7 under. Pak eagled his first hole of the day at the par-5 10th and got hot in the middle of his round with four birdies over a stretch of six holes from No. 17 to No. 4. 

Pak only hit 6 of 14 fairways in his round, but he led the field in strokes gained on approach, going 6 for 6 scrambling and ranking third in strokes gained putting. That is a spectacular combination, and it moved him to the top of the leaderboard and into unfamiliar territory. Pak has seven made cuts in 12 events this season, but he has just one top 25 finish on the PGA Tour in 2025 — the only one of his career. 

Now, he sits on top of a leaderboard that features names like Tommy Fleetwood, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama and the man that just won the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler.

Scheffler, for his part, came out of the gates swinging in the afternoon by going 3 under through his first two holes, making eagle at the 1st by putting out of the rough and then added a birdie at the 2nd to announce his presence in loud fashion. 

However, that scoring pace did not hold up throughout his round as he stalled out and found the tough conditions of Colonial as challenging as everyone else, shooting a 68 to stay in the hunt at 2 under, five off Pak’s pace. 

It was an eerily similar start to last week at Quail Hollow when he was 2 under after the first round and T21, five back of Jhonattan Vegas. He’ll be hoping the rest of the week follows the same script as it did in Charlotte. With second place just two in front of him and Pak’s inexperience, Scheffler is certainly in the mix as he takes aim at his third straight win of the season — second in his home state of Texas. 

The leader

1. John Pak (-7): His first-round performance was wildly impressive as he navigated a difficult golf course to near-perfection on Thursday. Going bogey-free around Colonial is no small feat, especially with some of the pin positions out there in the first round — No. 5 in the middle of the “Horrible Horseshoe” was particularly diabolical. Now, Pak will face a new challenge in sleeping on the lead in a PGA Tour event for the first time, and we’ll find out how he handles that Friday afternoon. 

Other contenders

T2. Patrick Rodgers, Ryo Hisatsune, Matti Schmid, Matt Wallace, Beau Hossler, Bud Cauley, J.T. Poston, J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin (-4)
T11. Brian Harman, Andrew Novak, Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Gerard, J.J. Spaun and three others (-3)
T20. Scottie Scheffler, Michael Block, Blades Brown and 11 others (-2)
T34. Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth and 19 others (-1)

The nine-man group tied for second features some names we’ve come to expect near the top of the leaderboard this season, as well as a handful of surprises, too. Hisatsune, Poston, Rodgers, Cauley, Spaun and Griffin have all been playing well; it’s not a surprise to see any of them pop early in the week on the leaderboard. Schmid, Wallace and Hossler are more surprising names, but they found some comfort out there and will be looking to use a strong first round to get their best results of the season. 

The group at 3 under is headlined by Fleetwood, who was rolling the rock beautifully on Thursday, which will make him a threat in any tournament when the putter is hot. It also features some names that have frequently been sniffing around the first page of the leaderboard this year with Novak, Gerard, Spaun, Bhatia and Harman all continuing their strong play this season. 

Then you get to the large group at 2 under and it’s pretty wild to see Scheffler tied with Block and Brown, the latter of whom turned 18 on Wednesday. Golf’s a funny game sometimes, and it’s quite the showing from Block and Brown to put themselves well inside the projected cut line after the first round. 

Also in red figures are Matsuyama and Spieth, both of whom showed some flashes of brilliance Thursday but also put some blemishes on the card that kept them from climbing higher on the first round leaderboard. 

Joel Dahmen’s first ace

It wasn’t a great Thursday on the whole for Joel Dahmen, as he put seven bogeys on the card on his way to a 4-over 74. However, he did produce the highlight of the day with his first career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour while playing the par-3 13th. 

That was Dahmen’s fourth hole of the day as he spun one back down the hill and straight into the cup, moving him briefly to 2 under before things got especially challenging for him as the day wore on. If you’re going to make seven bogeys in a round, you might as well throw an ace on top to help erase at least some of that frustration. 

2025 Charles Schwab Challenge updated odds, picks

Odds via BetMGM

• Scottie Scheffler (3-1)
• J.T. Poston (14-1)
• J.J. Spaun (14-1)
• Tommy Fleetwood (14-1)
• Ben Griffin (16-1)
• Bud Cauley (20-1)
• John Pak (25-1)
• Brian Harman (28-1)
• Andrew Novak (30-1)
• Patrick Rodgers (30-1)
• Akshay Bhatia (30-1)
• Matt Wallace (30-1)
• Ryo Hisatsune (30-1)
• Ryan Gerard (30-1)
• Jordan Spieth (35-1)
• Robert MacIntyre (35-1)

This tournament is still wide open even with Pak three shots clear after the first round, as evidenced by the oddsmakers putting him well back at 25-1. Scheffler remains the heavy favorite, but he’s at better odds than he was pre-tournament, so if you were waiting to buy in on Scheffler, now’s not a bad time for a guy who hasn’t finished worse than 3rd in his last three trips to Colonial (though he remains without a win on this course). 

Elsewhere, the move is to pick guys who can hang around at the top and create some value going into the weekend. For me, that’s Histatsune, Bhatia and Gerard, all at 30-1. They have the game to stay in the hunt going to the weekend and will offer value at those numbers over the next few days.