Russell Henley tied his career-low round on the PGA Tour with a bogey-free, 9-under 61 featuring an eagle at the par-5 6th 11 hole to take a two-shot lead at the Tour Championship.
He gained 6.267 strokes putting in round 1, his most in a round on Tour (previously: 6.21/2021 Cognizant Classic/R1).
“I just felt like I was at peace if I missed,” said Henley. “I felt like I was clear on my reads. Last week I felt like I played really well and didn’t give myself a bunch of looks because I couldn’t figure out how far the ball was going and struggled a little bit on the looks of those greens, getting the reads down.
“Just felt a little more clear in my mind on what I thought the ball was going to do and just felt like, yeah, at peace if I missed it. Just kind of free-wheeled it a little bit.”
The American holds his tenth career 18-hole lead/co-lead on Tour (most recently at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am). He is 0-for-9 in converting to victory so far.
Henley has recorded nine top-10s in seventeen starts this season, including a victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He seeks a sixth PGA Tour victory.
American Scottie Scheffler carded a bogey-free 63, his lowest score in 21 career rounds at the Tour Championship, and lies in second place at 7-under. The World Number 1 is aiming to become the first player to win back-to-back FedExCup titles.
For the first time in his career, Scottie Scheffler has made three putts outside 25 feet in a single round!
He opened @TOURChamp in 7-under 63, chasing a repeat FedExCup crown. pic.twitter.com/a4iZZ2lWPh
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 21, 2025
2024 Tour Championship runner-up Collin Morikawa of the USA carded a bogey-free 64, his fourth consecutive opening round of 66 or better at East Lake Golf Club, and lies in a share of third place at 6-under.
2021 FedExCup Champion Patrick Cantlay made one bogey and posted his best career opening round at the Tour Championship for a share of third place.
Fellow American and 2017 FedExCup Champion Justin Thomas posted a front-nine 29, his lowest career nine-hole score at East Lake and the fifth sub-30 nine-hole score at East Lake in the FedExCup era (since 2007). He added two birdies and a double bogey at the par-4 16th to close with a 64.
BMW Championship runner-up Robert MacIntyre of Scotland made one bogey and also opened with a 64 in his second career Tour Championship appearance.
Also tied in third place is England’s Tommy Fleetwood who made one bogey. He has sat T3 or better after the opening round in all three FedExCup Playoffs events (2nd/FedEx St. Jude Championship, 2nd/BMW Championship). Fleetwood joins Scheffler as the only players to finish inside the top-10 in each of the first two Playoffs events (T3/FedEx St. Jude Championship, T4/BMW Championship).
World Number 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland fired an eagle at the par-5 6th as well as four birdies and two bogeys for a 66 and a share of 8th place at 4-under.
Due to forecasted inclement weather on Friday, Round 2 will start at 8 a.m. ET.
Related: LIV Golf Team Championship: What is the format?
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russell Henley | -9 | 61 |
| 2 | Scottie Scheffler | -7 | 63 |
| T3 | Collin Morikawa | -6 | 64 |
| T3 | Patrick Cantlay | -6 | 64 |
| T3 | Justin Thomas | -6 | 64 |
| T3 | Robert MacIntyre | -6 | 64 |
| T3 | Tommy Fleetwood | -6 | 64 |
| T8 | Akshay Bhatia | -4 | 66 |
| T8 | Ludvig Åberg | -4 | 66 |
| T8 | Ben Griffin | -4 | 66 |
| T8 | Rory McIlroy | -4 | 66 |
| T12 | Jacob Bridgeman | -3 | 67 |
| T12 | Nick Taylor | -3 | 67 |
| T12 | Sam Burns | -3 | 67 |
| T12 | Brian Harman | -3 | 67 |
| T12 | Cameron Young | -3 | 67 |
| T17 | Sungjae Im | -2 | 68 |
| T17 | Viktor Hovland | -2 | 68 |
| T17 | Harris English | -2 | 68 |
| T17 | J.J. Spaun | -2 | 68 |
| T21 | Hideki Matsuyama | -1 | 69 |
| T21 | Justin Rose | -1 | 69 |
| T23 | Chris Gotterup | Par | 70 |
| T23 | Harry Hall | Par | 70 |
| T23 | Shane Lowry | Par | 70 |
| T23 | Corey Conners | Par | 70 |
| T23 | Andrew Novak | Par | 70 |
| T23 | Keegan Bradley | Par | 70 |
| 29 | Maverick McNealy | +1 | 71 |
| 30 | Sepp Straka | +4 | 74 |
