American Chris Gotterup signed for a bogey-free, 8-under 63 featuring an eagle at the par-5 13th to take a two-stroke lead at the WM Phoenix Open.
He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (3.471) and ranks third in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (5.096).
Gotterup, a three-time PGA Tour winner, sits atop the 2026 FedExCup standings through the first three events of the season.
He is making his third career appearance in the WM Phoenix Open after missing the cut in both 2024 and 2025.
“I don’t know if the course has changed at all. I just feel like I’ve been playing better and managing my game better,” said Gotterup.
“I think to start the year I really felt like I worked hard in the offseason to get ready for the season. TGL in the offseason also, just getting used to adrenaline rush you get inside there and being able to hit shots under pressure has helped me and my game. It’s nice to start the year off on a good note.
“I feel like I’m doing things well and thinking through things well, and I think that’s the most important thing. I wouldn’t say today I drove it my best or did anything — I putted great today, but I just was in the right spot when I needed to be.”
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick opened with with a 7-under 29, tying the back-nine scoring record at TPC Scottsdale, but closed with back-to-back bogeys at the 8th and 9th for a 65 and solo second place at 6-under.
American Michael Thorbjornsen made two bogeys and recorded a 66 for a share of third place at 5-under. Playing in his 39th starts on Tour as a professional, the 24-year-old owns eight top-10 finishes, highlighted by a pair of T2s (2024 John Deere Classic, 2025 Corales Puntacana Championship).
Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard stayed bogey-free for his 66 and share of third place as did American Sam Stevens who eagled the par-5 13th.
Also tied in third place is American Pierceson Coody who carded eight birdies and three bogeys. Coody, who finished T2 at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, is one of three players to finish inside the top-25 in each of the first three events of the 2026 season (others: Ryan Gerard, Si Woo Kim).
The first round of the WM Phoenix Open was suspended due to darkness at 6:06 p.m. MT. Play is scheduled to resume Friday morning at 8:15 a.m. with nine players yet to complete their round. The second round will begin as scheduled at 7:20 a.m.
Related: LIV Golf Receives OWGR Points for First Time in “Unprecedented” Ruling
| Pos. | Player | Thru | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gotterup | F | -8 | 63 |
| 2 | Matt Fitzpatrick | F | -6 | 65 |
| T3 | Michael Thorbjornsen | F | -5 | 66 |
| T3 | Nicolai Højgaard | F | -5 | 66 |
| T3 | Pierceson Coody | F | -5 | 66 |
| T3 | Sam Stevens | F | -5 | 66 |
| T7 | Kevin Roy | F | -4 | 67 |
| T7 | Max McGreevy | F | -4 | 67 |
| T7 | Daniel Berger | F | -4 | 67 |
| T7 | Jake Knapp | F | -4 | 67 |
| T7 | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | F | -4 | 67 |
| T7 | Maverick McNealy | F | -4 | 67 |
| T13 | Rasmus Højgaard | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Mackenzie Hughes | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Ryo Hisatsune | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | John VanDerLaan | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Kensei Hirata | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Keith Mitchell | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Hideki Matsuyama | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Akshay Bhatia | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Brian Campbell | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Zach Bauchou | F | -3 | 68 |
| T13 | Neal Shipley | 16 | -3 | - |
| T13 | John Parry | 16 | -3 | - |
| T13 | Christo Lamprecht | 16 | -3 | - |
| T13 | Adrien Saddier | 16 | -3 | - |
| T27 | Mark Hubbard | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Chris Kirk | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Ryan Fox | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Davis Thompson | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Kurt Kitayama | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Gary Woodland | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | A.J. Ewart | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Chandler Phillips | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Max Homa | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Viktor Hovland | F | -2 | 69 |
| T27 | Johnny Keefer | F | -2 | 69 |
| T38 | Bud Cauley | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Sahith Theegala | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Harris English | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Jordan Spieth | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Joe Highsmith | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Michael Brennan | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Rafael Campos | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Emiliano Grillo | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | S.H. Kim | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Kristoffer Reitan | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Stephan Jaeger | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Cameron Young | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Sami Valimaki | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Hank Lebioda | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Jordan Smith | F | -1 | 70 |
| T38 | Haotong Li | 16 | -1 | - |
| T38 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | 16 | -1 | - |
| T38 | Jeffrey Kang | 16 | -1 | - |
| T56 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Max Greyserman | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Michael Kim | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Sepp Straka | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Nick Taylor | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Ben Griffin | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Jacob Bridgeman | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Tom Hoge | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Marco Penge | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | S.T. Lee | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Rico Hoey | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Takumi Kanaya | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Mac Meissner | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Joel Dahmen | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Chad Ramey | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Xander Schauffele | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Min Woo Lee | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Rickie Fowler | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Erik van Rooyen | F | Par | 71 |
| T56 | Austin Smotherman | 17 | Par | - |
| T76 | Patton Kizzire | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Vince Whaley | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Webb Simpson | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Sam Burns | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Patrick Rodgers | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Eric Cole | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Zecheng Dou | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Keita Nakajima | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Corey Conners | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Thorbjørn Olesen | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Collin Morikawa | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Harry Hall | F | +1 | 72 |
| T76 | Cam Davis | F | +1 | 72 |
| T89 | Danny Walker | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Marcelo Rozo | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Wyndham Clark | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Scottie Scheffler | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Karl Vilips | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Tony Finau | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Adam Schenk | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Peter Malnati | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Dan Brown | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Tom Kim | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Matthieu Pavon | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Davis Riley | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Si Woo Kim | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Aldrich Potgieter | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Nico Echavarria | F | +2 | 73 |
| T89 | Charley Hoffman | F | +2 | 73 |
| T105 | Brice Garnett | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Brian Harman | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Alex Smalley | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Davis Chatfield | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | J.T. Poston | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Matt McCarty | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Austin Eckroat | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Chandler Blanchet | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Sudarshan Yellamaraju | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Pontus Nyholm | F | +3 | 74 |
| T105 | Alejandro Tosti | 16 | +3 | - |
| T116 | Brooks Koepka | F | +4 | 75 |
| T116 | Billy Horschel | F | +4 | 75 |
| T118 | William Mouw | F | +5 | 76 |
| T118 | Andrew Novak | F | +5 | 76 |
| T118 | Garrick Higgo | F | +5 | 76 |
| 121 | Matti Schmid | F | +6 | 77 |
| 122 | Thomas Avant | F | +11 | 82 |
| W/D | Emilio Gonzalez | - | - | 76 |
