NASSAU, Bahamas — Scottie Scheffler returned to competition Thursday for the first time in two months, and very little has changed. Even with a bogey on the final hole, he had a 6-under 66 and was part of a five-way tie for the Hero World Challenge lead.
Scheffler tied with US Open champion JJ Spaun, Sepp Straka, Wyndham Clark and Akshay Bhatia on a hot and windy afternoon at Albany Golf Club.
The world No. 1 player wasn’t the only one who took a lot of time off. Straka also hadn’t played since the Ryder Cup ended the last weekend of September.
The 20-player Hero World Challenge is a year-end event that top players often use as a first step in preparing for next year. Scheffler is coming off a six-win season, including two majors and nothing worse than a tie for eighth in his last 15 tournaments.
Its only change was a new driver, and it performed up to its standards. The rest of his game looked stronger than ever. Scheffler made birdies on four of the six notable holes – four par 5s and two accessible par 4s. His only miss was a chip that went through and past the 18th green.
“I did some good things,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I could have shot a lot lower. There’s always a little rust. Once you get into competition, I don’t really think about that kind of thing.”
Bhatia and Straka played bogey-free. Clark, Scheffler and Spaun each reached 7 under at one point until dropping a shot late in the round. Clark was 7 under for the par-5 15th, but a poor tee shot led to a bogey. Spaun bogeyed the 18th from a fairway bunker.
Clark and Bhatia each hit bunker shots for eagle on the accessible par-4 seventh.
All but four players broke par in the first round, with newcomer Chris Gotterup at 74 and Robert MacIntyre at 73.
Jordan Spieth, who received a sponsor exemption, was playing for the first time since the FedEx St. Jude Championship to start the playoffs and opened with a 72. He had worked on his game to shake off bad habits, but there was obvious rust. Spieth made three consecutive birdies on the front nine, but none on the back 11 as he struggled with his chipping and sometimes his putting.
And it probably didn’t help that he was alongside Scheffler, who is aiming for his third straight Hero World Challenge title. Since last year, Scheffler went 41 consecutive holes without a bogey until he missed the 18th green and hit his chip too hard.
