Wells Fargo Championship 2023 standings, scores: Tommy Fleetwood overtakes Xander Schauffele at the end of Round 1

Pristine conditions prevailed on Thursday as the Wells Fargo Championship returned to the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, a venue that was once knocked out of the 2022 PGA Tour when hosting the Presidents Cup. And a lot of the game’s top names have managed to make an early move at the latest designated PGA Tour event for 2023, boasting $20 million and $3.6 million in paychecks. win.

Xander Schauffele looked poised to take the lead overnight late in the round after consecutive birdies sent him off the course two strokes with just three holes to play. But the final three holes at Quail Hollow – dubbed ‘The Green Mile’ – are not for the faint of heart, and the two bogeys spent on Schauffele in that span have flipped the rankings. Tommy Fleetwood took the lead after making a bogey-free 6 under 65, which included two birdies in the same amount of time that Schauffele beat.

Schauffele, whose 18th par-4 tee shot in danger, wasn’t the only player in his group to run into late trouble. Jordan Spieth was 2 points ahead of the round on the 18th tee, but a couple of hits into the danger zone resulted in a triple-bogey 7 on that hole and a 1-to-72 score of the day.

We’ll take a closer look at the top of the leaderboard, including more information on how Fleetwood was able to get past Schauffele late to take the lead after 18 holes at Quail Hollow.

Leaders

1. Tommy Fleetwood (-6)

Bogey-free innings almost always lead to good things, though it wasn’t until late Thursday that Fleetwood began to separate itself from the crowded standings. Fleetwood even had six holes ahead of an eagle on the 7th par-5 and a subsequent birdie on the 8th par-4 that put him in the mix.

After another birdie at par-4 on day 14, the Green Mile did not faze Fleetwood. He finished the round with consecutive birdies on his 17th par-3 and 18th par-4 to take the lead as Schauffele squandered a two-stroke lead in the group behind him. Highlighting Fleetwood’s powerful finish was an approach shot from the fairway bunker on the 18th that he stuck at 7.5 feet before hitting the birdie.

“You have to play well on the court,” Fleetwood said. “It has its opportunities, and the more you look at it and the more you talk about it, obviously you have par 5 holes and a couple of short release par 4 holes, and at the same time, you can it’s easy to make mistakes in any of them. I think that’s what makes it a tough track sometimes, because the real scoring holes can still kick you.”

Fleetwood’s 6-under 65 ratio meant his low score in the first round of the Tournament — he also scored 65 in the opening round of the 2019 Players’ Championship — as he sought earned his sixth and first professional win in the Tournament. Fleetwood’s best finish this season so far is third at the Valspar Championship in March.

Others are arguing

T2. KH Lee, Taylor Moore, Ryan Palmer, Xander Schauffele, Kevin Streelman (-5)

T7. Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Emiliano Grillo, Kramer Hickok, Tom Kim, Chris Kirk, Matthew NeSmith, Adam Scott, Sahith Theegala (-4)

It was a tough ending for Schauffele to digest. The world number 5 golfer escaped the 15th bogey at par-5 and took a two-stroke lead before hitting the bogey at the 16th par-4. Then he scored a bogey at the 18th par-4, which could not be saved. par after his tee shot found danger. Schauffele, who last won at the 2022 Genesis Scotland Open, has yet to lead the first round in any event this season after squandering a prime chance on Thursday.

“I actually had it there,” Schauffele said. “The ball is slightly above the string, [I] did everything really well. It’s a championship-style golf course, so [I] played really well through 15 holes and then there was a little hiccup coming in, so that’s it.”

It was an entirely different story for Cantlay, who turned up the heat towards the end of his inning after starting from nine points. The world number 4 golfer hit an eagle on the 7th par-5, then a birdie on the 8th par-4 when he played the last seven holes of the lower fourth day. Cantlay has had a couple of top five finishes this season — four times in stroke play and another in team play last week at New Orleans’ Zurich Classic — as he searches for victory. first since the BMW Championship last August.

“The course has been reached on my front nine [the back nine of the course]even though I ended up there with eagle and birdie in 7th and 8th place,” Cantlay said. “So it’s all in one day a lot easier than the wind drills can have. controllable today.”

Lee is also a notable name according to the time of year. He bogeyed on the second par-4, but kept a clean sheet the rest of the run with six birdies en route to a 5 under 66. If Lee escapes Quail Hollow with any momentum, it could be. is bad news for the rest of the pitch at AT&T Byron Nelson next week, where Lee sits as a two-time defending champion.

McIlroy returns to the friendly field

Golf fans haven’t seen Rory McIlroy play since missing a chance at the Masters nearly a month ago. McIlroy notably skipped the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links, on the grounds that he “needs a break” after the difficulties in Augusta. Because this is McIlroy’s second missed designated event this season, McIlroy has lost $3 million in his Player Impact Program winnings.

But 3 under 68 puts McIlroy, who joined as a betting lover, three strokes from the lead at a convenient Tour stop for him. McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship in 2010 for his first PGA Tour win. The second win at the event came in 2015 and the third when it was last held at Quail Hollow in 2021.

“I’ve always had a level of comfort on this golf course [Quail Hollow]whether it’s the period 2011-2012 or the post-period[PGA Championship] in 2017,” McIlroy said. “If you look at all the results, I was definitely better here in May than when we played in August. [for the PGA Championship] and it’s full of Bermuda [grass], I struggled with that a bit. When it’s like this and monitored, I feel like it – it’s my right in the garage.”

Rick Gehman joins Mark Immelman through Round 1 of the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. Plot, scoreboard and favorites after round five.