Charles Schwab Challenge Round 1: John Pak Turns Knicks Heartbreak Into a 63

A blown fourth-quarter lead at Madison Square Garden turned into a 63 at Hogan's Alley.

John Pak, a 26-year-old PGA TOUR rookie, went bogey-free to shoot 7-under 63 on Thursday at Colonial Country Club and take a three-shot lead after the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Nine players sit at 4-under 66, including Ben Griffin, Matti Schmid, J.J. Spaun and Bud Cauley. Scottie Scheffler, four days removed from winning the PGA Championship, opened with an eagle and settled for a 68 that leaves him five back.

Fuel From the Garden

Pak was in a mood when he got to the course, and the New York Knicks were to blame. The night before, the Knicks had coughed up a 14-point lead in the final three minutes and lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Indiana Pacers, 138-135.

"I'm a die-hard Knicks fan, and that was historically one of the worst losses I've ever seen in my life," Pak said, per the AP. He added that the loss lit a fire under him that morning.

He wasted no time putting it to use. Starting on the par-4 10th in the morning wave, Pak holed a 147-yard approach for an eagle 2 on his very first hole. From there he added five birdies and never dropped a shot. On a course that punishes loose driving, that clean card is the headline.

How He Did It

The irony is that Pak was not exactly splitting fairways. He hit only 6 of 14, according to CBS Sports. What saved him was everything after the tee shot. He led the field in strokes gained on approach, got up and down on all six of his scrambling chances and ranked third in strokes gained putting for the day.

That is a formula that travels at Colonial, where the greens are small and the misses are expensive. Pak is the fifth rookie this season to hold a first-round lead in an individual PGA TOUR event, per the AP. He is a Korn Ferry Tour graduate with one PGA TOUR Canada win, and his résumé at this level is still thin: seven made cuts and one top-25 in 12 starts this year. Thursday was by far his loudest day on TOUR.

A Crowded Chase

The board behind Pak is packed. Griffin, Schmid, Spaun, Cauley, Ryo Hisatsune, Matt Wallace, Patrick Rodgers, J.T. Poston and Beau Hossler all shot 66. Spaun, No. 27 in the world, is the highest-ranked player in that group. Griffin arrives with some momentum of his own after teaming with Andrew Novak to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last month.

Another nine are at 3-under 67, a group that includes Tommy Fleetwood, 2023 Open champion Brian Harman, Novak, Akshay Bhatia and Chris Gotterup. Fleetwood's putter was one of the better stories of the day, which puts the Englishman squarely in the mix.

Further down, 18-year-old Blades Brown, whose birthday was Wednesday, posted a 2-under 68 alongside a familiar name in Michael Block.

Scheffler's Fast Start, Slow Finish

The world No. 1 had the round's most electric opening. Scheffler rolled in a putt from off the green for eagle at the par-5 1st, then dropped a 23-footer for birdie at the 2nd. Three under through two, the crowd buzzing, and then the round flattened out. He played his final 16 holes in 1 over and hit only five fairways all day.

The strangest moment came at the par-4 15th, where a bug landed on his ball. Caddie Ted Scott tried waving a towel to shoo it away, with no luck, and Scheffler's approach finished 30 feet away. He two-putted for par.

"Anything under par around here in these conditions isn't a bad score," Scheffler said, noting that he did not hit many fairways on a course that demands it.

Context matters here. Scheffler is chasing a third straight win after he ran away with THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson by eight shots and then claimed his third major at Quail Hollow. He also opened that PGA Championship at 2 under before climbing into control. He has finished in the top three in each of his last three Colonial starts without a win, and five shots in Fort Worth is not a crisis. He even found time for a night out, watching the Dallas Stars beat Edmonton 6-3 in Game 1 of the Western Conference final the night before his Thursday afternoon tee time.

Aces and Aches

Joel Dahmen produced the day's most memorable swing and one of its most frustrating cards. Dahmen made the first ace of a nine-year TOUR career at the 186-yard 13th. Then came seven bogeys and a 4-over 74.

"Nine years out here, that's a lot of par-3 attempts," Dahmen said.

Defending champion Davis Riley, who played alongside Scheffler and finished runner-up to him at the PGA Championship, shot 3-over 73 after two double bogeys on the front nine. Jordan Spieth birdied two of his last four holes to salvage a 1-under 69, and Hideki Matsuyama is also at 1 under.

Friday's Question

The afternoon wave dealt with warm, gusty conditions, which makes Pak's morning number look even sturdier. The question now is whether a rookie with one career top-25 can keep the same plan for a second straight day at a course that rarely lets anyone run away. Eighteen players are within four shots of him, and the man everyone in Fort Worth came to see is five back with an early Friday tee time to start the climb.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap and leaderboard), AP, CBS Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.