Charles Schwab Challenge Round 1: Six Share the Lead as Rain-Softened Colonial Gives Way

Colonial is supposed to be the course that refuses to be bullied. On Thursday it got soaked, lost its teeth and ended the day with a six-way logjam at the top.

Tom Kim, J.J. Spaun, Ryan Gerard, Andrew Putnam, Matt McCarty and Lee Hodges all shot 6-under 64 to share the first-round lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth. Twelve more players sit one shot back at 5 under, another 13 are at 4 under, and 31 players in all are within two shots of the lead, per the AP. A weather horn stopped play at 4:15 p.m. local time and kept everyone off the course for more than two hours before play resumed at 6:19 p.m.

Soft Greens, Short Memory

Recent rain took the usual bite out of Hogan's Alley. The greens held approach shots, the wind barely showed up, and the scoring followed. Alex Smalley summed up the conditions neatly: "We would throw grass up and it was kind of coming right back down to our feet."

Hodges knew what a day like this means at a place that usually rewards patience over power. "Normally I feel like at this tournament someone shoots 8 under the first day, and 12 under wins the tournament," Hodges said, per Field Level Media. With the course this receptive, nobody was surprised that the opening day crowded the board instead.

Kim Flirts With a Solo Lead

The loudest card belonged to Kim, who lives in Dallas and is about as close as this week gets to a hometown favorite with Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth both skipping Colonial this year. Kim birdied seven of eight holes from No. 14 through No. 3 and twice held the outright lead at 7 under. Then the round wobbled, with a bogey at the fifth, a birdie at the sixth and another bogey at the seventh.

The horn sounded with Kim facing only the ninth hole. After the restart came a 52-foot first putt, and a two-putt par kept the 64 intact. "Whether you're playing great or not, just the horn blowing on the last hole just stinks," Kim said. The 23-year-old already has three PGA TOUR wins but arrived ranked No. 144 in the world, so a fast start in a home-state event carries real weight.

The Rest of the Six-Pack

Spaun, the reigning U.S. Open champion and the Valero Texas Open winner last month, went bogey-free and capped the round with a birdie at the 18th after the delay. Putnam also kept a clean card, with four birdies over the final eight holes, chasing a second PGA TOUR win and a first since the 2018 Barracuda Championship.

Gerard's 64 was built on the greens. Eight birdies against two bogeys, and every one of 17 putts inside 15 feet dropped. Gerard insisted the long game deserves credit too. "I know the stats are probably going to lean more putting, but I've been hitting my driver really well," Gerard said. The only win of Gerard's TOUR career came at last year's Barracuda.

Hodges had the best chance to break away. A burst of five birdies in a six-hole stretch got Hodges to 7 under with three holes left, but a wayward drive at the par-4 ninth forced a layup and a bogey followed. "It's one of my favorite courses we play all year because I don't think there's any one person that it caters to," Hodges said. McCarty completed the six by birdieing the ninth.

Smalley's Clean Sheet

The most interesting name one shot back might be Smalley. Two weeks ago Smalley held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship and finished tied for second, and the run of form has now stretched to six straight events at 21st or better. Thursday was a tidy, bogey-free 65 with five birdies, four of them from inside 5 feet. The best of them came at the par-4 15th, where a 134-yard approach finished inside a foot.

"To have no bogeys on the scorecard anywhere is nice, especially here," Smalley said. The first PGA TOUR win is still out there, and this is the kind of week that can deliver it.

A Crowded Chase Pack

Smalley has plenty of company at 5 under. Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman, Jordan Smith, Ricky Castillo and Luke Clanton all posted bogey-free 65s, and Gary Woodland and Billy Horschel are in that group as well. Harman, the 2023 Open champion, ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch early and two more to start the back nine. "I love playing golf in Texas, man," Harman said.

At 66 sit Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama, Max Homa and Ludvig Åberg, all within two. Brandt Snedeker supplied the day's highlight-reel moment with an ace at the par-3 16th. Defending champion Ben Griffin, who took the plaid jacket here a year ago, opened with a 2-under 68 and is four back.

What Friday Brings

Thirty-one players inside two shots is not a leaderboard, it is a traffic jam. Colonial's tight corridors and small greens tend to separate fields once the ground firms up, and the forecast calls for heat. Friday will thin the herd with a cut. For now, six players share the top line and the course has yet to land a punch.

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, Field Level Media, Golf Channel. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.