Puerto Rico Open Round 1: Chandler Blanchet Shakes Off a Cold Start With a Career-Low 64

Chandler Blanchet showed up in Puerto Rico with five missed cuts in five PGA TOUR starts this season. He left Grand Reserve on Thursday night with the lead.

The rookie opened with a bogey, then made nine birdies the rest of the way for an 8-under 64, the lowest round of his PGA TOUR career, and a one-shot lead after the first round of the 2026 Puerto Rico Open. Gordon Sargent is alone in second at 7-under 65. Jesper Svensson sits third at 5 under, and a six-man logjam at 4-under 68 includes Adam Hadwin, Ricky Castillo and 19-year-old amateur Kihei Akina.

Bogey, Then Nine

The first hole of the day nearly set the wrong tone. Blanchet started on the back nine and missed a short par putt at the 10th to go 1 over before the round had found any rhythm. What came next was the kind of response that tends to define a career week.

"I missed a 5-footer right on the first hole and I looked at my caddie and he said, 'This is our test.' Handled it well," Blanchet said, per the AP.

Handled it well undersells it. Nine birdies in the next 17 holes, no more dropped shots, and a card that sat a stroke clear of everyone in the field. It is Blanchet's first 18-hole lead on TOUR, in only his ninth career start.

The context makes it louder. Blanchet earned this card the hard way, winning twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, including the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. The jump to the big tour had been rough so far, and last week at the Cognizant Classic ended with a missed cut by a single shot. Thursday was the first time in 2026 that the scoreboard matched the résumé.

Sargent Finds Something

If Blanchet's round was a reset, Gordon Sargent's was a reminder. The former college star has had a bumpy stretch in recent years, but Thursday looked like the player who once had everyone talking. Sargent's card included an eagle at the par-5 11th and six birdies, with the only blemish a bogey at the last. That closing bogey is the one stroke between Sargent and a share of the lead.

The 65 is Sargent's lowest score in a PGA TOUR round, and it puts Sargent in position to do something this event has a habit of producing: a breakthrough week for a name that needed one.

Svensson was the quietest of the leaders and maybe the cleanest. The Swede went bogey-free for a 67 and sits three back.

The 68 Crowd

The group at 4 under is crowded and interesting. Hadwin, the veteran Canadian, is there alongside Ben Kohles, Hayden Springer and David Skinns, with Springer and Skinns both cashing in eagles at the 11th.

Then there is Castillo, the former Florida Gator who was a handful of FedExCup points away from the Arnold Palmer Invitational field at Bay Hill this week. Instead of the Signature Event, he is in Río Grande, and a 68 is a tidy way to make the most of the detour.

Akina is the amateur to watch. The BYU freshman matched that 68 and sits four off the lead, ahead of a long list of TOUR members.

A Debut With a Famous Name

The most-watched 70 of the day belonged to John Daly II. The 22-year-old Arkansas senior, son of two-time major champion John Daly, made his PGA TOUR debut on a sponsor exemption and finished 2 under, tied for 21st.

The highlight came at the 16th, where Daly II chipped in from the rough for birdie. "Feel like I left a few out there, but I made it up with just a couple good saves and nice chip-in on 16," Daly II said, per the AP.

There is a fun bit of family history here too. His father's first TOUR start, the 1986 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, produced an 88. Junior is already 18 shots ahead of that pace.

Blades Brown, the 18-year-old phenom, posted 69. That is Brown's 16th round in the 60s in 34 career PGA TOUR rounds, a stat that says more about this kid than any hype video. Brown is tied for 10th with a group that includes Peter Malnati, Luke Clanton, Beau Hossler and Jeremy Paul.

Further down, 17-year-old Miles Russell shot 71 and Nicholas Lindheim withdrew after a 78.

What Is on the Line

This is the opposite-field event to Bay Hill, which means a thinner field but very real rewards. The winner takes home 300 FedExCup points, a two-year TOUR exemption and spots in THE PLAYERS Championship and the PGA Championship. There is no Masters invitation attached, which is the only catch.

The bar for scoring is also set high. Karl Vilips won here last year at a tournament-record 26 under, as we covered in our 2025 final-round recap. Nobody is on that pace yet, but Blanchet is at least in the neighborhood.

The Takeaway

One round in, the board has a rookie trying to turn a cold start into a statement, a former college phenom rediscovering an old gear, and a crowd of hungry names stacked within four. Friday's job for Blanchet is simple to say and hard to do: keep the putter warm and avoid giving those back-nine shots back. With 19 players within five shots of the lead, the chase is wide open.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the AP's first-round story (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (leaderboard), AP via Golf Channel, Field Level Media, Golf Today. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.