Xander Schauffele (66) The Man To Beat At Phoenix Open?

Xander Schauffele had a career breakthrough last week at The Farmers and he took that momentum into Thursday’s first round at the Phoenix Open.

Schauffele broke a run of poor play at Torrey Pines in his hometown of San Diego and finished in a tie for second at The Fartners.  His opening 66 at the TPC Scottsdale puts him in position to make a run at his first victory of 2021.

Non-winners Matthew NeSmith and Mark Hubbard tied for the first round lead with eight-under par 63s but as far as household names go, they are household names only in their own households.  Hubbard is ranked 153rd in the world rankings, NeSmith 195th.

Schauffele comes into Phoenix ranked fourth in the world and he was two shots better than No. 2 Jon Rahm (68) and four better than third-ranked Justin Thomas (70).  Schauffele had a near-perfect finish to his round, he birdied three of the final four holes (15, 17, 18) but missed the green at the short par three 16th and failed to get up-and-down for par.

One of the big surprises of the first round was 53-year-old Steve Stricker, the 2021 Ryder Cup captain for the United States team.  Stricks holed a 13-foot birdie putt at the 18th and posted a six-under par 65 that left him just two behind the leaders and one back of Nate Lashley and Sam Burns.  “I played well last week and Torrey Pines was a tough golf course.  I hit a lot of good shots out there today and made some nice putts.  I feel I still have some game left in me,” Stricker said afterward.

After missing the cut in his last three events, Brooks Koepka looks like he’ll stick around for the weekend after opening with a three-under par 68.  That put him shots better than sixth-ranked Rory McIlroy.  McIlroy’s day got off to a rough start on his first hole, the 10th.  He hooked his tee shot into trouble.  His second found a bunker short of the green.  He caught his third thin and it finished in a another bunker long left of the green.  His fourth from that bunker came up short in the fringe and he two-putted from 13 feet for an opening double-bogey.  The rest of his round was a mixed bag with five birdies offset by two bogeys and a one-under par 70, good for a tie for 51st.

Thomas had it to four-under par through 16 holes and hit every green up to that point.  At the short, reachable par four 17th, he fanned his tee shot right and found himself in an awkward bunker.  His second landed on the green but rolled off into a back greenside bunker.  His third from just 25 feet from the hole, carried to far, rolled past the hole, into the fringe then downhill into the left water hazard.  J.T. would finish with a seven and that triple-bogey basically ruined his round.

Defending champion Webb Simpson had a long day.  Simpson shot 73 and found himself 10 back of the leaders and tied for 108th.

For the first time since the pandemic started, a sizeable number of fans were allowed on the course — 5,000 — with protocols calling for temperature checks and a mask mandate.

Phoenix Open Scoreboard: