Overview
- Austin Smotherman shot a bogey-free 9-under 62, fueled by six straight birdies from Nos. 7–12, to top the Round 1 leaderboard at PGA National.
- Nico Echavarria opened with a 63 to sit one stroke behind, with Taylor Moore, Jackson Suber, Daniel Berger, Kevin Roy and Kristoffer Reitan among those at 4 under.
- Wind picked up for the afternoon wave, but the overseeded, softer course continued to produce scoring opportunities compared with prior years.
- Brooks Koepka’s putter switch did not pay off in Round 1 as he carded a 3-over 74, struggling on the greens and stumbling late.
- Field strength was reduced by pre-tournament withdrawals from Jacob Bridgeman, Adam Scott and Ben Griffin, and Will Zalatoris withdrew before tee time with a left ankle injury, leaving betting markets favoring mid-tier names such as Ryan Gerard and Shane Lowry.