LA QUINTA, Calif. — The idea for Scottie Scheffler was to get a gauge on his game at The American Express, and all appeared to be in good working order Thursday. He made birdies on half of his holes for a 9-under 63 to join a parade of low scores that left him one shot out of the lead.
Min Woo Lee and Pierceson Coody led the way at 10-under 62 on the Nicklaus Tournament course at PGA West, the easiest of the three on the rotation. Scheffler played at La Quinta, where he didn’t miss a green until the 17th hole. He chipped that in for birdie.
“I think the hardest part about these tests where you have to shoot so low is you can only shoot so many under par in a round of golf,” Scheffler said. “The easier tests, where the scores are crazy low, if you start falling behind it’s a lot harder to keep up, so you have to keep pace out here.”
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Jason Day had the most impressive round of the day with his 63 on the Stadium Course at PGA West, which averaged nearly four shots harder than the Nicklaus course and just over three shots harder than La Quinta.
But it was a solid start for so many of the 156 players — the largest domestic field of the year among regular PGA Tour events because of the three courses. They were treated to ideal conditions they expect in the California desert, with pleasant weather and barely a breath of wind.
Even with the new tech-infused TGL, weather like this has always made Palm Springs feel like playing indoors.
“You’re coming to a dome almost,” Vince Whaley said after a 63 at Nicklaus. “You got hardly any wind, perfect turf, perfect golf courses, and it’s just a good check to see where your game’s at in very benign conditions. Because if you can’t hit a 6-iron out here, you’re not going to hit a 6-iron good anywhere.”
Scheffler leads the strongest field in decades at The American Express, approaching the three-year anniversary at No. 1 in the world, a combined 13 tour titles and three majors the last two years.
This was his first competition against a full field — the first time playing when there was a 36-hole cut — since September in Napa, California (where he won).
Six holes into the new year, he already was 5-under par.
Scheffler hit only five of 14 fairways but was rarely out of position until the end of his round, twice being blocked by trees that required a hard fade on one how and a low slider around the trees on another at the 17th. That one ran through the green, leading to a chip that rolled in like a putt.
It was a fast start and routine pars in the middle with a few birdies sprinkled in. About the only thing that caused even a little stress was when sprinkler came on right below his feet when he was doing interviews after his round.
“Felt I could have hit a few more fairways on the back nine, give myself some more opportunities,” Scheffler said. “Even the fairways I was missing, I was missing on the correct side. And it was nice, even though I wasn’t hitting it my best on the back, but to keep it in play and give myself some opportunities.”
That was the case for just about everybody.
Lee had three straight birdies around the turn and four in a row toward the end of his round. Coody made seven straight birdies on the back nine before closing with a par.
Nine players were at 63, a group that included Ben Griffin and Patrick Cantlay, and eight more players were at 64.
The final round will be played on the Stadium Course, and its difficulty was primarily the firmness of the greens that made it hard to get it close. Day didn’t have too many problems as he put in a new set of Avoda irons this year.
“Irons felt great, the short game felt good, and I putted really nice today,” Day said. “Just got to work on the driver a little bit. Some of the drives were a little off. But overall I feel pretty solid.”
Rickie Fowler was slowed by three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the back nine at La Quinta, but his left shoulder felt great and there wasn’t too much tournament rust. Fowler hasn’t competed since the BMW Championship five months ago.
Divots: Blades Brown, the 18-year-old who turned pro last year, had a 67 to cap off a wild 24 hours. He finished the Korn Ferry Tour event in the Bahamas on Wednesday (tie for 17th), then flew private to Palm Springs, arriving about 8 p.m. He had a 9:58 a.m. tee time Thursday at La Quinta. He earned the flight voucher as a perk for finishing in the top 50 at the Myrtle Beach Classic last year. … Brian Harman was penalized two shots for hitting the wrong ball on the 10th hole. Golf Channel reported it was an amateur’s golf ball he hit.
