Lee Min Woo and Pierceson Coody fired identical 10-under 62s to claim the first round lead at the American Express golf championships in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The duo, who both played the Nicklaus Tournament course on Thursday, are a shot ahead of the a group of nine golfers tie in third at 9 under including world number one Scottie Scheffler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Min Woo, is a three-time DP World Tour winner and earned his first PGA TOUR title last season at the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open. The 62-round was his best 18-hole career round and also the first time he is leading a tournament after the first round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coody, who finished tied-13 last week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, recorded a back-nine 29 that included seven consecutive birdies on holes 11 through 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his first start of the season, Scheffler opened with a bogey-free 63 at the La Quinta Country Club, his lowest 18-hole score in 19 career rounds played in the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the nine players tied one shot off the lead, two players are seeking their first PGA TOUR title \u2013 Vince Whaley and S.H. Kim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ben Griffin marked his seventh consecutive start sitting inside the top eight on the leaderboard following the first round; the last event he played where he was outside the top eight after 18 holes was the 2025 Wyndham Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirteen-time PGA TOUR winner Jason Day recorded the low round of the day on the Stadium Course with a 9-under 63, his lowest 18-hole score in 17 rounds at The American Express; and lowest score on the Stadium Course since Keith Mitchell\u2019s 62 in the final round of 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick Cantlay recorded 10 birdies against one bogey on the Nicklaus Course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Will Zalatoris tied seventh with a 65 at La Quinta CC, including eight birdies, in his first PGA TOUR start since undergoing back surgery in May 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defending champion Sepp Straka struggled to finish on par recording three birdies against one bogey and one double bogey at La Quinta CC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lee Min Woo and Pierceson Coody fired identical 10-under 62s to claim the first round lead at the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-8297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-golf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t