HOUSTON (AFP) — Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler fired a 10-under-par 61 on Thursday, his lowest round of the year, to seize a two-stroke lead at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson tournament.

The 28-year-old American, seeking his first victory of 2025 after taking nine titles last year, finished a bogey-free opening round with back-to-back birdies in his hometown event at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, near Dallas.

“I hit the ball really well,” Scheffler said. “I gave myself a lot of opportunities, hit a lot of fairways, hit some really good iron shots in there close. A lot of it had to do with my ball-striking. I hit it really nice.”

Scheffler, who was one off the course record held by South Korean Noh Seung-yul, fired his second-best 18-hole score in a PGA Tour event.

Filipino veteran Rico Hoey, seeking his first PGA title, fired his lowest PGA score to share second on 63 with Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas. On 64 were Germany’s Stephan Jaeger and Americans Michael Thorbjornsen, Eric Cole, Andrew Putnam, Patton Kizzire, Will Gordon and Cameron Champ.

“I drove the ball great,” Hoey said. “I’ve had some pretty good days where I drove it, but today was one of the best ones I’ve seen. Having ball in hand helped a lot, so took advantage of it.”

Two-time Masters champion Scheffler, who struggled with a hand injury early this season, fired a seven-under 29 on the front nine and shot 32 on the inward nine and his eighth bogey-free round of the year ranks second on tour to Tom Hoge’s 10.

“This is a golf course that you’ve got to make some birdies on, especially a day like today when there wasn’t much wind,” Scheffler said.

“There are some scoring opportunities that you need to take advantage of and fortunately I was able to take advantage of those holes.”

‘Kept plugging away’

Hoey, a 29-year-old from Manila, didn’t miss a fairway in a bogey-free round. He holed out for eagle from just beyond 35 feet at 18, then reeled off five consecutive birdies from the second through sixth holes before closing with a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet at the ninth.

“It felt great out there,” Hoey said. “I just kept plugging away. I knew the birdies would come. I’m glad I stayed patient. I rattled off five straight birdies and that was awesome.”