Canadian Mackenzie Hughes converted a front-nine 29 into the first-round lead at the Procore Championship, the start of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall series, on Thursday in Napa, Calif.
Hughes had a potential 59 in his sights as he birdied nine of his first 13 holes, but consecutive bogeys at Nos. 14 and 15 set him back. He got the strokes back with a 36 1/2-foot birdie putt at No. 16 and a 12-footer for birdie at No. 18 to shoot a 9-under-par 63 at the North Course at Silverado Resort.
“I kind of felt like I got some good momentum going early, then was really able to kind of pile it on there on the front nine,” Hughes said. “Kind of got a sense that around the turn there that things were going nicely. I had a nice feel with the putter, so it was really just about like continuing to put my foot on the gas and go forward.”
Hughes, 34, entered the fall No. 65 in the FedEx Cup standings and needs to finish between No. 51 and No. 60 in order to gain access to the first two signature events of 2026. The top 50 from the past season are already exempt.
“The goal is, yeah, to get into that top 60 and kind of set up my beginning to the year next year,” Hughes said. “I also won’t play five, six events to try to chase that. I’m probably going to play three, maybe four, but the plan right now is to play here, (the Sanderson Farms Championship) and RSM (Classic).”
Meanwhile, 10 out of 12 members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team entered the tournament in order to get competitive reps in before the international competition later this month.
The lowest among them on Thursday was Ben Griffin, who made five of his eight birdies on the back nine before saving par from 17 feet at the last hole for an 8-under 64. He is tied for second with Matt McCarty.
“It’s awesome to have an extremely competitive field here, some of the best names in golf on tour,” said Griffin, who was selected for his first Ryder Cup. “… It’s really cool to just be around all the guys, get more and more comfortable with each other. That way when we get to Ryder Cup week it’s going to feel like a breeze, which it’s not going to be, we’re going to have to bring our A game obviously and play really well and play strong golf.”
Russell Henley, an automatic qualifier for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, shot a 65 and is tied for fourth with Lanto Griffin. Anders Albertson was alone in sixth place after a 66.
U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun, another U.S. Ryder Cup player, is part of a group tie for seventh at 67 that includes Taylor Montgomery and amateur Jackson Koivun.
As for the rest of the U.S. Ryder Cup team members participating, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler opened with a 2-under 70. Sam Burns had a 71, and Collin Morikawa, Harris English, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young and Justin Thomas all settled for even-par 72s.
The PGA Tour paired the 10 Ryder Cup players together for the first two rounds. Scheffler is playing with Spaun and Henley; English is playing with Morikawa and vice captain Webb Simpson; Griffin is alongside Young and Thomas; and Burns and Cantlay are with another vice captain, Gary Woodland.
“I think it was a little different today just knowing that all of us were kind of paired in the same little area of tee times,” Scheffler said, “and we obviously didn’t spend a lot of time with each other this week so it definitely feels slightly different than it would have if this tournament was in March. You know, the Ryder Cup is right around the corner.”
–Field Level Media
