Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark fired a six-under par 65 to share the lead after the first round of the LPGA Founders Cup

FIELD LEVEL MEDIA

Wyndham Clark made seven birdies without a bogey Thursday to set the pace after one round of the WM Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The round was technically suspended due to darkness just before 6:15 p.m. local time. Nine players still have one or two holes to play, with the first round resuming at 8:15 a.m. local time on Friday, and the second round starting scheduled at 7:20 a.m.

Clark’s 7-under-par 64 at TPC Scottsdale was one better than Taylor Moore and Lee Hodges. Justin Thomas is in the mix after opening with a 5-under 66.

Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, made four straight birdies beginning at No. 8 to get his week rolling. The first two came from 16 and 14 feet out, and his fourth of that stretch was a simple 4-footer after a picture-perfect approach.

While Clark’s most recent win on tour came at the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 12 months ago, Thomas is still on the hunt for his first win of any kind since the 2022 PGA Championship. He started his round on the back nine and brushed off an early bogey by making three birdies on each nine.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, in his second start of the season, had a wild back nine that featured two eagles and a double bogey along with two birdies. Combined with a 2-over 37 on his front nine, he settled in at 2-under 69.

Other notables include Canada’s Corey Conners and South Korea’s Tom Kim at 4-under 67, Jordan Spieth at 3-under 68 and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan at 1-under 70.

FOUNDERS CUP

Jennifer Kupcho and Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen climbed to the top of the leaderboard after one round of the Founders Cup on Thursday in Bradenton, Fla.

Kupcho and Madsen posted rounds of 6-under-par 65 at Bradenton Country Club and built a one-shot lead over Angel Yin, Lauren Coughlin and South Korea’s Jin Hee Im.

Kupcho made just one bogey against seven birdies, four of which came on the back nine. The former major winner hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation and was happy with her game overall.

“I hit the ball pretty well,” she said. “I think when I needed to not hit an iron shot as well it worked out, and when I needed to smash one, the ball went as far as it needed to go. It kind of just was a day of everything was going right.”

Kupcho, 27, won three times in the 2022 season, including the Chevron Championship for her first major, but since then she has yet to return to the winner’s circle.

“I think 2024 was honestly, aside from the three wins, three-win season, it was one of my best seasons,” Kupcho said. “It was the most consistent for sure of all my seasons, so I think just trying to like improve on that. And I think really last year I kind of fell in love with the game more, so I think I’m just kind of like bringing that into this year.”

Madsen started her day on the back nine and opened with six pars in a row before she got on the roller coaster.

She sank three birdies in a row to finish her first nine and kept it going with birdies at Nos. 1 and 2. A bogey-birdie-bogey stretch followed, but she righted the ship and added her last two birdies at Nos. 7 and 8.

LIV RIYADH

Adrian Meronk of Poland rolled in 10 birdies, including each of his final two holes, to grab the first-round lead at LIV Golf Riyadh on Thursday in Saudi Arabia.

The member of Cleeks GC cruised around Riyadh Golf Club for a bogey-free, 10-under-par 62, giving him a two-stroke edge over Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz (64).

Meronk, who started his round at the fifth hole, was 8 under for his round when he reached the 627-yard par-5 third. Despite missing the fairway on his first two shots, he got his third swing onto the green and converted a 12-foot birdie putt. He followed that up with a 27-foot birdie at his last hole, the par-4 fourth.

Meronk, 31, joined LIV Golf ahead of last season and is seeking his first win.

Munoz (nine birdies, one bogey) said he enjoyed playing under the lights. The tournament is being played late in the day local time to fit broadcast windows for LIV’s new U.S. TV partner, Fox Sports.

“I enjoyed it a lot, the experience. I felt like it was the first time we do it, and the visual and the golf ball, I really like it. It’s something different, something that we’re not used to it, and it’s nice.”

The team lead belongs to Spanish star Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII thanks to new member Tom McKibbin, who shot a 7-under 65 in his LIV debut. The Northern Irishman is tied for third with Englishman Lee Westwood.

“I’ve watched this for the last couple years since it started, and it’s something that I’ve really liked to watch, something very different, something that probably appeals to more people my age,” McKibbin said before the event began. “I think sort of the opportunity to get to play with these guys here and learn from some of the best players in the world week in, week out is something that appealed very, very nicely to me.”