Scottie Scheffler is at the top of the Hero World Challenge leaderboard around Round One

The first round of the Hero World Challenge is complete, and of course Scottie Scheffler is already sitting at the top of the leaderboard.

There are still three rounds left and nineteen elite players in the field, yet oddsmakers have already moved him to minus money to win after just 18 holes. That tells you everything you need to know about how thoroughly he owns this tournament.

Scottie Scheffler opened with a polished 6-under 66, hitting 11 fairways and 15 greens while carding seven birdies and a single bogey on the closing hole. It looked like classic Scottie: steady, clinical, and completely unfazed by anything around him.

His track record at Albany explains why nobody should be surprised. Since 2021, he has finished second twice and won this event each of the past two years. At this point, the Hero World Challenge feels less like a PGA Tour showcase and more like Scheffler’s annual tune-up session.

Scottie Scheffler. Dialed.

Scottie Scheffler is back dialed and climbing the leaderboard at Albany GC. 🎯🫡 pic.twitter.com/uEq7qlaNb0

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) December 4, 2025

He is not alone at the top, though. Four others matched his 66, including Akshay Bhatia, who turned in a strong opening round in his first competitive loop with new caddie Joe Greiner, formerly of Team Homa.

Bhatia admitted he spent most of the year trying to convince Greiner to join him, and their debut together could not have gone much better. He spoke afterward about how valuable it is to have a left-handed caddie who naturally sees creative shot windows the same way he does, something he has always admired in guys like Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson.

Sepp Straka, Wyndham Clark, and J.J. Spaun also opened with 66, while Corey Conners and Keegan Bradley sit one shot back at five under. It is a tight leaderboard, but everyone knows the dynamic here.

Scottie Scheffler has established himself as the standard at this event, and if he maintains anything close to this level of control, the rest of the field will be spending the next three days trying to hang on rather than chase him down.

Coverage continues Friday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, but unless something unexpected happens, fans might already have a sense of how this story ends. The Hero World Challenge has become Scottie Scheffler territory, and once again, he has made that clear from the opening round.

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