Round 1 of 2023 RBC Heritage Sees Viktor Hovland Take Lead While Jon Rahm Struggles; Check the Scores on the Leaderboard

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The RBC Heritage is one of the significant events on the PGA Tour schedule this year. Even though it may not have the same buzz as the Masters, it has started to pick up some traction with an exciting leaderboard. Viktor Hovland is currently leading the tournament with a clean 7-under 64 in the first round. While the first round was suspended for darkness with six golfers yet to complete Round 1, there are some other big names on his heels like Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffe, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Scottie Scheffler, and Justin Thomas. In this article, we'll take a look at Hovland's first round and how the tournament is shaping up for the next few days.

Viktor Hovland shot an impressive 7-under 64 in the first round. After a disappointing Masters fade, this is a nice rebound for him and emblematic of a bigger trend on the year. After finishing T42 at the Phoenix Open, he has proceeded to finish T20, T10, T3, and T7 in his last four stroke play events. Hovland stated after his round that he learned a lot from leading the Masters after the first round and moving backward over the next three days. Part of that was putting, but some of it, he said, was golf course management.

"I didn't putt it as good the last three rounds last week as I did the first round, which obviously is hard to do," Hovland said. "I hit it OK, but I didn't hit it as great as I did the first round. But I took a big lesson from not short-siding myself as much last week because out there on that golf course on some of those pins, I got a little too greedy and I missed it in the wrong spots, and I just can't allow myself to do that.

"So this week I'm just trying to play a bit more, not conservatively, but making sure that I hit more greens, center of the greens, and can kind of lean on my putter. And if I do miss a green, I feel like my short game's in a good spot where I can make an up and down."

Hovland once again putted exceptionally well on Thursday, leading the field in that category. It will be interesting to see if that continues and whether he makes some better decisions regarding approach play over the next 54 holes.

Brian Harman, Aaron Rai, and Jimmy Walker are tied at second with Viktor Hovland, with a score of 6 under par. Joel Dahmen, Scott Stallings, Matt Fitzpatrick, Zach Johnson, Justin Rose, and Sungjae Im are tied at fifth with a score of 5 under par. Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Andrew Putnam, and Wyndham Clark are tied at eleventh with a score of 4 under par.

It makes sense that Schauffele is playing well here. He's a tremendous iron player playing a golf course that demands it. He played the back in 31 and finished in the top five in the field on Thursday in approach play.

"I've kind of had my head in the sand every time I've been here," Schauffele said of Harbour Town. "Probably it's always after a major, so a little bit more tired. So now that I'm a little bit older, I think I can handle it a little bit better maybe. Yeah, the greens are concrete. You have to hit your spots. You've got to be smart around the property. It should be a place where I play well, and I just haven't.