Who leads the 2026 BMW Championship after round one?
Five players share the lead on 6-under 64 at Bellerive Country Club after Thursday's opening round: Rory McIlroy, Gary Woodland, Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun and Chris Gotterup. Scottie Scheffler, who won the previous playoff event by eight shots, is eight shots back.
Nobody got away. Five players shot 64 at Bellerive Country Club on Thursday and the 2026 BMW Championship goes into Friday with a five-way tie at the top, per CBS Sports and the PGA Tour's own round-one wrap-up.
Rory McIlroy, Gary Woodland, Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun and Chris Gotterup are the five. McIlroy's round was bogey-free and back-loaded: four opening pars, then four birdies, three of them in his last four holes. He finished 66th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week, which is a long way from a co-lead in seven days. Woodland got his the other way, holing out from 97 yards for eagle on the par-4 11th. He started the week 31st in the FedEx Cup standings, which matters here more than usual.
Fifty players started at Bellerive, there is no halfway cut, and only the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after Sunday go on to the Tour Championship at East Lake. Twenty players finish their season here.
Scottie Scheffler will not be one of them, but Thursday was not the day for him either. The world number one shot 72 for 2-over and a share of 44th, eight behind, with four bogeys early. CBS Sports and the PGA Tour both reported him as unwell. He arrived having won the FedEx St. Jude Championship by eight strokes.
Justin Thomas shot 67 with four birdies on the back nine. He began the week 44th in the standings, so his week is a straightforward arithmetic problem.
Bellerive was soft and gave up scores. The first-round field average was around 2-under.
Sources: CBS Sports round-one live coverage, 20 August 2026 (five players tied at 6-under, McIlroy 64 bogey-free with three birdies in the last four holes and a 66th-place finish the previous week, Woodland's hole-out eagle from 97 yards on the par-4 11th and 31st in the FedEx Cup standings, Scheffler 2-over and tied 44th with four early bogeys, Thomas 67 and 44th in the standings, field average around 2-under); PGA Tour official daily wrap-up, 20 August 2026 (five-way share of the lead, Scheffler's 72 and his condition, Woodland's eagle); The Washington Post via the Associated Press, 20 August 2026 (five-way lead, Scheffler's 72 as his highest opening round since the US Open in June); Golf News Net, 17 August 2026, and CBS Sports, 19 August 2026 (50-player field, no halfway cut, top 30 advance to the Tour Championship at East Lake, Scheffler's eight-shot win in Memphis).