Ludvig Aberg of Sweden posted an 8-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead at the RBC Heritage on Thursday in Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Aberg leads Harris English and Norway’s Viktor Hovland by a shot, while a six-way tie at 6-under 65 includes Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, Andrew Novak, Michael Brennan, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.
The post-Masters signature event at Harbour Town Golf Links features a $20 million purse and no 36-hole cut.
Aberg made five of his eight birdies on the back nine and stayed bogey-free. He holed a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th to reach 8 under.
English and Hovland also turned in bogey-free cards, while Brennan led the field with 16 of 18 greens in regulation and Novak holed more than 81 feet of putts. Novak lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff at this event last year.
The group at 5-under 66 featured Daniel Berger, Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, Sepp Straka of Austria and Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim of South Korea.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot a 3-under 68. Thomas struggled to a 5-over 76, tied for 80th out of 82 golfers with England’s Tommy Fleetwood.
