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Keith Mitchell was primed to take the first-round lead for his third straight tournament until Sam Ryder came roaring into the clubhouse late on Thursday at the 2025 Texas Open. Signing for a flawless 9-under 63, Ryder rose to the top of the leaderboard to grab a one-stroke edge over Mitchell heading into the second round.
Making Ryder's performance even more impressive was that it nearly did not happen. Straining a muscle in his neck on Tuesday, the American decided to pull out of the Wednesday pro-am and instead rest ahead of the competition. It proved to be a wise decision.
"I was hitting some drivers, everything was feeling really good with my swing, speed was ramping up, and I kind of just felt something kind of strained a little bit in my upper back, kind of neck area and didn't feel quite right," Ryder explained. "Kind of got progressively worse. My physical therapist is here, got some treatment but didn't practice the rest of the day. Wasn't able to go on Wednesday, didn't touch a club, yeah, didn't putt, didn't do anything."
Ryder and Mitchell have separated themselves ever so slightly, but their closest pursuers consist of some of the biggest names in this field, including Jordan Spieth. The native Texan is at it again at TPC San Antonio as he overcame an opening bogey to play his final 17 holes in 6 under to fire a 67 and sit four off the early pace.
Spieth's place inside the top five is his highest position on the leaderboard after 18 holes this season, besting his previous T11 mark at the Cognizant Classic. The way in which he accomplished it was a welcomed sight as well as the 2021 tournament winner was walking in putts like it was 2015.
Spieith took the lid off the hole on the par-4 5th with a 25-foot conversion and turned in 1 under. On the back nine, the birdies kept coming as connections from 24 feet, 9 feet, 24 feet as 12 feet came rolling in from Nos. 12-17. While Spieth was unable to take advantage of the par-5 closer from the middle of the fairway, he finds him in the exact position he needs to be in as he completes his final start before the Masters.
"I thought it was really solid," Spieth said. "I put in a lot of work from Tampa, and I thought that maybe my finish there didn't quite show how I was actually playing. But I improved a lot week to week in what I needed to in some of my scoring clubs and approach play, which is important going into next week obviously.
"I'm just trying to get better and better with that. I need to tighten up the scoring clubs, like some of my wedges, just a little bit more, and there's a couple shot choices [I wish I could get back], but all in all I'm very pleased. This is a hard golf course, and we've got good conditions, so it was nice to take advantage of that. I think this will be maybe the easiest that we see it for the week."
The leader
1. Sam Ryder (-9): Ryder gained just about nine strokes on the field Thursday with five of them coming courtesy of his putter. He needed just 21 putts -- 15 of which came via one-putts -- in his first round, which marks a new career low. Riding a string of consistency so far this season having made the cut in every tournament he has played, Ryder now looks to do more than just collect a paycheck and grab his first PGA Tour win.
"It's a Spider putter. Actually, it was Beau Hossler's backup putter; I started using it my rookie year in 2018," Ryder said. "Yeah, I always kind of do my little things to try and make sure my setup's good. I think putting for me is a lot about my setup, so just try to make sure everything, you know, everything's lined up. And then, at that point, I can just kind of free it up and just focus on the target and kind of just be more of an athlete. Yeah, nice to see some putts go in, build some confidence."
Sam Ryder shoots a 63 and picks up +8.948 strokes to the field -- by far the best round of his career (799 rounds).
— Rick Gehman (@RickRunGood) April 3, 2025
The +5.352 strokes he gained putting is also the best single round of his career. pic.twitter.com/oOuiBzeG1h
Other contenders
2. Keith Mitchell (-8)
3. Brian Harman (-6)
T4. Jordan Spieth, Carson Young (-5)
T6. Tommy Fleetwood, Aldrich Potgieter, Steven Fisk, Andrew Novak (-4)
A number of potential Masters contenders are lurking on the first page of the leaderboard with Harman, Spieth and Fleetwood all within shouting distance. The Englishman was out on the golf course early Thursday and carded just about the highest score he could have with how well he struck the golf ball. Fleetwood ranked third in strokes gained tee to green and outside the top half of this field on the greens. Marrying those two aspects will be key not only next week at Augusta National, but this weekend should he find himself in contention.
"I think for a lot of players that are in the Masters can kind of work like a schedule around the majors," Fleetwood said. "You know, my reason of being here is just to be in kind of playing mode. At the same time, it's a great tournament and obviously PGA event and it's very important.
"So I feel like I want to be going into the Masters feeling like I've played, but so that means I don't really think about the Masters, focus on this week, do all the things that I need to prepare week in and week out. Then yeah, Masters comes, I'll start focusing on that, but for me it's like every week's an important week. Playing the week before a major is more about getting into that playing mode, so focus on this week."
2025 Texas Open updated odds, picks
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
- Sam Ryder: 9/2
- Keith Mitchell: 5-1
- Jordan Spieth: 15/2
- Tommy Fleetwood: 10-1
- Brian Harman: 14-1
- Maverick McNealy: 20-1
- Andrew Novak: 22-1
McNealy stands out from this list at first glance. The RSM Classic winner led the field in greens in regulation in the first round and did not have his best stuff on the greens — a true rarity for a putter of his caliber. I expect him to make a move in the morning hours on Friday and be near the lead by day's end.
