Taylor Moore brilliantly lit-up a wet and overcast opening round with a sensational nine-under 62 on day one of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Dallas, Texas.
Moore, and playing under a preferred lie rule, holed a 14-foot final hole birdie to grab the lead by a shot on the TPC Craig Ranch course in suburban McKinney.
“Obviously pretty stoked,“ said Moore.
“ I’ve only played a couple times in the last few weeks, so it was good to get in a rhythm early. 2-under after three, I got into a good rhythm. I was really excited“,
Brooks Koepka, sporting a new putter for a fourth occasion this year, is just a shot back.
MOORE MUSCLES HIS WAY TO TOP @cjbyronnelson …
Taylor Moore drains 14-footer closing hole birdie for an impressive 6⃣2⃣ and lead by one in #Texas
Read: https://t.co/0wEesJxZ32
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— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) May 22, 2026
First-Round Notes – Thursday, May 21, 2026
Weather: Cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms. High of 76. Winds ESE at 4-8 mph.
Note: Preferred lies were in effect for the first round.
First-Round Leaderboard
| Pos. | Player | R1 |
| 1 | Taylor Moore | 62 (-9) |
| T2 | Brooks Koepka | 63 (-8) |
| T2 | Jesper Svensson | 63 (-8) |
| T4 | Seven players | 64 (-7) |
Taylor Moore (1st/-9)
- Opens with a bogey-free 9-under 62, his career low 18-hole score (previous: 63, most recent: 2024 Baycurrent Classic/R1)
- Holds fourth 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR (most recent: 2024 Baycurrent Classic/finished T11); 0-for-3 to date
- Making third appearance at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson (T32/2022, MC/2025)
- Best finish in 10 prior starts this season: T2/Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches
- Entered the week No. 73 in the FedExCup standings
- Earned first PGA TOUR victory at the 2023 Valspar Championship
Brooks Koepka (T2/-8)
- Records a bogey-free 8-under 63, his first opening bogey-free round on TOUR since the 2023 Masters (R2)
- 63 is one-stroke shy of his lowest opening-round score on TOUR (62, most recent: 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)
- Making seventh appearance at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson (best: 2nd/2016) and second at TPC Craig Ranch (MC/2021)
- Has five top-25 finishes in 10 starts this season (best: T9/Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches)
- Making his 11th start on TOUR since becoming eligible via the Returning Member Program, which allows players who have achieved levels of elite performance-based criteria an alternative path back to the PGA TOUR
Jesper Svensson (T2/-8)
- 63 is one-stroke shy of his career-best on TOUR (62/2025 Bank of Utah Championship/R4/finished T15)
- Making second start at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson (MC/2025)
- Has one top-10 in nine starts this season (T8/Puerto Rico Open)
- Second-year member finished No. 111 in the 2025 FedExCup Fall standings; earned 2025 membership by finishing inside the top 10 of the 2024 DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking
Miscellaneous Notes
- Making his sixth start at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, South Korea native and Dallas resident Si Woo Kim (T4/-7) records a 7-under 64; has three consecutive top-15 finishes at TPC Craig Ranch (T2/2023, T13/2024, T15/2025), tied for longest active streak of any player at this course with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler
- For the second consecutive year, Stephan Jaeger and Michael Thorbjornsen both record opening bogey-free rounds of 64; Jaeger’s lone PGA TOUR win in 190 starts came in Texas (2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open) and is one of 14 players in the field this week to previously win in the state of Texas
- With eagles on Nos. 2 and 14, Hank Lebioda (T11/-6) becomes the second player on TOUR this season to make multiple eagles in a round on the par-4 holes (other: Jimmy Stanger/Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches/R2)
- 2025 THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson winner and Dallas resident Scottie Scheffler (T16/-5) is seeking to become the first player since Tiger Woods to successfully defend their title after winning by eight strokes the year prior (2007 WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession); the 20-time PGA TOUR winner has successfully defended his tittle three times on TOUR (2023 WM Phoenix Open, 2024 THE PLAYERS Championship, 2025 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday)
- Making his 14th appearance at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, Dallas native and resident Jordan Spieth (T47/-3) opens with a 68, his 14th consecutive opening round of par or better at this event, the longest active streak of any player at this event
- 25 eagles in the first round, the most eagles in the first round on TOUR this season (previous: 22/Sony Open in Hawaii/Waialae Country Club)
