David Ford of North Carolina, Aidan Krafft of Oregon, and Kobe Valociek of Kansas State all shot opening rounds of 5-under 66 to get to the top of the leaderboard at the 2025 Prestige at PGA West, the Greg Norman Course, in La Quinta, Calif.
Ford carded six birdies and one bogey, Krafft carded seven birdies and two bogeys, including a bogey on the first hole, and Valociek carded six birdies and one bogey.
Ford is currently ranked No. 8 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings and No. 1 in the PGA Tour University Rankings. He is the top-ranked player in the field.
Sam Renner of Washington State and Collin Hodgkinson of Oregon State are T4 at 4-under and just one shot behind the leaders.
In the team competition, North Carolina opened up with a team round of 9-under 275 to take a three-shot lead over Kansas. The Jayhawks are in solo second place at 6-under.
San Diego is in solo third place at 3-under, and UNCW, Oregon, and Florida Atlantic are T4 at 2-under and seven shots back of North Carolina heading into the second round.
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Two-time PGA Tour winner Ludvig Aberg of Texas Tech is a three-time champion of the tournament, while Texas Tech is the defending team champion. Aberg won the Genesis Invitational this past weekend.
This is the 25th iteration of the tournament and the 22nd year at PGA West.
The tournament has included U.S. Open Champions Wyndham Clark, Jon Rahm, and Gary Woodland and 2023 Ryder Cup participants Ludvig Aberg, Victor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Sam Burns, Clark, Max Homa, and Xander Schauffele.