Scheffler returns from 2 months away and shares lead at the Hero World Challenge

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler returned to competition Thursday for the first time in two months and very little changed. Even with a bogey on the final hole, he had a 6-under 66 and was part of a five-way tie for the lead in the Hero World Challenge.

Scheffler was tied with U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka, Wyndham Clark and Akshay Bhatia on a warm, breezy afternoon at Albany Golf Club.

The world's No. 1 player wasn't the only one who had taken plenty of time off. Straka also had not played since the Ryder Cup ended the last weekend in September.

The Hero World Challenge has a 20-man field, an end-of-the-year holiday event that top players often use as the first step toward getting ready for next year. Scheffler is coming off a six-win season that included two majors and nothing worst than a tie for eighth in his last 15 tournaments.

His only change was a new driver, and it performed to his standards. The rest of his game looked solid as ever. Scheffler had birdies on four of the six scoring holes — four par 5s and two reachable par 4s. His only lapse was a chip that ran across and over the 18th green.

“I did some good stuff,” Scheffler said. “I felt like I could have shot a good amount lower. There's always a little bit of a rust. Once you get into competition, I don't really think about that stuff.”

Bhatia and Straka played bogey-free. Clark, Scheffler and Spaun each reached 7 under at one point until dropping a shot late in the round. Clark was at 7 under going to the par-5 15th, but a poor tee shot led to bogey. Spaun bogeyed the 18th from a fairway bunker.

Clark and Bhatia each holed bunker shots for eagle on the reachable par-4 seventh.

All but four players broke par in the opening round, with newcomer Chris Gotterup at 74 and Robert MacIntyre at 73.

Jordan Spieth, who received a sponsor exemption, was playing for the first time since the FedEx St. Jude Championship to start the postseason and opened with a 72. He had been working on his game to rid of bad habits, but there was clear rust. Spieth ran off three straight birdies on the front nine, but none over the last 11 while struggling with his chipping and at times his putting.

And it probably didn't help that he was alongside Scheffler, who is going after his third straight title in the Hero World Challenge. Dating to last year, Scheffler went 41 consecutive holes without a bogey until missing the 18th green and hitting his chip too hard.

___