2024 Wyndham Championship leaderboard: Beau Hossler on top, Billy Horschel threatening in Round 1 (2024)

After more than 24 hours of delay, the 2024 Wyndham Championship finally got underway Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina. A rain-soaked Sedgefield Country Club was no match for the field, especially Beau Hossler, who fired a 10-under 60 in the first round of the regular-season finale to take the overnight lead. Billy Horschel, who sits next on the leaderboard at 8 under, still has holes remaining in his first round as play was suspended due to darkness.

"I played well. This golf course is, if you drive the ball in the fairway, it's very scorable," Hossler said. "But playing this course from the rough, and then there's five or six like particularly daunting tee shots for me, blind and kind of got to curve it a little bit. In the past, they've given me a bit of trouble. Today, I drove it beautifully."

Hossler's tournament began in ideal fashion as he carded four birdies and an eagle in his opening five holes. Reaching 6 under in a blink of an eye, the former Texas Longhorns golfer turned in 28 before tacking on a birdie on the par-4 10th. After some back-and-forth, Hossler officially found the inside track to become the 15th man to break 60 on the PGA Tour when he made birdie on No. 15 to get to 10 under. Unable to add another circle on his scorecard over the last three holes, he instead settled for a 60 and drastic projected rise in the FedEx Cup standings.

Entering the week at No. 87, Hossler would jump all the way up to No. 51 should he hold onto to win the Wyndham Championship whenever it should conclude. From firmly outside the postseason to on the cusp of qualifying for all the signature events in 2025 by way of the BMW Championship, Hossler has three days of potentially career-changing golf in front of him.

"Just play as well as I can," Hossler said of his mindset. "Figured I probably need to finish in the top three or four if I had to guess to have any chance. This course has not treated me particularly well in the past, so I was just coming here and trying to play as well as I could and see what I got."

Hossler has 54 holes and a boat load of players to contend with as the PGA Tour tries to play catch up following the delays caused by Tropical Storm Debby. Horschel has continued his solid play from Royal Troon and sits among those on the first page of the leaderboard while the likes of Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young reside at 3 under.

The leader

1. Beau Hossler (-10):It hasn't been a good summer for Hossler after he notched a top-five finish at the Myrtle Beach Classic. Missing five of his last eight cuts, the right hander came to Sedgefield Country Club with his back against the wall. It has been a golf course which has repeatedly stuffed him in the locker with three missed cuts in four tries and no finish better than T65. On Friday, he got his revenge experiencing not only his lowest round in his PGA Tour career but one of the best ball-striking days as well. He will need the long game to continue to cooperate if he is to hold his spot atop this leaderboard.

Contenders

2. Billy Horschel (-8)
3. Nick Taylor (-7)
T4. Ben Taylor, Brendon Todd, Austin Eckroat, Matt Kuchar (-6)
T8. Justin Suh, Chris Gotterup, Vince Whaley, Aaron Rai, Ben Griffin, Mac Meissner, Ryan Brehm (-5)

Horschel hasn't been seen on a golf course since The Open as he withdrew moments before his first-round tee time at the 3M Open due to an illness. Having since recovered, he picked up where he left off holing out for eagle on the par-4 2nd and continuing his solid string of ball striking that dates back to his win at the Corales Puntacana Championship. With solid history at the Wyndham Championship and a gust of momentum in his sails, Horschel has the look of a man who is set on claiming his second win of 2024.

Bubble boy

Entering the week No. 71 in the FedEx Cup, Victor Perez looked to ride his Olympic form stateside. Fresh off a near bronze medal at Le Golf National in his home country of France, the three-time DP World Tour winner hit a speed bump immediately. A double bogey on his second hole could have easily derailed his week, but he rebounded beautifully playing his final 16 holes in 6 under and is now projected to make the postseason after his first round.

"I think you go through phases where your perspective I think is better than other times," Perez said. "I think sometimes you make that mistake and you get really frustrated and sometimes you make it and it doesn't really bother you. It's really hard to know exactly why sometimes it bothers you and sometimes it doesn't. Luckily, for me, it didn't, and I was able to bounce back and put on a good round."

What's up with Jordan Spieth?

Spieth began the week by discussing the possible need for wrist surgery this offseason. He began his actual playing week by landing an eagle on the par-5 15th. Announcing his arrival, the three-time major champion hit his final 10 greens in regulation, rolled in a number of nice putts and continued to hit his driver as well as ever en route to a 67. It's an encouraging start for a player who is currently outside the top 50 that qualifies for the BMW Championship and without a top-10 finish since the week before the Masters.

2024 Wyndham Championship odds, picks

• Billy Horschel: 4-1
• Beau Hossler: 5-1
• Nick Taylor: 12-1
• Aaron Rai: 18-1
• Matt Kuchar: 20-1

Horschel has the goods to get this done over the next 54 holes, but I understand if the favorite is too much to stomach at this stage. Instead, look at the pre-tournament favorite, Sungjae Im, who sits 40-1 and eight strokes back at 2 under. The South Korean has been stellar this summer and should recover from a poor ball-striking performance on Friday.

Patrick McDonald recaps Friday action at the 2024 Wyndham Championship. Follow & listen to The First Cut onApple PodcastsandSpotify.