First-Round Leaderboard

Pos.        Player     Total

1              J.T. Poston             62 (-10) NT

2              Justin Lower         63 (-9) LQ

T3            Matti Schmid        64 (-8) NT

               Joel Dahmen         64 (-8) NT

               Chris Kirk               64 (-8) LQ

               Jason Day              64 (-8) LQ

               J.J. Spaun               64 (-8) LQ

Leading Asian Scores

T8            Rico Hoey              65 (-7) LQ

T28         Ryo Hisatsune      67 (-5) NT

T28         Rikuya Hoshino    67 (-5) LQ

T46         Si Woo Kim           68 (-4) LQ

J.T. Poston (1^st/-10) 

• 10-under 62 at Nicklaus Tournament Course marks his fifth round of 62 on TOUR, but one stroke shy of his career-low round of 61 (R4/2024 Sony Open in Hawaii/6^th); previous low at this event: 64/twice
• Holds the 18-hole lead/co-lead for the seventh time on TOUR (1-for-6 to date; 2022 John Deere Classic)
• Ninth appearance at The American Express with two top-10 results (T7/2019, T6/2023)
• Three-time PGA TOUR winner (2019 Wyndham Championship, 2022 John Deere Classic, 2024 Shriners Children’s Open)

Additional player notes

• Justin Lower’s (2^nd/-9) 63 at La Quinta Country Club equals his low round on the PGA TOUR (3 times, most recent: R3/2024 World Wide Technology Championship); first player to record back-to-back eagles in the 2025 season (Nos. 5 and 6 at La Quinta CC); five players achieved the feat in the 2024 season
• Making his fifth appearance at The American Express, Joel Dahmen (T3/-8) seeks to make the cut (54-hole cut) for the first time
• Playing his 13^th round at The American Express, 13-time PGA TOUR winner Jason Day (T3/-8) matches his tournament low-round score with an opening 8-under 64 (R2/64/2023)
• After missing the playoff by one-stroke at last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii and finishing T3, J.J. Spaun (T3/-8) makes his seventh start at The American Express and first since 2022 (best: T25/2022)
• Carson Young, Jackson Suber and Nick Taylor, last week’s winner at the Sony Open in Hawaii, sit T8 with the low score of the day at the Stadium Course (7-under 65)
• Defending champion Nick Dunlap sits T28 after 5-under 67 at La Quinta Country Club
• Sami Valimaki’s (T28/-5) ace at No. 12 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course marks his first hole-in-one in his 29^th TOUR start
• Blades Brown (T116/E), a 17-year-old sponsor exemption, began par, bogey, double bogey at La Quinta before carding three consecutive birdies and 12 additional pars to notch a 72 in his first round as a professional
• Adam Schenk withdrew with back spasms following the completion of the first round.