The first round of the second major of the 2026 PGA TOUR Champions at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Alabama saw some very low scores and Pádraig Harrington is in the thick of it after 18-holes, as the 54-year-old posted a five-under-par 67 to sit two strokes off the lead in a tie for sixth.
Harrington came flying out of the blocks as he started his day on the back nine, making his first birdie of the round at the par-4 11th.
Three more birdies came before the turn, as he made light work of holes 13, 15, and 18 but a slip up at the par-3 17th saw a bogey as the three-time PGA Tour Champions Major winner sat three-under after nine holes.
Harrington made two more birdies at the second and sixth before parring his way back to the clubhouse to post 67. The Dubliner seems to come alive in the majors, winning two PGA Tour Champions Majors in 2025 in the U.S. Senior Open and Senior Open Championship.
It was a slow day for Darren Clarke, as the 2016 Ryder Cup captain only managed to make one birdie in his first round.
A lackluster round saw the 57-year-old make 8 pars on his opening nine holes. Also starting his day on the back nine, Clarke made bogey at the par-4 12th.
Disaster struck at the par-5 second for the Tyrone man. No doubt on the tee he was thinking birdie, but a few uncharacteristic errors saw Clarke make a double bogey to put him at three-over for the day.
Clarke made use of the next par-5 – the fifth, as he tightened things up and made his only birdie of the day to post a two-over-par 74, and sit T64 after round one.
Reigning Charles Schwab Cup champion Stewart Cink and Germany’s Alex Cejka lead the pack at seven-under. Cink was pretty much flawless bar a bogey at the fifth as the 52-year-old birdied the first three holes on his way to post 65. Cink tied his lowest 18-hole score in his ninth career round at the Regions Tradition and currently leads the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
55-year-old Cejka was flawless in round one, posting a bogey free 65. Starting on the back-nine, Cejka made five birdies before the turn, including a hat trick of them between holes 13 and 15 as the four-time PGA TOUR Champions winner is seeking his fifth title and fourth major championship. Cejka won the Regions Tradition in 2021.
Korea’s Charlie Wi is tied with Australia’s Steven Alker and Scott Hend for T3, with each posting a bogey free six-under-par round.
Alker, an 11-time PGA TOUR Champions winner and two-time Charles Schwab Cup winner, is seeking his first victory at the Regions Tradition in his fifth appearance.
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