Doug Ghim, Davis Thompson and the Philippines' Rico Hoey tied atop the first-round leaderboard Thursday at the RSM Classic, the finale of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup Fall series.
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Needing a solo-4th or better this week to keep his card, Doug Ghim opens with a career-low 60 @TheRSMClassic. pic.twitter.com/XXE3xrFhiz
Ghim, Thompson and Hoey stand at 10 under par after the first day of the event at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Ghim played the par-70 Seaside Course on Thursday and threatened a 59 thanks to a late string of birdies before settling for a 60. Thompson and Hoey began with the par-72 Plantation Course and carded bogey-free 62s.
The trio is one stroke ahead of Andrew Putnam and Andrew Novak, who fired 9-under 61s at the Seaside Course. All golfers will play one round at each course before the 36-hole cut.
Ghim, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, put up five birdies on each nine, including a four-birdie run at Nos. 14-17. After he got his 13-foot birdie putt to fall at the par-3 17th, he was one birdie away from breaking 60 but missed a tricky 20-footer at the final green.
"It was pretty clear that it was going to move right early," Ghim said.
"It was a downhill putt so you do have to acknowledge the first part of the putt more so than an uphill one. We were debating on whether or not it would break back to the left at the end. We thought because it was breaking so hard early that it might not get the chance to actually make its way left, but that's what it did, that's what it ended up doing.
"Again, pleased with the putt. It's easy to leave that putt short in that moment."
Ghim shared that he had never scored better than a 61 in his life – professionally or even recreationally.
"It was cool and rarefied air for me to actually have a chance to shoot 59," he said.
This is the final official tournament of 2025 and the final opportunity for players to get inside the top 100 in the points race and guarantee full status on tour for 2026. Ghim (No 125) and Putnam (No 119) are among those who stand to benefit from a strong finish.
"I've had a lot of tough weekends, a lot of missed cuts by one," Ghim said. "Didn't putt well for most of the year. Starting to putt better, which is in one way frustrating because obviously there's not a lot of tournaments left in the season with this being the last one, but at the same time it's better late than never. Excited for the opportunity to continue to put myself in the position to have a chance this week."
Hoey also posted a career-best round with his 62, which featured an eagle putt at the par-5 14th.
"Hit the fairway, then I hit a 4-iron from I think 250, left myself 45 feet and made the eagle," Hoey said.
Thompson also holed an eagle, though his came at the par-5 18th.
Tour cards are not the only thing on the table for golfers this fall. If Hoey and Thompson can crack the top 60 in the points race – which they're projected to do as of now – they would qualify for the first two big-money signature events of 2026.
Tied at 8 under are Michael Thorbjornsen, Max McGreevy, Quade Cummins, Matthew Riedel and Canada's Ben Silverman, all of whom played the Plantation Course first.