Sandy Scott and Jackson Buchanan opened with matching 9-under 61s to share the Compliance Solutions Championship lead in Oklahoma.
Sandy Scott is already headed to the PGA Tour. Jackson Buchanan is still fighting to get there.
That made Thursday’s opening round at the Compliance Solutions Championship especially compelling, as both players fired 9-under 61s at The Patriot Golf Club in Owasso, Oklahoma, to share the first-round lead.
Scott stayed red-hot by birdieing four of his final five holes, turning a strong round into the second-lowest score of his Korn Ferry Tour career.
His personal best remains the 11-under 60 he shot at the 2025 Memorial Health Championship.
The 28-year-old also arrived in Oklahoma with momentum few players in the field can match.
Scott won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in his previous start, a victory that secured his PGA Tour membership for 2027.
He’s now posted top-five finishes in three consecutive starts, including a runner-up at the Simmons Bank Open and a tie for fourth at the AdventHealth Championship.
Buchanan’s situation is much more urgent.
The 24-year-old entered the week No. 54 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, making every shot matter with only the top 60 advancing to next week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
He responded with the best round of his professional career.
Buchanan’s bogey-free 61 included seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 10th, beating his previous career low by one shot. It was also his first career 18-hole lead or co-lead in his 25th Korn Ferry Tour start.
The chase behind them is crowded.
Derek Hitchner and Chris Francoeur each opened with 8-under 62s. Hitchner matched his career low after birdieing four of his final five holes, while Francoeur posted the best opening-round position of his Korn Ferry Tour career.
Tulsa native William Sides also put himself in the mix with a career-low 64.
The pressure only increases from here.
This is the third of four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events, and Sunday’s finish determines which players survive inside the top 60 and move on to the season finale.
Scott is already Tour-bound. Buchanan is trying to join him.
