Scheffler entered the race for the championship by tying for third place, one stroke behind Taylor Moore of the U.S. and Wilson Fur of the U.S., who are tied for the lead by reducing six strokes.
Scheffler, who recently changed his putter to a highly tolerant mallet type and won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship for two consecutive weeks, will win three consecutive tournaments if he wins this time.
Scheffler, who has better performance than any other player in reaching the green from the tee, missed the green seven times on the day, but solved it with short games and putts.
Even after missing the green, he never wrote down a bogey and made 18 holes with just 25 putts.
When hitting the green, the average putt was only 1.64.
In other words, it has seen a significant effect of replacing the putter.
Two of the five birdies he made on the day were made at birdie opportunities within 3m, but he putted an 8m birdie putt on the 17th hole (par 4) and succeeded in a 6m birdie putt on the 2nd hole (par 3).
At the third hole (par 5), he easily garnered birdies by putting an 18-meter eagle putt on the hole.
Scheffler continued a no-bogey streak at 49 consecutive holes. This is the eighth round without a bogey this season.
Although he took the lead on the first day, Scheffler said, "It's just the beginning," adding, "I'm only focusing on today's game, let alone thinking about the final day," and that he is suppressing his desire to win.
Moore was anxious because he missed a par putt less than 2 meters on the first hole (par 4), but he later swept one eagle and five birdies to win his first championship of the season and his second career win following last year's Valspar Championship.
Rookie Fur, who entered this year's PGA Tour after last year's conferry tour, took a surprise lead by hitting the lowest number of individual pars this year.
Fur missed the cut three times in the previous five tournaments and withdrew once, with only $32,805 in prize money tied for 38th at the Mexican Open.
Davis Riley and Joe Highsmith (USA) joined the joint third-place group with Scheffler.
Lee Kyung-hoon and Kim Sung-hyun both shot 2-under 68 to spark their advance to the top ranks. The two players tied for 17th.
Kim Si-woo also had an easy first day as he tied for 35th with a 1-under 69.
