Chubb Classic: Paul Stankowski, Mario Tiziani fire 65s to lead PGA Tour Champions event

With Hawaii and Morocco now in its rearview mirror, PGA Tour Champions teed off its first continental U.S. stop of the 2025 campaign at the Chubb Classic in Naples Friday.

Following birdies on four of his first six holes, Paul Stankowski added four more – in a row – on Nos. 12-15 before closing with a ninth birdie on the day at the par-5 18^th to open with a 7-under 65 on Tiburón Golf Club’s Black Course.

Stankowski’s 65, his lowest opening-round score on the PGA Tour champions in 80 starts, can be credited – at least in part – to finding all but one fairway off the tee and as 13-of-18 greens in regulation.

A tie for 12th in 2022, his first of three previous Chubb Classic starts, stands as his best finish.

Chubb Classic: Bernhard Langer chasing 6th title one storyline for PGA Tour Champions event

“I’m encouraged by the start, but a little surprised by how low it was” Stankowski said. “The offseason was long, and I didn’t play a whole lot of golf. I came in here really rusty. If you ask my pro-am partners from the last few days, I think I made two birdies in three days. I came to Florida on Wednesday last week and played a couple rounds. I saw my mom for a couple days, and then came here and played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So, I played six rounds in eight days. This was the seventh in eight days.”

Making his third start in the Chubb Classic, and 60^th on the tour, Mario Tiziani followed birdies on five of his first six holes with another at 11 and then an eagle-3 at the 12^th before finishing with six straight pars to score a 7-under 65 to claim a share of the lead with Stankowski.

Tiziani – Steve Stricker’s brother-in-law – was pleasantly surprised by his first-round performance.

“I went to Q-School; did not succeed,” Tiziani said. “I really didn’t play a ton. I went back home to Minneapolis and had jury duty for two weeks. Then, I just did the Christmas thing. I went to Hawaii with Steve (Stricker), caddied there and just kind of ramped it up the last couple weeks to prepare for it.”

A round like Friday speaks volumes to the bigger picture of how well he is coming into his own on Champions tour.

“It’s been a blast, I have to pinch myself,” he said. “I essentially quit the game when I was 40. I’ve had some success out here and people have been great. I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with the greats that I didn’t really have a chance to do when I was on the PGA Tour. So, I feel super fortunate. There’s a lot of encouragement from guys out here”

Making just his third start on PGA TOUR Champions, Sweden’s Freddie Jacobsen used the momentum of four consecutive birdies on Nos. 5-9 to add three more at Nos. 12, 13 and 18 to sign for a 6-under 66. His lone blemish was a bogey at the par-3 16^th.

“This is one of those courses that if you can drive the ball well off the tee, you’re going to probably set yourself up with quite a few chances,” Jacobsen said. “I really tried to focus on dialing in the fairways and putting good swings on it. That gave me a lot of chances….and, I made a few.”

Coming off his win two weeks ago at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Ernie Els opened his fifth Chubb Classic with a 5-under 67. Level par though 11 holes, Els secured birdies on five of his last seven holes to get in with the 67.

In his bid to join Lee Trevino (1990-91) and Bernhard Langer (2022-23) as players to successfully defend a Chubb Classic title, last year’s champion Stephen Ames used four birdies to offset two bogeys and a double bogey to sign for a first-round 72.

Of course, with a record five victories in the event, intrigue, and anticipation have swirled all week over Langer as he tees it up in his 16^th Chubb Classic.

In round one, the 67-year-old World Golf Hall of Fame member matched two bogeys with two birdies en route to an even-par 72.

Saturday’s second-round tee times run from 8:15 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.