Golfers from KU, Wichita State among leaders after Round 1 of the Watson Challenge

The Watson Challenge is underway at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Kansas City, and after the first day three entrants are tied atop the leaderboard.

Davis Cooper, Robert Russell and Michael Winslow are tied for the event lead after shooting matching scores of four-under 68 in Round 1.

David Jenkins sits one back of the lead at three-under, while there is a four-way tie for fifth at two-under in the 48-person field.

Not participating this year is Tom Watson, who is unable to compete due to injury, though he is at the event, per a release.

The second round of the challenge begins Friday at 7:30 a.m. Tee times will run from 7:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. each day until the winner is crowned on June 3. The leaders will tee off at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Tied for the lead after Day 1, Cooper won the challenge in 2022 and, as was noted in an event release, is a member at Lionsgate. He said he “wasn’t too stressed about” an early double-bogey, which proved valid after he birdied eight holes in the first round.

Cooper is a Blue Valley North grad who will be a senior at Kansas in the fall.

Russell is also a member as Lionsgate, and that experience may have come in handy in picking up an eagle on the par-four ninth. Winslow, on the other hand, is a rising junior on Wichita State’s golf team and attended St. Thomas Aquinas. He began the day with a bogey before recording birdies on five of the next six holes.

“I putted the ball really well today,” Winslow said in the event release, “and my wedges were really good.”

Also of note, Blue Valley West grad Julia Misemer, a rising sophomore at the University of Arizona, the 2022 Prairie Invitational Champion and the lone woman in the event, is tied for 21st after shooting a three-over 75.

Admission to the Thursday-Saturday Watson Challenge is free, but a donation of $25 to the First Tee of Greater Kansas City is encouraged.

The trophy will be presented at 3 p.m. on Saturday following the conclusion of the 54-hole event.