The 41-year-old finished with a 7-under par 64 on Thursday, three shots ahead of fellow Americans Wyndham Clark, Russell Henley and Harold Varner III and South Korea’s Kyoung-Hoon Lee.
The score matched Kuchar’s best-ever round at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.
Looking for his first PGA Tour win since January last year, Kuchar carded five birdies, including at the par-5 first and 13th hole.
“To shoot a number like this, you kind of do most things well,” he was quoted by ESPN as saying after the first round. “I didn’t find myself in much trouble today. […] I felt like it was just steady golf, a lot of opportunities, and I was able to convert on a good number of opportunities today.”
Kuchar will have to wait until 3:13 p.m. ET on Friday to begin the second round from tee No. 1 alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Knox.
Tiger Woods, meanwhile, will resume proceedings from tee No. 10 at 10:16 a.m. alongside Justin Thomas and Steve Stricker.
Woods went out in 31 after eagling his first hole and carding two more birdies in the first nine holes, but petered out on the back nine and finished with a 2-under par 69, which leaves him five shots adrift of the lead.
“I got off to a nice start on the front nine and just didn’t hit many good shots on the back nine,” the 15-time major winner said. “Made a couple loose swings and made a couple good saves on the back nine for par, but just wasn’t able to get any birdies on the back nine.”
Woods is in good company at 2-under par along with former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and another 13 players.
New world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, is a shot ahead of the group after finishing at 3-under par on Thursday along with a group containing Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay, Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau.
Starting from tee No. 10, McIlroy bogeyed two of his first nine holes, offsetting an eagle he made at the 17th, but improved on the back nine, carding an eagle and a birdie.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Friday.
Round 1 leaderboard
Matt Kuchar -7Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Wyndham Clark, Russell Henley, Harold Varner III -4Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Carlos Ortiz, Patrick Reed, Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau, Andrew Landry, Joel Dahmen, James Hahn, Rafa Cabrera Bello -3Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Paul Casey, Scottie Scheffler, Sungjae Im, Sebastian Munoz, J. T. Poston, Michael Thompson, Denny McCarthy, J. B. Holmes, Justin Rose, Sung Kang, Chez Reavie, Si Woo Kim, Scott Stallings, Vaughn Taylor -2
Selected tee times (All times ET)
Tee No. 1
9:45 a. m. —Matt Jones, Cameron Tringale, Abraham Ancer10:06 a. m. —Branden Grace, Nick Watney, Bud Cauley10:37 a. m. —Joaquin Niemann, Si Woo Kim, Jim Furyk2:41 p. m. —Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson2:52 p. m. —Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson3:02 p. m. —Xander Schauffele, Aaron Wise, Jason Day3:13 p. m. —Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Knox
Tee No. 10
9:45 a. m. —Patrick Rodgers, Joel Dahmen, Adam Schenk10:16 a. m. —Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker10:27 a. m. —Jon Rahm, J. B. Holmes, Justin Rose10:37 a. m. —Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau10:48 a. m. —Nick Taylor, Patrick Reed, Scott Piercy10:58 a. m. —Chez Reavie, Francesco Molinari, Pat Perez3:23 p. m. —Tyler Duncan, Sebastián Muñoz, Bryson DeChambeau
TV and live stream guide
On Friday, coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on Golf Channel and runs until 6 p.m. ET. Coverage of featured groups and featured holes will be available from 9:45 p.m. ET on both days via PGA Tour Live.
Golf Channel will also broadcast live action between 1 p.m. ET and 2:45 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday.
CBS will take over at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday, covering the final two rounds. Coverage of featured groups and featured holes will be available from 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday and 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday via PGA Tour Live.
All four days of the tournament can be watched online via Golf Channel’s digital platforms, while the last two rounds will also be available online via CBS’ website.
