2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard: Daniel Berger goes low as Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg contend

Morikawa, Åberg and Scottie Scheffler are all in prime position after Round 1 at Bay Hill on Thursday

On Thursday at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, it was Daniel Berger and then everyone else. The 32-year-old was pristine in his opening refrain at the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, signing for a 9-under 63 to command a three-stroke lead over Collin Morikawa and Ludvig Åberg after the first round.

Berger's 63 is the lowest round at Bay Hill in over a decade with Adam Scott previously shooting a 62 in 2014. The mark set by Berger is the second-lowest round of his PGA Tour career, his best coming as a 62 at the 2016 Travelers Championship.

"I've been playing well. It's like one shot here, one shot there that kind of doesn't go your way," Berger said. "And even last week I played pretty well and just didn't quite score the way I wanted to. Really, it's just freeing it up and enjoying it. Coming out here and just doing what you love to do and not thinking about the results and just sticking to the process that you know works for yourself."

Making Berger's performance even more impressive is that he revealed that he broke his finger playing in last summer's BMW Championship. An injury that could take as long as a year to heal fully, he mentioned that he has good days and bad days with it. Thursday was clearly one of those good days.

Berger made nine pars and nine birdies for his 63, with his longest putt coming from just 12 feet. More of the same will be needed if he is to cash in on his first victory in over five years after suffering through tons of injuries throughout that time.