Truist Championship 2025 First-Round Leader Tips: A trio of picks at 50/1

• 50/151.00 J.J. Spaun is a good bet on shorter courses

• 50/151.00 Justin Rose, a R1 leader at Augusta, thrives in the region

• 50/151.00 Andrew Novak is one of the PGA Tour's form horses

Weather forecast for Thursday

With just 72 players in the field and three-balls going off two tees, start times are concentrated and range from 11:09am to 13:10pm local.

There is rain in the forecast for Friday and perhaps just a chance of it late on Thursday but it's hard to see any real advantage for anyone.   

Temperatures are in the mid-70s.

J.J. Spaun @ 50/151.00

J.J. Spaun is a strong performer on shorter tracks and tends to start well on them too.

In his last four appearances on sub-7,200-yard courses he has no less than four top sixes.

The two most recent of those were second place at the Cognizant Classic and third at the Sony Open.

He was fifth after day one in the former while he's also been quick out of the blocks in two other recent events, leading the way in The Players Championship (R1 66) where he was runner-up and again sitting fifth after 18 holes of the RBC Heritage last time out.

Spaun, who tees off at 12.04pm, looks an appealing bet at 50s in this limited field.

Justin Rose @ 50/151.00

Justin Rose was the first-round leader at the US Masters for an incredible fifth time last month and, despite the shattering blow of losing a playoff to Rory McIlroy, he even came out the following week and ended day one of the RBC Heritage in 10th.

That means in seven starts this season he's been in the top 10 on the round one leaderboard four times.

As well as that habit of bursting out of the gate quickly, Rose has a great record in Pennsylvania.

He won his US Open at nearby Merion and in his last seven starts in the Keystone State he's racked up two wins, a second and three other top 15s.

That form may be a bit old but three of his R1 Masters leads were back in 2004, 2007 and 2008. In short, Rose keeps on keepin' on.

Back him at 50s from his 12.26pm tee-time.

Andrew Novak @ 50/151.00

I'll complete a trio of 50/151.00 shots by backing the very in-form Andrew Novak.

The American was already having a good season but in April it really took off.

He was third in the Texas Open, followed that by finishing runner-up in the RBC Heritage (like this, a limited-field Signature Event) and then landed a first win by capturing the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pairs event alongside Ben Griffin.

Fast starts have been part of the deal too and Novak has finished Thursday in the top 10 in three of his last five events.

Novak, who hits away at 12.04pm, is a fairly simple sell at 50s. 

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