VICTORIA, British Columbia – Riding the momentum of three wins in his last four starts, Michael Brennan showed no signs of slowing down at the Times Colonist Victoria Open presented by Andrew Sheret Limited. Fresh off earning a rare Three-Victory Promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday, the 23-year-old from Leesburg, Virginia, fired a bogey-free, 8-under 62 to share the opening-round lead Thursday afternoon.

Brennan, the solid No. 1 on the Fortinet Cup Points List and No. 121 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is joined atop the leaderboard by Monday qualifier RJ Manke. The 27-year-old from Tacoma, Washington, also carded a flawless 62 on a beautiful sunny day at Uplands Golf Club.

Just one shot back at 7-under 63 is the trio of Griffin Barela, David Perkins, and Chris Petefish. Ranked No. 3 on the Fortinet Cup, Perkins highlighted his bogey-free round with a hole-in-one at the par-3 14th, knocking an 8-iron in from 165 yards. Six other players are tied for sixth after opening with 64s, two strokes off the pace.

“I feel like it’d be a shame if I didn’t score well or didn’t perform well just because I wasn’t trying very hard or didn’t practice as much as I normally do. So, I’m just trying to put in the same work we normally do,” said Brennan, reflecting on his mindset after victories at the BioSteel Championship, CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center, and ATB Classic in a span of five weeks.

Including Thursday’s round, the Wake Forest alum—who joined PGA TOUR Americas as the No. 12 finisher in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking—has now held the lead, or a share of it, in 10 of his last 15 rounds on Tour. His season-long performance is equally impressive, featuring 43 rounds in the 60s out of 52 played, and 10 top-10 finishes in 14 starts.

Brennan is scheduled to begin his second round at 7:15 a.m. off No. 1 on Friday.

Charting the co-leaders

About Michael Brennan (T1/8 under) 

• Carded a bogey-free 8-under 62 in the first round. Started on the back nine, making six birdies to shoot 6-under 29. Made eagle at the par-4 No. 8, hitting his drive off the tee within three feet.
• Today’s round was his 43rd round in the 60s and his 48th sub-par round (out of 52).
• He has held the lead or a share of it through 10 of the last 15 rounds across five tournaments.
• He is the only multiple winner this season, with three victories at the BioSteel Championship (Aug. 10 in Windsor, Ontario), the CRMC Championship presented by Northern Pacific Center (Aug. 31 in Brainerd, Minnesota), and the ATB Classic (Sept. 14 in Edmonton, Alberta). Those three wins have secured him the Korn Ferry Tour membership through the 2026 season via the Three-Victory Promotion.
• Has the most top-10 finishes of the 2025 season with 10. Brennan has finished in the top-10 15 times in 24 career starts on PGA TOUR Americas, 13 of which have come in his last 18 starts dating back to the 2024 season.
• Finished as the No. 12 player in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2024 to earn PGA TOUR Americas membership.
• Tied for third in Wake Forest program history with Curtis Strange with eight individual titles: Brennan only trails Bill Haas (10) and Gary Hallberg (9).
• Earned Co-Medalist honors at the 2024 ACC Championships and earned All-ACC honors four times during his time with the Demon Deacons.
• Won the Middle Atlantic Amateur Championship in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
• Won the 2019 Virginia State Amateur Championship.

About RJ Manke (T1/8 under) 

• Had eight birdies for a bogey-free, 8-under 62.
• Making his first PGA TOUR Americas start of the season after firing an 8-under 63 to tie for first at the Monday qualifier played at Highland Pacific Golf.
• As a 2024 PGA TOUR Americas member, he finished No. 124 in the Fortinet Cup. He made the cut in four of eight starts, and his best finish was T12 at the Explore NB Open.
• Finished T70 at the 2024 Victoria Open, following a trio of 68s with a final round 75.
• Made 30 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour between 2022 and 2024.
• Has made three PGA TOUR starts, including two this season at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Barracuda Championship (Missed cuts).

Competiton notes

Course Setup: Par 70 / 6,420 yards; R1 average: 68.731

Weather: Sunny with a high of 19 (67). Wind from the east and northeast at 12-19 km/h.

• Fortinet Cup No. 1 Michael Brennan and Monday qualifier RJ Manke share the 18-hole lead after bogey-free rounds of 8-under 62. Brennan has been the leader or co-leader in 10 of the last 15 rounds on PGA TOUR Americas.
• David Perkins (T3, 7-under 63) recorded a hole-in-one at the par-3 14th, hitting an 8-iron from 165 yards for the seventh ace of his career.
• Mateo Fernández de Oliveira carded one of the craziest 4-under 66s to finish the day T20. After starting on No. 10 and posting a 4-over 39 on his opening nine—including a four-putt double bogey at No. 18 that dropped him to 155th on the leaderboard—he stormed back with eight consecutive birdies from Nos. 2–9.
• Wil Bateman (T12) closed with three straight birdies for a 5-under 65, finishing as the top Canadian. Playing out of his Korn Ferry Tour category, Bateman is making only his second PGA TOUR-sanctioned start of the year since withdrawing at the The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island in January. The 2022 Fortinet Cup winner had been sidelined due to a wrist injury that required surgery.
• Hole No. 7, the 513-yard par-5, played as the easiest hole at Uplands Golf Club on Thursday (-0.718 strokes over par).
• Hole No. 11, the 415-yard par-4, played as the toughest hole at Uplands Golf Club on Thursday (+0.308 strokes over par).