Charting the leader (stats entering week)

John VanDerLaan (first/-9)

• Cards 9-under 62 with 10 birdies against one bogey, including a bogey-free 5-under 30 on the back nine; marks his second-best career round behind the 10-under 60 at the season-opening Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island, where he led the first three rounds and finished T9
• Ties the course record to match David Lingmerth – the 2022 champion of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship – for the tournament-low 18-hole score
• Holds the second 18-hole lead/co-lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career (other: 2025 The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island/finished T9)
• Best finish in five previous starts at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship is T35/2024
• Stands No. 52 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List off the strength of eight top-25s in 22 starts, highlighted by his lone top-10 in the season-opening event
• Previously finished No. 63 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, maintaining fully exempt status for the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season with his fourth consecutive top 75 finish on the Points List (No. 53/2020-21, No. 47/2022, No. 42/2023, No. 63/2024)
• Finished T7 at Final Stage of the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament (now PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry) to earn guaranteed starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and secure membership for what became the 2020-21 season
• Played four seasons collegiately at Florida Southern College (2014-18) where he was a four-time All-American and named the 2018 Jack Nicklaus Award winner for NCAA Division II; he earned seven individual wins as a senior, with the crown jewel being the individual national title at the 2018 NCAA Division II Championship

Additional notes

• Korn Ferry Tour winner Chandler Blanchet (second/-7) opens in 6-under 64, marking his fifth opening round of 64 or lower in what is his 94th career start on Tour; Blanchet earned his first Korn Ferry Tour victory at the 2025 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Hiland Dairy Foods and stands No. 9 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List.
• Bio Kim (T3/-6), a 10-time international winner who previously played three seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour (2012, 2013, 2018), stands inside the top-10 for the third time in his fifth start of the season.
• Kim made his first Korn Ferry Tour start since 2018 at this season’s Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse, and with two top-35s and a pair of top-25 finishes, played his way into the top 144 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List to qualify for this week’s field.
• Zack Fischer (T3/-6) opens in 6-under 65 via an eagle (No. 6) and five birdies (Nos. 7, 11, 12, 17, 18) to post his best opening round of the season since the Veritex Bank Championship in April (7-under 64/finished T56); stands inside the top-five following 18 holes for the first time since the 2022 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX (T2/finished T7).
• Class of 2023 Korn Ferry Tour graduate Tom Whitney (T3/-6), who stands No. 99 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List following four consecutive missed cuts, stands inside the top-three following 18 holes for the first time since The Ascendant presented by Blue, where he logged his best finish of the season (finished T11).
• Trent Phillips (T6/-4), a third-year member and No. 53 on the Points List, posts 4-under 67 to stand inside the top 10 following Round 1 for the sixth time this season; Phillips entered the week with two top-10s in his last five starts, including a T7 at last week’s Simmons Bank Open after opening T4.
• Four players currently outside the top 120 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List are projected to move inside the mark, positioning themselves to earn a spot in the third Finals event of the season, the Compliance Solutions Championship: Roger Sloan (projected No. 117), Mark Goetz (projected No. 110), Brandon Harkins (projected No. 107), Bio Kim (projected No. 88).
• Bryson Nimmer was assessed a one-stroke penalty during Round 1 of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship for exceeding the time allowed to play a stroke in accordance with the Korn Ferry Tour Pace of Play policy. Nimmer took 68 seconds to play his second stroke on the 18th hole, exceeding the time allowed to play the stroke by 18 seconds.
• Upon conclusion of this week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the top 120 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List will qualify for the Compliance Solutions Championship, the third of four season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Finals events.