FRENCH LICK, Ind. — The opening round of the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance was anything but gentle. The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Golf Resort once again lived up to its punishing reputation, as only five of the 18 holes played under par and the day’s best score reached just 3-under.

Four players share that modest lead, a far cry from the usual birdie barrage seen on the Korn Ferry Tour. Just last week at the Compliance Solutions Championship the winner was 33-under par.

It’s a scene eerily similar to last year, when only 28 players finished the week under par on the Southern Indiana layout. For those straddling the PGA TOUR promotion line, the challenge couldn’t be more intense.

Among the most watched names is Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who began the week sitting No. 20 on the season-long Points List, the final spot to earn a 2026 PGA TOUR card. The 24-year-old Canadian lefty from Mississauga, Ontario, by way of Visakhapatnam, India, carded a 1-over 73 on Thursday, good enough to stay within striking distance, four shots off the lead.

“I think he plays better in the wind,” said his father, Suresh, who walked every hole as gusts whipped across the mountaintop course.

Yellamaraju’s round presented hurdles, like a three-putt bogey from inside 15 feet on No. 9 that only exacerbated the pressure of earning a PGA TOUR card. Still, his spirits remained upbeat.

“You look up and you see 1-over par and you think ‘that’s pretty bad,’ but I’m only four off the lead,” he told PGATOUR.COM. “All I can do this week is play good shots. Any week I go out, I know I can win. Once you do something like winning, you know you can do it anytime.”

The razor-thin margins were evident across the leaderboard, especially around the promotion cutoff. Trey Winstead surged from No. 48 to a share of the lead at 3-under, while others stumbled in the swirling wind.

With the Pete Dye Course again showing its bite, French Lick is setting up for a weekend where survival might mean salvation.

Let's take a look at the Korn Ferry Tour Points List bubble after Round 1: