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BMW Championship – Round 1 leaderboard |
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-5 R McIlroy (nee), B Harman (USA); -4 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), S Thegala (US), C Kirk (US), W Clark (US), S Scheffler (US), R Fowler (US) |
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Selected: -3 C. Morikawa (USA), -2 J Spieth (USA), B Cantlay (USA), J Ram (Spa); level J Rose (Engineer), T Fleetwood (Engineer), T Hatton (Engineer) |
World number two Rory McIlroy and Open champion Brian Harman both made a dramatic birdie putt on the 17th hole to share the lead after the first round of the BMW Championship in Chicago.
They shot five under-65 players to lead by one from England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and world number one Scotty Scheffler, who are among six under-four players.
The field includes the top 50 on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup rankings.
The top 30 teams advance to the Tour Championship Final next week in Atlanta
Northern Ireland’s McElroy, who won the Round Three championship last year, hit a hard shot to the left of the fairway that bounced through the green bunker and then chipped 40 feet from behind the green.
“Lucky,” he said, “I crossed the cellar.” “I certainly wasn’t expecting to make three when my tee shot was in the air. It was great work. It was a nice bonus.”
Moments later, Harman drilled a 32-foot birdie slide into the same hole to earn a lead shot. This was followed by hitting a 42-foot birdie putt in the 16th.
“When I missed it, I got a little lucky to replay,” said Harman. “I hit the ball twice, made some runs, and played a pretty solid run.”
Two-time defending champion Patrick Cantlay opened with a score of 68 and is three behind, along with Jordan Spieth and John Rahm.
Patrick Cantlay, the two-time defending champion, was three shots short of the lead.