Rory McIlroy ends on high at BMW Championship to keep FedExCup hopes alive
A late eagle has helped fire Rory McIlroy into early contention at the BMW Championship and keep his hopes for another FedExCup crown alive – sitting on three-under par before play was suspended after 17 holes due to dangerous weather at Castle Pines.
McIlroy, who has won a record three FedExCup titles, came into this tournament fifth in the standings after a disastrous showing at last week’s St Jude Championship, where he finished on nine-over par.
A solid front-nine laid the platform for McIlroy’s positive round with a birdie at the par-five eighth meaning the Holywood native went into the second-half one-under.
His sole blemish – a bogey at the 11th – was quickly followed by a second birdie at the very next hole and the standout moment for McIlroy came at 14 when he eagled the par-five to help fire himself up the leaderboard.
He was starting the final hole of his round when play was suspended due to weather conditions.
American Keegan Bradley set the early pace in Colorado after finishing his first round on six-under while Hideki Matsuyama, who has been in fine form over recent weeks, also shone.
The final FedExCup tournament – the Tour Championship – will be contested by the top-30 players at East Lake.
Elsewhere, Tom McKibbin started the Danish Championship with a three-over par 74 at the Lübker Golf Course.
McKibbin, who has recently enjoyed experiences on the sport’s biggest stage at both the US Open and The Open Championship, struggled on the front-nine, posting bogeys at the second, fifth, sixth and ninth holes, while the only piece of joy came with a birdie at the par-three fourth.
On the back-nine, the 21-year-old had a further two bogeys combined with two birdies to trail overnight leader Rasmus Højgaard by nine shots.
Stephanie Meadow also endured a difficult opening round at the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrew’s.
The 32-year-old enjoyed a solid front-nine, going even-par throughout the first-half on the Old Course, but six bogeys in the back-nine leaves her 10 shots adrift of Charley Hull.