Rory McIlroy fires his way into contention in defence of CJ Cup title with opening 66

Quelle surprise and all of that. Rory McIlroy did what Rory McIlroy has done for much of the golfing year and played his way right into the mix, firing a bogey-free opening round of five-under-par 66 in the CJ Cup at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina, to trail clubhouse leaders Trey Mullinax and Gary Woodland by one shot.

A highlight of McIlroy’s round in defence of a title he won a year ago in Las Vegas came with a hat-trick of birdies from the fourth – holing from three feet to kick-start the run, then from 12 feet on the fifth and another three-footer on the sixth – to fire his way into contention and raise the possibility that he can leapfrog Scottie Scheffler into the world number one position.

McIlroy, in a year which has already garnered two wins (in the Canadian Open and the Tour Championship), hardly put a foot wrong in negotiating the Tom Fazio-design on a course reminiscent of those in the Australian sandbelt.

In the limited field of just 78 players, with no cut, McIlroy – who had his coach Michael Bannon with him in Florida last week to look at his game – again played his way into contention in a year where he has had 13 top-10s in 20 tournament outings.

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Of getting Bannon out for a pre-tournament week of fine-tuning, McIlroy explained: “I’m just trying to get my right arm to support the club a little more at the top. Sometimes I take it back and my right arm and elbow starts getting behind me, so trying to get it more sort of online in front of me.

“It’s actually a nice swing thought to have because it’s not so much that it’s taking your attention away from the target or the shot that you’re trying to hit, it’s literally to support it a touch more at the top, that’s it.”

McIlroy’s only stray shot actually came on the first, where he sprayed it wildly right but he managed to save his par and then kicked on with his driver behaving. “If I can keep driving it like that over the next few days, I’ll be in a good spot,” he said.

Shane Lowry shot a bogey-free round of 68, his three birdies coming on the fourth, 12th and 15th, but admitted that he finds it difficult to get fired-up at this stage of the golfing calendar.

“I kind of lose a bit of motivation to compete a little bit this time of year. The Masters feels like it’s a long way away. We are playing for FedExCup points this week, so you do have to motivate yourself to go out there and play well. It is tough. It’s one of those where it’s a strange time of year, isn’t it?

“Where the [FedEx Cup] playoffs feel like a long time ago, the Masters feels like a long way away, so you kind of feel like you’re in no-man’s land. I’m not playing much golf this time of year this year. I’m playing Dubai [in the DP World Tour Championship next month] and yeah, maybe once after that, we’ll see,” said Lowry, who is hoping for an invite into the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Invitational.

An eagle on the par-five 12th enabled Séamus Power to move to three under par on his round.

With the DP World Tour season on the final run-in, there wasn’t much cheer for the three Irish players (all in need of valuable points to retain playing status) competing in the Mallorca Open in Palma where England’s Marcus Armitage shot a stunning eight-under-par 63 opening round to claim a one-shot lead over Daan Huizing.

Niall Kearney proved best of the Irish trio with a 72, one over, while Jonny Caldwell signed for a 73 and Cormac Sharvin an 81, but all head into the second right in a fight to survive the cut.

On the LPGA Tour, Thai teenager Atthaya Thitikul shot an opening round nine-under-par 63 to claim the first-round lead in the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea where Leona Maguire signed for a level-par 72 and Stephanie Meadow for a 74.