Séamus Power made a strong start to the first FedEx Cup Cup playoff event with an opening round of 67 in Memphis, boosting his chances of breaking into the top 50 for next week’s event.
The Waterford man had a good day on the greens at the FedEx St Jude Championship with four birdies on his opening nine holes, all from within 12 feet of the hole after close approaches, his only dropped shot coming at the fourth.
Power then closed his round out with nine straight pars to post a three-under score, three shots behind clubhouse leader Chris Kirk.
A shot behind Power is Rory McIlroy on two under. Before the tournament, McIlroy spoke about how winning the FedEx Cup would “flip the script” on his season and one stunning shot at the 18th managed to flip the script on his opening round.
It had been a mixed round for McIlroy that included an eagle at the par 5 third hole to make the turn at two under. But a fluffed chip on the 10th and a water ball on the 12th led to bogeys, and while he birdied that 16th, a wild drive on the 18th flirted with out of bounds and threatened a double bogey.
Thankfully for McIlroy, he found a gap in the trees and hit a superb approach shot from 145 yards to three feet for birdie, which he converted for a 68. His score was two better than Shane Lowry, who shot an even-par round of 70 at TPC Southwind.
The leader Kirk’s six-under-par 64 included a hole-in-one at the 14th hole, a high draw from 205 yards that landed 10 feet short-right of the hole, bounced a few times and rolled gently into the centre of the cup.
On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire was middle of the pack at the Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links after a one-over-par first round of 73.
The Cavan woman finished last in the Olympics last week as she suffered from illness but was back to some form with two birdies and three bogeys at the Ayrshire course. Lauren Walsh was five over, while Stephanie Meadow was two over after play was suspended due to darkness after a weather delay earlier in the day.
Australia’s Minjee Lee leads the tournament on four under as Olympic gold medallist Lydia Ko picked up where she left off with a tidy round of 69 to lie two off the lead.
On the DP World Tour, Tom McKibbin got left behind on a low-scoring day in Prague at the Czech Masters, his one-over-par 73 well behind leader Pieter Moolman, who shot an eight-under-par 64. Waterford’s Gary Hurley was a shot worse than McKibbin on two over.
On the Challenge Tour, Kilkenny’s Mark Power shot an impressive eight-under-par first round of 64 to lead the Finnish Challenge by two shots.
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