Keegan Bradley, the last man into the BMW Championship field, shot a 6-under-par 66 to take the first-round lead Thursday at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado.
Bradley's one-shot lead remained intact after a three-hour delay due to severe thunderstorms that forced eight players to put off the finish of their rounds. His closest competitor is Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, who completed his final hole after the delay to finish a 5-under 67.
Rory McIlroy made a 21-foot eagle from off the green at the par-5 14th to get to 3 under. He was facing a 20-foot par putt at the 18th when the weather delay began. When he returned, he stuffed the putt 4 feet by and had to settle for bogey. He finished on a 2-under 70.
Matsuyama won last week’s playoff opener, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, to soar into third in the FedEx Cup standings. Bradley didn’t fare as well at the St. Jude but squeaked into the field this week at number 50 on the points list.
That didn’t seem to matter Thursday as the upcoming US Ryder Cup captain posted a bogey-free round with six birdies, including a 10-footer to finish at 18. Because playoff events are worth four times the points of a regular-season tournament, Bradley would rocket into the top five in points with a win in the thin air of Colorado.
"Sunday afternoon was one of the toughest afternoons of my PGA Tour career," Bradley said. "It was really brutal. It's such a relief to be here. I just felt a lot calmer today. But I played really, really well."
Bradley birdied three of the four par-5 holes at the 8,130-yard course, the longest in PGA Tour history owing to the thin air at altitude.
"If you put the ball in the fairway, you're going to have a lot of scoring clubs," Bradley said. "You've got to really have a good grasp on your numbers with the altitude. We did a good job of that today. You've just got to hit as many fairways as you can."
Tied for third at 4-under 68 were Sungjae Im of South Korea, Alex Noren of Sweden, Adam Scott of Australia and Corey Conners of Canada. Xander Schauffele, Nick Dunlap and South Korea's Si Woo Kim shot 3-under 69.
World number one and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler turned in a 1-under 71 and was seen grabbing at his lower back during his penultimate hole. Scheffler later said he woke up sore on Thursday morning and was “laboring” but is not injured.
Reigning BMW Championship and FedEx Cup winner Viktor Hovland of Norway also opened with a 71.
