PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy continued his impressive form at the Travelers Championship, shooting an eight-under 62 to share the first-round lead with J.T Poston.
McIlroy, who won the Canadian Open earlier this month and was in contention for the US Open on the final day last week, made eight birdies at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, tying his lowest opening round on the PGA Tour.
After birdies on six of his first eight holes, American Poston is one stroke ahead of Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele and Scotland’s Martin Laird.
McIlory and Poston are two points ahead of Charles Howell III, Webb Simpson, and Patrick Cantlay. Cam Davis and Matthew NeSmith both shot rounds of 65 to sit three strokes off the lead.
Poston has missed the cut six times in his last ten tournaments, but he finished tied for third at the RBC Heritage in April and ninth at the Wells Fargo Championship in May.
The course was unforgiving to Jordan Spieth, who shot a 5-over 75 with four birdies, five bogeys, and two double bogeys.
Fourteen players shot 66 or better at TPC River Highlands, a welcome change from the scores at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., which hosted the US Open last week.
McIlroy only hit seven of 14 fairways, but he was pleased to have maintained his form from the previous month.
“I think the good thing is I’ve been playing well and you want to ride that wave of momentum you have,” he said in his post-round interview.
“Coming in for the fourth week in a row, I knew I’d be tired, but when you’re playing this well, you just want to keep it going.
“If I hadn’t taken this week off, I’d be sitting at home, regretting a missed opportunity.
“My preparation hasn’t been what it would usually be. I got off to a nice start, hit some quality shots early on which gave me some confidence and I built upon that.
“When I got into the second nine I started to play really well and started to hole some putts and when you get on a run like that you just have to try to keep it going.”
Starting on the back nine, the Northern Irishman began his round with a chip-in birdie at the par-five 13th after blasting his greenside bunker shot into the far fringe.
Two more birdies brought him to 32, but he then blasted four more in seven holes, including a 48-footer on the seventh, to tie for the lead with Schauffele.
He saved his best for last, when he cut the corner with a 332-yard drive to leave him 44 yards to the pin and chipped in for a tap-in birdie to move to eight under.
Another player who did not have the best preparation was Xander Schauffele, who arrived at TPC River Highlands slightly later than usual due to a tee time mix-up.
However, it had no effect on the American, who hit 18 greens in regulation in a bogey-free 63, matching Laird’s round.
Brooks Koepka, a four-time major winner, will not compete in the event after joining the LIV Golf Invitational series.
Collin Morikawa, who is missing the Travelers Championship due to injury, has denied that he will follow.
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