McIlroy Shares Clubhouse Lead After Bounce-Back Round at BMW Championship

Rory McIlroy finished the opening round of the BMW Championship six under par at Bellerive Country Club, sharing the clubhouse lead with a quartet of American golfers: Wyndham Clark, Chris Gotterup, JJ Spaun and Gary Woodland.

The round marked a turnaround for the world number two, who had endured a rough outing the previous week, finishing 66th at the St Jude Championship. McIlroy credited recent work with swing coach Michael Bannon and caddie Harry Diamond for helping him regain his rhythm heading into the tournament.

Strong finish seals the lead

After making the turn at two under par, McIlroy picked up shots on the 13th hole and three of his final four holes to climb to the top of the leaderboard. He noted that Bellerive suits his game better than last week's venue in Memphis, since its wider playing corridors allowed him more room for error off the tee.

Japan's Ryo Hisatsune finished the day one shot back at five under, while a group tied for seventh at four under included England's Alex Fitzpatrick, American Michael Thorbjornsen and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg. Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, who withdrew from last week's St Jude Championship after an opening 82, recovered to finish at two under.

Defending champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler, fresh off his Memphis win on Sunday, struggled from the start, running up four bogeys in his first seven holes and slipping well down the field.