LAST UPDATE | 23 Aug
RORY MCILROY IS four shots off the lead after the is first round at the BMW Championship, during which play was suspended due to a ‘dangerous weather situation’ in Colorado.
Keegan Bradley barely scraped into the FedEx Cup top-50 field for this week’s tournament, but he proved he deserved his place there as he shot a six-under 66 to grab the lead.
Bradley, the 2025 Ryder Cup captain for the USA, shot the only bogey-free first round at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock.
The 38-year-old, 2011 PGA Championship winner finished his round in style, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
McIlory, a three-time FedEx Cup winner, was three-under and on the 18th hole when play was stopped. He had made an eagle on the par-5 14th, but when play resumed, he made a bogey on the 18th to end with a 70.
A strong back nine propelled McIlroy up the leaderboard. He was out in one-under 35 before dropping a shot on the 11th, but he birdied the 12th and eagled the 14th.
A chance to improve his position further was missed on the par-three 16th when his birdie putt slid by.
As it stands McIlroy is in a tie for 10th in a group that includes Collin Morikawa and Tony Finau.
The first round of the BMW Championship suspended due to a dangerous weather situation at 3:33 p.m.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 22, 2024
Shane Lowry endured a disappointing opening round with his three-over 75, leaving him in a tie for 42nd. He is currently projected to drop seven places to 18th in the FedEx Cup standings, but that will see him make the top 30 that will compete in next week’s Tour Championship.
Hideki Matsuyama, the winner at Memphis last week, continued his fine form — he was five-under and on the fairway on the 18th when play was suspended due to lightning and an impending storm, but he later returned to make par.
South Korea’s Im Sung-jae, Sweden’s Alex Noren, Canada’s Corey Conners and Australia’s Adam Scott were all two shots off Bradley on four-under.
FedEx Cup standings leader Scottie Scheffler, the Masters champion, shot a one-under 71, with bogeys on the 13th and 15th.
England’s Charley Hull enjoyed a superb finish, with four birdies on the back nine on the Old Course at St Andrews on Thursday, to lead the Women’s British Open with a five-under par opening round of 67.
The 28-year-old, bidding for her first major title after finishing runner-up in both last year’s Women’s British Open and Women’s US Open, was in a star-studded group that also featured defending champion Lilia Vu and world number one Nelly Korda.
Hull, Korda and Vu clearly brought the best in each other’s games, with Korda — who won the season’s first major, the Chevron Championship — in a tie for second on four-under and Vu one of several players a stroke further back.
Leona Maguire is in a tie for 32nd on one-over. The Cavan native recovered from bogeys on the first two holes, to be one-under for the remainder of her round and only drop one further shot. Lauren Walsh carded a three-over 75, while Stephanie Meadow is five-over after her round of 77.
China’s Yin Ruoning had previously overcome difficult conditions to claim the early lead. Starting on the 10th hole, the former world number one defied strong gusts to reach six-under-par through 14 holes.
Although she dropped a couple of shots late in her round, a four-under 68 was a hugely creditable score.
Yin held the outright lead for most of Thursday before being surpassed by Hull.
Andrea Lee, Patty Tavatanakit, Lee Mi-hyang, Mao Saigo and Jenny Shin are alongside Vu on three-under-par.
On the DP World Tour at the Danish Golf Championship, Rasmus Hojgaard is the first leader in his home tournament on six-under after his 65.
Gary Hurley is one-over after a disappointing finish to his round. He birdied four of his first six holes to stand on three-under, but didn’t pick up any more shots, and recorded four bogeys on the bounce between the 13th and 16th holes.
Tom McKibbin nine shots off the lead after his first round of three-over.
- Additional reporting by AFP
