Rory McIlroy and Brian Harman in front after opening round of BMW Championship

The pair lead by one from a six-strong chasing pack which includes England’s Matt Fitzpatrick.

Rory McIlroy carded a flawless 65 to share a one-stroke lead with American Brian Harman after the first round of the BMW Championship in Chicago.

The Northern Irishman picked up five birdies without dropping a shot, while Harman split six birdies with a bogey on the par four 12th.

The pair lead by one from a six-strong chasing pack which includes England’s Matt Fitzpatrick.

The 28-year-old dropped shots at the start and end of his opening round, but birdied six of nine holes around the turn.

“Only hitting three fairways today and coming up with 65 is a bit of a bonus,” said McIlroy.

“But with the golf course being so soft, it’s almost an advantage to be playing out of the rough going into some of these greens because you know the ball is not going to spin. I’m not saying I was trying to aim for the rough, but I was, I think, a lot of the tee shots I was just being super aggressive because I knew in the back of my mind I wasn’t really being penalized for it.

“The golf course is certainly not playing the way it played in 2020. That was not my approach a few years ago here.

“But hopefully with the wind and the sun, the golf course starts to firm up a little bit and starts to play a little bit more like how I think it should play.

Meanwhile, Patrick Cantlay has some improving to do if he is to be successful in his bid for a third-straight victory in the BMW Championship.

The American carded a two under 68 on Thursday to sit equal-12th.

Pos.PlayerTo ParR1
T1Rory McIlroy-565
T1Brian Harman-565
T3Matt Fitzpatrick-466
T3Sahith Theegala-466
T3Chris Kirk-466
T3Wyndham Clark-466
T3Scottie Scheffler-466
T3Rickie Fowler-466
T9Cameron Young-367
T9Corey Conners-367
T9Collin Morikawa-367
T12Jordan Spieth-268
T12Sungjae Im-268
T12Patrick Cantlay-268
T12Max Homa-268
T12Jon Rahm-268
T12Harris English-268
T18J.T. Poston-169
T18Russell Henley-169
T18Denny McCarthy-169
T18Jason Day-169
T18Viktor Hovland-169
T23Adam SvenssonPar70
T23Byeong Hun AnPar70
T23Justin RosePar70
T23Lucas GloverPar70
T23Tommy FleetwoodPar70
T23Andrew PutnamPar70
T23Tyrrell HattonPar70
T30Brendon Todd+171
T30Sepp Straka+171
T30Xander Schauffele+171
T30Nick Taylor+171
T30Hideki Matsuyama+171
T30Tom Hoge+171
T30Sam Burns+171
T30Si Woo Kim+171
T30Keegan Bradley+171
T30Patrick Rodgers+171
T40Adam Hadwin+272
T40Adam Schenk+272
T40Eric Cole+272
T40Tom Kim+272
T40Taylor Moore+272
T45Emiliano Grillo+373
T45Cam Davis+373
T47Lee Hodges+474
T47Tony Finau+474
T49Seamus Power+676
T49Kurt Kitayama+676
Updated: November 29, 2023