Chris Kirk had a hole in one at the 16th on his way to a 64 in the sweltering opening round of the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis, a round which would have been better without a bogey on the 18th.
“I hit a lot of good shots coming in and just didn’t quite — I would have loved to have gotten one on 16 and at least made a par on 18,” said the American. “That tee shot on 18 is so hard. I played with Pendy who that 315 cover on the left is no problem for him, but I don’t have that. I can fly it 300, 305. I’m trying to fit a 3-wood in there on that right side and hit one five or eight yards right of where I was looking and got a firm kick to the right and ended up in a bad spot in that bunker, and it is what it is. Yeah, it can be a little bit difficult sometimes. After my little even-keeled boring golf that I was just cruising along and then you make a hole-in-one on a hole like that especially, it just kind of can be a little bit of a challenge to get back down to the ground and get back into your process.
“I did the best I could, and overall really solid day.”
Kirk’s 64 was enough to give him a one-shot lead over Canada’s Taylor Pendrith, France’s Matthieu Pavon and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan – playing without his regular caddie Shota Hayato, who had his passport stolen during a visit to London after the Olympics.
Justin Rose, who started the day at 55 in the FedEx rankings with only the top 50 making the BMW Championship, is in a group a shot further back on four-under-par which also includes fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and the top two in the standings – Olympic champion Scottie Scheffler and double major winner Xander Schauffele.
Rose, who moved to just outside the top 50 with his tie for second behind Schauffele at The Open after playing all four rounds in just one of his previous five events, birdied three of his last four holes in a blemish-free 66.
“This year has felt like a bit of a grind, all my weeks off have been quite hardworking,” said Rose, who took some time off in the UK after The Open.
“I’ve been seeing signs on the range. I’ve been seeing signs in practice that I feel like there’s moments where I feel like I’m as good a player as I’ve ever been, and obviously haven’t seen that much in results this year.”
A congested leaderboard has 57 of the 70-strong field within six shots of the lead,
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre – who holed a 58-foot putt for par on the 17th – and Ireland’s Seamus Power are among those on three-under-par, one better than Rory McIlroy who headed off for a game of tennis after a 68 which included an eagle and two birdies.
Aaron Rai, who claimed his first PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship last week, opened with a 69.
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