Tour Championship – first round
-8 MW Lee (Aus); -6 V Hovland (Nor), C Morikawa (US), C Gotterup (US); -5 R Gerard (US), A Bhatia (US), L Aberg (Swe), S Scheffler (US)
Selected others: -4 T Fleetwood (Eng), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), R Fox (NZ); -3 R MacIntyre (Sco), W Clark (US); -2 J Rose (Eng), A Fitzpatrick (Eng), R McIlroy (NI)
Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood shot a four-under 66 to put himself in contention, four strokes off first-round leader Min Woo Lee at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
However, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy endured a mixed start in his bid to win a record-extending fourth Fedex Cup, bogeying two of the first four holes before fighting back on the back nine to sign for a 68.
Lee, who won last month’s Scottish Open, carded a bogey-free 62 to set the pace at eight under as he equalled his best ever round on the PGA Tour in its season-ending event at East Lake.
Australia’s Lee is two strokes clear of Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who triumphed in 2023, and American duo Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup.
It was a fine display from Lee, who was second from last in the BMW Championship a week ago and found himself without a partner for most of the day, with JJ Spaun withdrawing through injury after four holes.
“It was a little strange at first, just like looking for a playing partner and you’re just there by yourself,” said Lee.
“It was more just maintaining speeds and not rushing because I would just catch the group in front and wait. So I had to just slow down a little bit. It worked out.”
Ominously, world number one Scottie Scheffler ended his round with a birdie on the 18th to sit at five under, with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick in the mix at four under after also making a birdie four on the concluding hole.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre is at three under, with the highlight of his day arriving on the sixth hole when he rolled in a putt from over 30 feet for an eagle.
England’s Justin Rose and Alex Fitzpatrick both signed for rounds of 68 on a day when none of the 29 players in the field to complete the round went over par.
The winner on Sunday will take home the Fedex Cup and a $10m (£7.4m) prize.
