McIlroy finishes strong and Power excels at St Jude

A late flourish from Rory McIlroy got him into the red in the opening round of the St Jude Classic as the PGA Tour's mega-lucrative, season-ending FedEx Cup got underway at TPC Southwind.

McIlroy eventually signed for a two-under-par 68 after birdies on the par-five 16th and a miracle effort on the par-four 18th helped dress up an otherwise ordinary card.

The Holywood star had got his day off to a decent start with an eagle three on the par-five third but there followed a string of pars while bogeys on the 10th and 12th moved him back to level before his late salvo.

Shane Lowry signed for a level-par 70 that included two bogeys and also, unusually, two deuces as the Offalyman recored birdies on the par-three fourth and par-three 11th.

Best of the Irish on Thursday was Seamus Power, however. The Waterford man got it to three-under-par heading into Friday.

Power did all of his damage on the front nine where he found four birdies to more than offset his only dropped shot of the day which came on the short fourth. Power proceeded to par every hole on the back side to sign for a 67.

That leaves Power three off the early lead of American Chris Kirk, whose round of six-under-par 64 included a hole-in-one on the 14th.

Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, France's Matthieu Pavon and American Taylor Penrith all opened with five-under-par 65s.

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