Rory McIlroy enjoys solid start to sit four off leader Jordan Spieth

Rory McIlroy hit a solid three-under 67 in the opening round of the FedEx St Jude Championship to sit four shots off the lead in Memphis.

In the opening tournament of the lucrative end-of-season play-offs, McIlroy worked his way into the tournament, playing his first round among the later starters - the four-time major winner playing in a world top-three three-ball alongside Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm.

Teeing off on the back nine, McIlroy made bogey on the 11th - his second hole - before getting the shot back on the 15th, following that up with an eagle on the 16th to reach the turn on two under par.

Another birdie arrived on the third hole - his 12th - and by the time that he rolled in an excellent 15 footer on the sixth, McIlroy found himself inside the top five.

But then consecutive bogeys on the seventh and eighth sent McIlroy sliding back down the leaderboard, out of the top thirty going up the final hole.

However, McIlroy bounced back on the ninth - his 18th - with a perfect approach and a fine 10-foot putt to get one back and finish in a tie for 15th in a group of 20 golfers on three under par.

"It's probably the worst I could have scored," said McIlroy, speaking on Sky Sports following his round. "I drove the ball incredibly well and it could have been a lot lower."

Jordan Spieth set the standard with a flawless 63 in the opening round to lead by one from South Korea's Tom Kim.

Emiliano Grillo and Collin Morikawa share third place on five under, following a pair of 65s.

Seamus Power has his work cut out for him if he is to play his way back into the tournament in Friday's second round after starting with a disappointing one over 71.

Level at the turn, Power lost four shots in three holes with back-to-back bogeys on 12