Rory McIlroy takes early lead at Travelers Championship with bogey-free 62

Rory McIlroy tied his lowest opening round on the PGA Tour as a bogey-free 62 gave him the early lead at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

The world No 2, starting on the back nine, got his round going with a chip-in birdie at the par-five 13th having blasted his greenside bunker shot into the far fringe.

Two more birdies saw him turn in 32 but he then rattled off four more in seven holes – including a 48-footer on the seventh to take a share of the lead with Xander Schauffele.

However, he saved his best until the par-four last when he cut the corner with a 332-yard drive to leave him 44 yards to the pin and he chipped up for a tap-in birdie to move to eight under, one shot clear of Schauffele and Scotland's Martin Laird.

McIlroy may have only hit seven of 14 fairways but he was happy to have maintained form built up after winning the Canadian Open two weeks ago and then finishing joint fifth in the US Open.

"I think the good thing is I've been playing well and you want to ride that wave of momentum you have," he said.

Playing the last perfectly