Scottie Scheffler’s hot streak continued as he fired an opening round 66 at the
BMW Championship, the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs.
The world No 1 finished with three birdies in the final four holes to take the early clubhouse lead on an opening day at the Caves Valley Golf Club elongated by a two-hour suspension in play for a rain delay.
Scheffler played the opening round alongside world No 2 Rory McIlroy, who battled back from a tricky start with three bogeys in the opening six holes to record a level-par 70.
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Watch Justin Rose’s reaction as he is put to the test at the BMW Championship
Scheffler, who has registered 12 successive top-eight finishes in another scintillating year, was on the 15th tee at the time of the play-pausing claxon but was able to take advantage of the change in conditions two hours later.
“It changed pretty significantly, a lot softer,” he said. “The fairways were a little bit harder to hit this morning.
“They’re still pretty wide, but they were still with the firmness, challenging to hit. And then with the softness coming in with the rain, the golf course got significantly easier.”
Viktor Hovland, Ben Griffin and Rickie Fowler were all a shot behind on three under.
McIlroy finished four adrift of the clubhouse lead on his return to action after he skipped last week’s first FedExCup Playoffs event, the St Jude Championship, knowing he is guaranteed to be in next week’s Tour Championship irrespective of what happens before then.
Justin Rose, who won last week’s event to book his ticket to the Ryder Cup, was two under at the turn, along with Tommy Fleetwood.
How to watch BMW Championship live on Sky Sports this week?
Sky Sports will have extended coverage from all three of the FedExCup Playoffs, with all tournament rounds on Sky Sports Golf and bonus coverage on Sky Sports+.
Early coverage from the second round of BMW Championship begins at 2.15pm on Sky Sports+, ahead of full coverage from 5pm on Friday and 6pm over the weekend on Sky Sports Golf.
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