MIAMI (AFP) – Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood fired a seven-under-par 65 to share the lead with American Keegan Bradley after Thursday’s opening round of the US PGA Players Championship with Rory McIlroy lurking two adrift.
Fleetwood’s bogey-free round at TPC Sawgrass included birdies on six of his last nine holes after starting at the 10th hole at the Ponte Vedra Beach layout.
The 28-year-old Englishman was matched in the afternoon wave by 2011 PGA Championship winner Bradley, who had five birdies and an eagle in a nine-hole run.
Sharing third on 66 were South Korean An Byeong-hun and American Brian Harman with four-time major winner McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Americans Ryan Moore and Vaughn Taylor on 67.
Moore aced the par-3 17th hole with its famed island green on the fly, his fifth PGA hole-in-one.
Former world number one Tiger Woods opened with a 70. The 14-time major winner birdied 16 and 17 but missed a four-footer for par to bogey 18.
‘’It was tricky out there,’’ Woods said. ‘’Greens got a little bit on the bumpier side toward the end and it became a bit more challenging to make the putts.’’
Fleetwood, seventh at last year’s Players and third last week at Bay Hill, seeks his first US PGA title after four wins on the European Tour, the most recent of them last year defending a title at Abu Dhabi.
Fleetwood managed only one birdie on his first nine, that coming at the par-4 12th when he found a greenside bunker off the tee then blasted out two feet from the cup and tapped in the putt.
Fleetwood birdied the first hole from 20 feet and had a two-putt birdie from 60 feet at the par-5 second, then put his approach at the par-4 fifth to three feet to set up another.
A spectacular closing birdie run saw last year’s US Open runner-up sink a 15-foot putt at seven, a 28-footer at the par-3 eighth and blast out of a bunker to 17 feet and make another putt at the par-5 ninth to end his day.
