McGirt goes low in OH, leads at Firestone

American William McGirt (64) was the only player to take full advantage of the course, and he leads by three shots from Day, Emiliano Grillo and Jimmy Walker on three-under.

McGirt, 37, who won for the first time on Tour at Jack’s place, is playing at Firestone for the first time. The Memorial win came with a three-year exemption on the PGA Tour, easing his concerns.

1 player in the world, was among those at 67.

On Thursday, McGirt put on a putting clinic.

This has been a good month for underdogs in Ohio. He played the front nine when he arrived on Sunday, drove a cart around the back, and it was love at first sight.

McGirt says his life hasn’t altered that much since his first PGA Tour title except for congratulatory messages in text and email that he is still trying to return, and a little more money ($1.53 million for his win at Muirfield Village) in the bank.

McIlroy 5 shots off lead: At Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, Rory McIlroy shot a level-par 71 at the French Open to lie five shots off the lead held by Lucas Bjerregaard, whose 5-under 66 was helped by a hole-in-one at No. 2 from 202 yards.

The bad news is that Day couldn’t complete that hole on a high note, finishing with his lone bogey of the day. Since shooting a 76 in the first round at the U.S. Open, he has gone seven under in his last 72 holes. His key to success, especially with three straight top-10 finishes coming into Thursday, has been getting off to strong starts.

“I didn’t expect a whole lot today”, Johnson said.

McGirt set a tournament record for the largest first-round lead by firing a six-under 64 as he aims for his second win in OH in just four weeks.

After a rough showing at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, including a final-round 75, Spieth needed a good start.

They keep it simple at the Bridgestone Invitational, and that was fine with Johnson. Spieth watched as Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose had a stripe show all day, but Spieth needed only 21 official putts to get around Firestone on Thursday.

Because of the West Virginia floods that led to the Greenbrier Classic being canceled next week, a spot in the British Open has been transferred to the leading player not already eligible at the Barracuda Championship.

The tournament is being staged unusually early thanks to the inclusion of the Olympics to the schedule and several big players have chosen to skip the event and choose not to fly to the United States so close to the Open Championship at Royal Troon in two weeks.

“The way that I walked around the course today in my head was much less exhausting than some of the rounds of three-, four-under I’ve shot this year”, he noted.