American Keegan Bradley opened the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware on Thursday, four years after he took top honors at the tournament.
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Thanks to an impressive nine from the end, Bradley was the only golfer to hold seven shots on par with a 64 card. He had eight birdies and committed just one misstep, a bogey on the 11th pennant.
The 36-year-old has not had a win since winning the competition – the penultimate round of FedEx Cup qualifiers – in 2018.
Bradley needs to be careful as Australia’s Adam Scott played 65(-6) on Thursday. The latter is closely followed by Americans Harold Varner III and Justin Thomas, and Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who is third at -5.
Rory McIlroy will also blame himself as he would be fighting for the lead were it not for his blunder on the 15th hole. Well in the saddle, having scored six birdies, the Northern Irishman hit the water on this par 3 and had to settle for a triple bogey.
Canadian Corey Conners shone in this first round. He stayed in 13th place, specifically level on points with Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy, and delivered a card of 68(-3). After failing at the second pennant, Conners recovered well, posting four birdies.
Among the maple leaf representatives, Adam Hadwin (-2) did well. Taylor Pendrith played par to move up to 42nd and Mackenzie Hughes (+4) will have a lot to do to qualify for the weekend rounds.