BMW Championship: Scottie Scheffler among elite contenders after day one

The primary-round leaderboard on the BMW Championship is stacked with main champions and massive names.

Rory McIlroy and Brian Harman lead at 5-under, whereas Scottie Scheffler sits one stroke again at 4-under after day one at Olympia Fields.

“I feel it was a very strong day,” Scheffler stated after his spherical. “I hit a whole lot of greens. I rolled the ball fairly properly on the greens. I feel the situations late within the day, the greens with all of the rain bought fairly chewed up, and all you may do was hit good putts, and I felt like I did that more often than not.”

Scheffler has struggled with the flat stick all season, however he truly gained a half-stroke on the sphere along with his putter Thursday.

On the par-4 4th gap, Scheffler made his first birdie of the day by rolling in a 17-footer.

Later on the twelfth, the 385-yard par-4, Scheffler rolled in a 29-footer from the again of the inexperienced.

On the subsequent gap, the brief par-3 thirteenth, the previous Texas Longhorn caught it to 11 ft away and made that putt too.

Scheffler then birdied the par-5 fifteenth, the second best gap on the course, which marked his fourth par-breaker on the back-nine.

5 others matched his 4-under 66. Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Sahith Theegala, and Chris Kirk all sit at 4-under in what’s shaping as much as be a terrific event.

Curiously, on the 2020 BMW Championship, 4-under proved to be the successful rating. That was the final time Olympia Fields hosted this event.

However after 18 holes this yr, eight gamers sit at 4-under or higher.

Olympia Fields performed a lot simpler Thursday, due to the moisture the course obtained within the morning. Throughout a two-hour climate delay, the course obtained virtually a half-inch of rain.

“I just like the golf course,” Scheffler stated. “I feel it’s a very good take a look at. With out the wind, that is most likely the best you’ll ever see the course play with the softness.”

The forecast for the remaining rounds requires loads of solar and breezy situations at occasions. It would possible agency the course up, which ought to produce greater scores.

Scheffler will likely be prepared for the extra demanding situations this weekend. He all the time performs properly, irrespective of the course or climate. The query is, will the opposite contenders be?

Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying Via. You may observe him on Twitter @jack_milko for extra golf protection. Make sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough too.