The China Mail - McIlroy bounces back to share BMW Championship lead

It was a welcome return to form for second-ranked McIlroy, who admitted he felt "lost" in a 66th-place finish at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis last week -- his first start since he finished tied for 40th in the Open Championship.

The six-time major champion was tied for the lead Thursday at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri, with a trio of US Open winners -- Gary Woodland, Wyndham Clark and JJ Spaun -- and Chris Gotterup.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, who was at his imperious best on the way to victory in Memphis last week, was meanwhile far from the logjam at the top.

Scheffler hit just six of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens in regulation on the way to a two-over par 72 that featured five bogeys and left him tied for 44th -- just one stroke better than the last-placed trio in the field of 50.

Northern Ireland's McIlroy, who claimed a second straight Masters title back in April, picked up two birdies on the front nine and four coming home, including back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18.

"It's my style of golf course. I do well on these golf courses, they're big, they're long. You can get away with missing some tee shots at times," said McIlroy, whose birdies included a 10-footer at the par-five eighth after he recovered from a wild tee shot to the left.

A pinpoint tee shot at the par-three 13th left him a seven-footer for birdie, and he took advantage of a big drive at 15 with a four-foot birdie putt.

He reached the green in two at the par-five 17th and comfortably two-putted before rolling in a nine-footer at 18 for a final flourish.

McIlroy said work since last week had him feeling he was "at least back on the right path" with his game and his swing.

"It's certainly a work in progress. Days like this are encouraging, obviously. There's still a lot of work to be done."

Woodland had set an early target with his six-under effort highlighted by an eagle at the 11th, where he holed out from 99 yards out in the fairway.

- Eagle bonus -

"I was just trying to get it past the hole," he said. "It's a little bit elevated so we couldn't see it go in. I knew I hit it nice, but when you see the crowd jump up, that was definitely a bonus."

Woodland, the 2019 US Open champion, was seven-under after a birdie at 17 but gave a stroke back after finding a greenside bunker at 18.

Spaun, the 2025 US Open winner, also reached seven-under, moving into the solo lead with his seventh birdie of the day at 17. But he was in the right rough off the tee at 18 on the way to a bogey.

Clark, who won his second US Open title in June, joined the group on six-under with five of his six birdies on the back nine, including three in a row to finish.

He launched the run with a 38-foot birdie putt at 16, two putted for birdie at 17 and drilled a six-footer at the last.

Gotterup had three birdies on each side to complete the leading quintet, who were one stroke clear of Japan's Ryo Hisatsune and England's Matt Fitzpatrick.

Alex Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg, Michael Thorbjornsen and Jacob Bridgeman were two off the lead on four-under.

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