Rory McIlroy: World number two back in form with lead at BMW Championship
Rory McIlroy has taken a joint lead at the BMW Championship after a strong opening round, marking a significant turnaround in form. Meanwhile, world number one Scottie Scheffler struggled, finishing well down the leaderboard.
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The performance of top-tier athletes in high-stakes tournaments significantly impacts professional golf rankings and betting markets.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Rory McIlroy returned to action last week for the first time since he tied for 40th at The Open
-6 R McIlroy (NI), W Clark (US), C Gotterup (US), JJ Spaun (US), G Woodland (US); -5 R Hisatsune (Jpn), M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -4 A Fitzpatrick (Eng), L Aberg (Swe), M Thorbjornsen (US), Bridgeman (US)
Selected others: -2 R MacIntyre (Sco), A Rai (Eng); -1 T Fleetwood (Eng), J Rose (Eng)
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler had a reversal of fortunes that few could have predicted on Thursday's opening day of the BMW Championship in St Louis.
Reigning Masters champion McIlroy, who finished 66th out of 70 at last week's St Jude Championship, was one of five players to post a six-under-par 64 at Bellerive Country Club to take the joint lead.
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