Rory McIlroy bounced back in a big way from last week’s disappointment in Memphis to shoot a 6-under 64 in the first round at the BMW Championship to get into the clubhouse with a share of the lead. 

It took a bit for McIlroy to get rolling, but kept his card bogey-free and was able to get hot coming down the stretch of the back nine to match Wyndham Clark and Gary Woodland in the clubhouse at 6 under (and J.J. Spaun on the course). McIlroy birdied three of his final four holes, including the 18th after a monster drive, taking full advantage of the soft conditions at Bellerive to attack a course that is playing well under par in the first round. 

McIlroy had a dreadful first playoff start in Memphis last week, noting that he felt completely lost with his swing, and while it hasn’t been perfect in his first round in St. Louis, McIlroy has been able to string together some birdies to get to -4 thru 15 and move into a crowded top 5 on the leaderboard. Rory began the week in unfamiliar territory down in 13th in the FedEx Cup standings and would need a big week to improve on that, but the biggest thing for him is getting back to playing elite-level golf again after a fairly quiet back half of the season. 

Gary Woodland now has company at the top of the leaderboard, as Wyndham Clark caught fire to close out his round with five birdies in his final six holes to shoot a 6-under 64 of his own. Clark was steady early with one birdie and 11 pars through his first 12 holes, but a birdie on the 13th sparked an incredible run to the clubhouse that included birdies on Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18 to rapidly rise up the leaderboard into a share of the lead. 

Clark has had a fantastic season but was seemingly running out of steam late in the season with back-to-back missed cuts coming into the playoffs. A T5 last week saw him return to form in Memphis and he’s carried that into the first round in St. Louis to grab an early share of the lead and get into contention for what he hopes could be his third win of the season. 

Last week’s winner is not off to the best start, as the world No. 1 made back-to-back bogeys on the 3rd and 4th holes to fall back to +3, which is tied for 49th on the leaderboard on a gettable Bellerive Country Club on Thursday.

Scheffler has no stress regarding the overall FedEx Cup standings, as he’s guaranteed to go to East Lake at No. 1 in the standings and collect the $23 million bonus that comes with that, but coming off last week’s win he would’ve hoped to carry over some more positive momentum than he’s shown in the first few holes. 

After a rocky start, Ludvig Åberg came alive late in his first round with three birdies in his final four holes to surge into second on the leaderboard at 4 under, two shots behind Gary Woodland. Åberg’s day began with a bogey on the 1st and then a water ball off the tee on the 2nd, but he was able to scramble his way to par after a drop on No. 2 that steadied him some. 

He would get to 2 under before a bogey on the 14th, but caught fire down the stretch with birdies on Nos. 15, 17 and 18 to get into the clubhouse with a 66. Åberg had a spectacular run of play in the middle of the season, but couldn’t close out tournaments on Sundays to pick up his third career win. As a result, he’s among the handful of top stars hoping to win their first tournament of the season before time runs out in 2026 to lift a trophy. 

Woodland ended on a sour note with a bogey at the last, but still walks off the course as the leader by two after a first round 64 to post the new clubhouse lead at 6 under. Woodland made five birdies, one hole-out eagle and the lone closing bogey to shoot his 64, and for a man who began the day just outside the Tour Championship bubble in 31st, he’s taken a lot of stress off his plate for making it to Atlanta next week. 

Cantlay, much like Justin Thomas, began the week outside the top 40 and had serious work to do to make the Tour Championship, but he’s gotten off to the start he needed with the second front nine 31 of the day (Gary Woodland being the other). Cantlay needs a top 5 this week to have a chance, and with Woodland, Thomas and Sungjae Im — all who began the week outside the top 30 — up at the top of the leaderboard, they’re making life difficult on each other and everyone else on the bubble already. 

Thomas began the week 44th in the FedEx Cup standings and will need a high finish to have a chance at making it to Atlanta next week. After dropping a shot early in his round, Thomas made the turn at even but got it going on the back nine with four birdies and just one bogey to get into the clubhouse with a 3-under 67. 

Thomas is currently tied for 2nd, three shots back of Gary Woodland, and would be projected 26th in that position. There’s a long way to go at Bellerive before Thomas can feel comfortable, but the former FedEx Cup champion has done what he needed to on Thursday to give himself a chance at making another Tour Championship start. 

One of the marquee pairings of the day is on the golf course, as Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy are paired together in the first two rounds at Bellerive. McIlroy is looking to shake off a rough start last week in Memphis and opened his day with two pars, but Schauffele has come out of the gates firing with a pair of birdies to quickly climb into the top 5 on the leaderboard. 

Schauffele is one of a few big names who have had strong seasons but yet to pick up a victory, but will hope to swipe one of the last two playoff events to get his hands on a trophy before 2026 is up. 

A great day for Gary Woodland got even better on the 11th as he holed out from 97 yards on the short par-4 11th to reach 6 under and extend his lead to three over Justin Thomas, who is also heating up on the back nine to get to 3 under and break out of the tie for second. 

Woodland has the best round on the golf course by far this morning, shooting a front nine 31 to make the turn at 4 under, two shots clear of a trio tied for second at 2 under. Woodland has kept a clean card with four birdies and no bogeys, and will look to post an early clubhouse lead this afternoon. 

After beginning the day 31st in the FedEx Cup standings, Woodland is on pace to make a big leap in the standings and not only make it to the Tour Championship, but pick up a much larger payout for the FedEx Cup bonuses that will get sent out after this week. 

Gary Woodland began the week 31st in the FedEx Cup standings, just two points behind Rickie Fowler and Bud Cauley who are tied for 29th. Woodland doesn’t need the same kind of spectacular finish that many of the others outside the top 30 need to make it to East Lake next week for the Tour Championship, and he’s off to a terrific start early in his first round to getting to Atlanta. 

Woodland has a pair of early birdies to get to -2 thru 5, which is good for the early solo lead, and he’s got another good birdie look on the tricky par-3 6th hole. What Woodland needs to advance will be determined by how Fowler, Cauley and others around the bubble perform this week, but a solid week in the top 20 would give him a great chance to advance. Even just a handful of holes into his week, he’s given himself a leg up in that pursuit and will give Fowler and Cauley something to fret over as they get set to hit the course later today. 

It’s still very early in the first round, but Ludvig Åberg’s quest for his first win of the 2026 season is already in trouble. Åberg has pulled driver on the first two holes where most players are hitting fairway woods or long irons and has hit big hooks with both tee shots. 

His tee shot on the 1st ended up in the trees left and he couldn’t get up-and-down from the right greenside bunker to save par. Then on the 2nd tee he hit a massive hook into the middle of the pond on the left, but was able to scramble from the (generous) drop zone and salvage a par. 

Åberg is going to need to straighten things out off the tee if he’s going to have a chance on a challenging golf course at Bellerive, where the rough is thick and lush, but perhaps a gritty par save at the 2nd can kickstart some quality play from the talented Swede.