FedEx St Jude Championship: Rory McIlroy struggles as Si Woo Kim and JJ Spaun share lead at TPC Southwind

Rory McIlroy had a tough day on his return to action at the FedEx St Jude Championship.

The Irishman took a break following his agonising near miss at the Open Championship last month, and he said in the lead up to the event that he had plenty of downtime following his departure from St Andrews.

TPC Southwind played host to the first event of the FedEx Cup play-offs, and McIlroy has work to do if he is to win in Memphis this week after a slow start.

McIlroy bogeyed his opening hole and was unable to get anything going, as he signed for a 70.

The main aim for McIlory is to win the Tour Championship at East Lake in a couple of weeks’ time, but he will be keen to find form on Friday.

First Round Leaderboard

• T1. Si Woo Kim, eight-under
• T1. JJ Spaun, eight-under
• 3. Sahith Theegala, seven-under
• T4. JT Poston, six-under
• T4. Tony Finau, six-under
• T4. KH Lee, six-under
• T4. Sepp Straka, six-under
• T8. Troy Merritt, five-under
• T8. Tyrrell Hatton, five-under
• T8. Sam Burns, five-under
• T8. Lee Hodges, five-under
• T8. Rickie Fowler, five-under
• T8. Ryan Palmer, five-under
• T8. Michael Thompson, five-under
• T8. Jason Day, five-under
• T8. Lucas Glover, five-under

McIlroy’s driving has been a strength of his game, but he was wayward off the tee on Thursday.

He got out of position off the tee on the first for a bogey and it set the tone for his day.

McIlroy only found five fairways in regulation, and it resulted in him finishing at level-par.

His play improved as the round progressed, to suggest he was shaking off some rust, and will look to build into the tournament on Friday.

Si Woo Kim produced one of the moments of the day to get to the top of the leaderboard at eight-under.

The Korean was in the middle of the 18th fairway when he took aim and holed out for an eagle to complete a round of 62.

Kim was joined at the top of the leaderboard by JJ Spaun who also got to eight-under.

Rickie Fowler made it through to the play-offs as the 125th and final player. He needs a strong week to make the cut and get into the top 70 for the BMW Championship, and he made a bold start with a round of 65.

Tony Finau has turned himself into a winning machine, and arrived in Memphis with back-to-back victories under his belt. The Utah man eased to six-under to sit in a tie for fourth alongside JT Poston, KH Lee and Sepp Straka.