Subscribe to our free sports newsletter and receive the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing.

Sign up for our free sports email newsletter to receive all the latest news

Justin Rose continued his improved late-season spurt, while Chris Kirk took an early lead in the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Kirk made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole en route to a 64 in the scorching opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, a round that would have been even better had it not been for a bogey on the 18th hole.

It was still enough for the American, who is now one stroke ahead of Canadian Taylor Pendrith, Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and Japanese Hideki Matsuyama – even though he played without his regular caddy Shota Hayato, whose passport was stolen during a visit to London after the Olympic Games.

Rose, who began the day 55th in the FedEx rankings and only the top 50 are admitted to the BMW Championship, is at four under par in a group one stroke further back that also includes fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and the two leaders in the overall standings – Olympic gold medalist Scottie Scheffler and two-time major winner Xander Schauffele.

Rose, who finished just outside the top 50 at The Open with his shared second place behind Schauffele after playing all four rounds in just one of his last five events, made birdies on three of his final four holes in a flawless 66.

“This year has been quite a tedious year, all my weeks off have been quite exhausting,” said Rose, who took a break in Britain after the Open.

“I’ve seen signs of it on the pitch. I’ve seen signs of it in training that there are moments where I feel like I’m as good a player as I’ve ever been and obviously this year I haven’t seen as many results.”

In the tightly packed rankings, 57 of the 70 players are within six strokes of the top.

Scotsman Robert MacIntyre – who holed a 58-foot putt for par on the 17th hole – and Irishman Seamus Power are among those shooting three under par, one stroke better than Rory McIlroy, who headed out for a game of tennis after a 68 that included an eagle and two birdies.

Aaron Rai, who won his first PGA Tour victory last week at the Wyndham Championship, opened with a 69.