Travelers Championship: Rory McIlroy and JT Poston share early lead in Connecticut

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, McIlroy made his eighth birdie of the round at the par four 18th

Travelers Championship round one leaderboard

-8 R McIlroy (NI); JT Poston (US); -7 M Laird (Sco), Xander Shauffele (US); -6 P Cantlay (US); C Howell (US); W Simpson (US); -5 C Davis (Aus); M NeSmith (US); -4 W Clark (US); H English (US); H Lebioda (US); W McGirt (US); K Mitchell (US)

Selected others:-3 S Power (Ire); C Tarren (Eng); M Wallace (Eng); -2 S Scheffler (US); -1 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) E L Donald (Eng); D Willett (Eng); +2 R Fowler (US); +5 J Spieth (US)

Full leaderboard

Rory McIlroy and JT Poston shot opening eight-under 62s to share the lead at the Travelers Championship.

World number two McIlroy went bogey-free in his first round at TPC River Highlands to continue his recent run of strong form.

Xander Schauffele and Scotland's Martin Laird are a shot back in Connecticut.

McIlroy went into the event having finished tied fifth at last week's US Open - his third top-10 major placing of the season.

He said the River Highlands course offered a welcome relief after the challenge of Brookline for the US Open.

"It's like the anti-US Open here," said the Northern Irishman.

"It's like US Open rehab coming here. You're like, 'Oh, I can actually make some birdies. This is nice'."

McIlroy has finished in the top 10 in five of his last six events, a run that included a successful defence of his Canadian Open title.

In the opening round of the Travelers he continued to find prosper on the greens, holing a 47-foot putt to make birdie on the par-four seventh.

Three more birdies followed on the back nine including one on the 18th as he took the clubhouse lead.

However world number 162 Poston also went bogey-free, making six birdies in the opening nine holes.

"I feel like my scores and my results may not have shown that the last few weeks or months, but I felt like I was getting close, and I've been working hard at it," Poston said.

"Today was kind of one of those days where it finally clicked a little bit."

Sitting one shot behind Schauffele and Laird are American trio Charles Howell III, Webb Simpson and Patrick Cantlay, while Matthew NeSmith and Australia's Cameron Davis are a further shot back on five under.

Callum Tarren and Matt Wallace were the best of the Englishmen, finishing on three under alongside Ireland's Seamus Power.

Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth shot a five-over 75, mixing four birdies with five bogeys and two double bogeys.