There was good news for rival Ryder Cup captains at the opening round of the Deutsche Bank Championship yesterday, with wild card sureties Keegan Bradley and Ian Poulter putting together impressive rounds.
At TPC Boston, a birdie-birdie finish gave Bradley the clubhouse lead of one shot as he shot a bogey-free round of six-under-par 65 playing in the morning groups.
And Poulter made four birdies in his last five holes for a four-under par 67.
Also making good starts in the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which is also the last tournament before US captain Tom Watson and his European counterpart Paul McGinley announce their three picks, were America’s Webb Simpson and England’s Luke Donald.
Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion, shot a five-under par 66, where he was joined by Australian Jason Day, while Donald was steady in his two-under par 69 effort.
However, world No1 Rory McIlroy squandered a red-hot start – he was three-under par after four holes – by making three bogeys in his last five holes for a one-under par 70. World No2 Adam Scott just could not get going yesterday and was way down the leaderboard with a two-over par 73.
Bradley, considered by many experts as a guaranteed name in Watson’s three picks, especially with his impressive show at Medinah in 2012, said Ryder Cup was omnipresent in his mind.
“I am dreaming about it,” Keegan said. “When I wake up, I am thinking about it. When I’m on the course, I am thinking about it. I’ve just made the decision that it’s going to come up and I’m not going to try to block it out.
“I’m just going to try and embrace it and be aware of those thoughts. “
Unlike Bradley, Poulter said he is not trying to think about the Ryder Cup.
“I’m not thinking about the Ryder Cup. It’s in a few weeks’ time. Obviously, it’s on everyone’s radar because everyone wants to play in it. And I want to play in it as well. So I’ll have to wait and see,” he said after a round that included seven birdies and three bogeys.