Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry are playing FedExCup catch up in the BWM Championship at Medinah.

McIlroy fired a three-under 69 but found himself four shots behind Justin Thomas and Jason Kokrak and projected to fall from third to fifth in standings ahead of next week's Tour Championship in Atlanta and the battle for the $15 million bonus. Scores

Thomas shot a bogey-free, seven-under 65 to lead by a shot in the clubhouse and push Brooks Koepka off the top of the projected FedExCup standings.

PGA champion Koepka was three shots adrift of McIlroy after 11 holes but made three birdies and an eagle in his next five to match Patrick Reed with a 68 and remain in the hunt to start the handicapped Tour Championship on 10-under.

McDowell must finish third in Chicago to make it to Atlanta for the first time. But after making two birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes, 64th ranked McDowell ended the day tied for 25th with McIlroy, who hit 12 fairways and 16 greens, after a 69.

Open champion Lowry is treating the FedExCup playoffs as the cherry on top of a brilliant summer, but he's in danger of falling out of the top-30 who make it to East Lake after finding just six fairways in an opening 72.

The Clara man (32) must finish solo 29th to remain in the top 30 who head to Atlanta, but he was tied was 59th in Chicago and projected to fall to 35th.

Tiger Woods must finish 11th if he's to defend his Tour Championship title next week, but he too has work to do after a 71 left him projected at 47th

Malaysia's Gavin Green opened with an eight-under 64 to lead the D+D Real Czech Masters by a shot from South Africa's Erik Van Rooyen and England's Lee Slattery at Albatross Golf Resort.

Greystones' Paul Dunne was tied 39th after a two-under 70 with Gavin Moynihan 72nd after a 71 and Pádraig Harrington 109th after a 73. Scores

In the first event of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, Seamus Power made a disappointing start in his bid to win back his PGA Tour card.

The West Waterford star (32) racked 35 putts in a 5-over 76 in the opening round of the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship in Ohio, dropping four shots over his last four holes.

He has three events to win one of 25 cards via the three-event playoff series and needs a hot second round just to make the cut in Columbus.

Norway's Viktor Hovland continued his meteoric rise in the professional game by opening with a seven-under 64 at Ohio State University's Scarlet Course to share the lead with Cameron Percy.

Amateurs shine at ISPS Handa World Invitational

At the inaugural ISPS Handa World Invitational Men | Women, Scotland's Craig Ross shot a six-under 64 to lead by a shot from England's Richard Mansell and France's Gary Stahl.

In a first for Europe, men and women are playing separate events at the same venues for an equal share of a $500,000 prize fund. Men’s scores

Cork's John Hickey and Derry's Ruaidhri McGee shot 68s at Galgorm Castle to lead the Irish challenge in 20th on two-under with Cormac Sharvin, who also shot 68 at Massereene. Amateur Josh Hill shot a level par 70

England's Eleanor Givens opened with a six-under 67 at Galgorm Castle to lead the parallel women's event by a shot from American Beth Allen and Germany's Karolin Lampert. Women’s scores

Stephanie Meadow was the best of the Irish, tied for fourth after a three-under 70 at the Ballymena venue.

But it was also a memorable day for Lurgan's Annabel Wilson and Castlewarden shortly after receiving their A-Level and Leaving Cert results.

The amateur duo shared eighth on two-under, outshine tour star Leona Maguire, who was 15th after a one-under 71 at Massereene.

Cormac Sharvin

“I played really nicely tee to green and it was probably as bad a score as it could have been. I gave myself good chances on practically every hole, drove it well and my iron play was very good. It was playing tricky, a lot trickier than I thought it was going to be so I’m pretty happy with two under.

“The course has held up well considering the rain we’ve had, just that little bit of breeze made it tricky. Quite a few par fours we were hitting longer clubs into. I can see why some people are going to struggle.

“You can’t win it on the first day, you can only lose it. Two under has put me in a decent position.

“The format is good. To be honest, we struggled to keep up with the women in front. We got monitored at one stage. The women seem to be playing pretty quick and maybe they’re showing us how it’s done!”

Stephanie Meadow

“I started good, a little shaky in the middle, and then battled back towards the end. I hit a lot of good putts but nothing really fell, but overall it's a decent start.

“I'm just happy that I hit some really good iron shots on the way in and when that happens, that's a good sign for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

“It was great to see some very old faces I haven't seen in a very long time today, so I'm sure it'll be the same tomorrow. I’ll take it in and enjoy it.

“There were a good few Portrush faces around today, one lady was lady captain when I joined and I was her junior prize winner, so she brought the picture where I think I was ten! She was showing me on the first tee. It's just little things like that that are pretty special and we'll always remember that.

“I was a tiny bit nervous on the first tee, which is a bit unusual! I had a few sponsors here, including the CEO. It was more emotional than anything, nervous isn't the right word, just more emotional than normal. Obviously, I want to play well for everybody and give everybody a show who came to support me.

It's great so far, it's been run really well. I enjoy being with the men, we do the same thing week in week out, 25 weeks a year, so to see some new faces and even hear the sound on the driving range of the guys hitting is a little strange. It's nice, it's a good change.”

Lauren Walsh in action at the Youth Olympics

Annabel Wilson (AM) (Massereene) 71 (-2)

I’m just delighted to be here. Walking to the first tee I was so excited. Putted lovely all day and had a chip-in which always helps. It’s my first professional tournament so I’m here to learn and enjoy. I just played my game and I’m going to do the same tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes from there.

The rough is super long, you can’t take it for granted. You’ve just got to take your medicine and try to get up-and-down which I was able to do well today.

Lauren Walsh (AM) (Galgorm) 70 (-2)

So happy with that. It’s my first time playing in a professional event, I’m delighted to be up there. I had my sister on the bag this week, a scratch handicapper, so she kept me nice and level through the round

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, the course is a little longer than we would usually play in amateur events but I birdied the first and that gave me some momentum. I’m heading to America to start university at Wake Forest next week, so this has been a really good way to finish my summer.

Josh Hill (AM) (Galgorm) 70 (L)

I played well. Unfortunately I had that triple on 17 but I bounced back well with that eagle on 18, which was good fun. I enjoyed that. I snapped my drive in the thick stuff on 17. It’s my first Challenge Tour event, so it was good to see how I did under the pressure.

It has lived up to everything I thought it would be. The pressure and the first tee shot was something I haven’t had before, then I just enjoyed the whole day. It was a good experience.