McIlroy, Harman lead BMW Championship; Indian-American Theegala a step behind

Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and Open champion Brian Harman shared the lead on a rain-hit opening day at the BMW Championship on Thursday, one shot ahead of a six-way tie for third place among whom was Indian-American star Sahit Theegala Reddy.

Theegala, who came into the second of three season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs in 31st place, will need to finish inside the top 30 to make sure he advances to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, with a $18 million top prize on offer.

On Thursday, he took a big first step towards the finale with a 4 under 66 at Olympia Fields Country Club on the outskirts of Chicago that had him tied with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and four fellow-Americans – Rickie Fowler, Chris Kirk, Wyndham Clark and Scottie Scheffler.

If Theegala is able to maintain the current momentum he is projected to finish inside the top 15 for Atlanta. “I think everyone would be lying if they didn't know exactly where they stood and – not exactly but somewhat of an idea what it's going to take to get to next week,” he said on pgatour.com.

“It's another thing where I'm just going to try and put my best foot forward and have as good a week as I can and have the best prep. If I'm in position on the back nine on Sunday, that's when I'm really, really looking. Maybe earlier.”

Theegala missed three cuts in a row coming into the FedEx Cup playoff series after a solid early season, and found some form just when he needed it most. A highlight of his Thursday run included a 167-yard hole-out for eagle on the par-4 hole 14, Theegala’s longest such conversion on tour, three birdies and a bogey.

“It's nice to draw off of the experience that I had last year because I knew exactly what I had to do last year, last round, and I did that. It's impossible to ignore, but at least the first two, three rounds it's just another golf tournament. It's 50 guys, so it already feels like you're reaping the rewards of a good season a little bit already.”

Speaking of his Thursday round, the 25-year-old said, “I hit it really, really well. Probably one of my best ball-striking rounds on tour. I don't think I made a putt outside of -- I don't know what the stats are, but my longest putt I made might have been six, seven feet. Had a bunch of really good looks that I hit good putts and just didn't go in. But that's golf.”

Behind the leaders, Sungjae Im of Korea was the top Asian in a share of 12th place on 3 under 68, fellow-Korean Byeong Hun An (70) was T23, while Hideki Matsuyama (71) and Si Woo Kim (71) were in a tie for 30th place.

Third-ranked Northern Ireland golfer McIlroy held the first-round lead/co-lead for the fifth time at the Olympia Fields event with a bogey-free run on Thursday while Harman has a best finish in nine prior BMW Championship of T12 in 2020 at Olympia Fields Country Club.

The left-hander is looking to become the first player to win The Open Championship and the FedEx Cup in the same season.