Shane Lowry laboured to a three-over-par 73 at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis as Akshay Bhatia secured the early clubhouse lead on eight under.
Lowry registered four bogeys after a birdie on three at TPC Southwind in the first of the FedEx Cup play-offs.
Bhatia's round of 62 was just one shot off the course record and included an eagle on the par-five 16th, seven birdies and a solitary bogey.
England's Tommy Fleetwood is just one shot back at seven-under-par. Fleetwood birdied each of the last four holes to move into solo second, ahead of fellow Englishmen Justin Rose and Harry Hall.
Scottie Scheffler enters the play-offs leading the FedEx Cup standings, ahead of Rory McIlroy in second and European Ryder Cup player Sepp Straka in third. Scheffler and Straka shot rounds of 67 and 68 respectively to sit inside the top 20 after Thursday's play,
McIlroy has opted to skip this week's tournament to focus on the remaining events – the BMW Championship in Maryland and the Tour Championship in Georgia.
