Viktor Hovland ties TOUR record on Sunday at The Greenbrier

CROMWELL, Conn. — Rory McIlroy fought off a sinus bug to shoot an 8-under 62 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead with J.T. Poston in the Travelers Championship. Coming off a fifth-place tie Sunday in the U.S. Open after winning the Canadian Open the previous week, the second-ranked McIlroy had a bogey-free morning round — highlighted by a 47-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh. McIlroy matched the lowest opening round of his PGA TOUR career. He finished with a tap-in birdie on the ninth hole after a 332-yard drive and 44-foot chip just past the pin. “It’s like U.S. Open rehab coming here,” the four-time major champion said. “I like coming here the week after the U.S. Open, it sort of gives you an opportunity to shoot low scores and get after it.” Poston had five straight birdies on Nos. 13-17 and made the turn at 6-under 29, giving rise to thoughts of Jim Furyk’s record 58 on the same TPC River Highlands course in 2016. Poston parred the first six holes on front nine and birdied Nos. 7 and 9 to cap a bogey-free round. “I gave myself a few looks, but kind of made a bunch of pars to start the front, so that was kind of out of the picture after a little while,” said Poston, the 2019 Wyndham Championship winner. “I might have thought about it a little more if I had made a couple of early birdies.” Xander Schauffele and Martin Laird were a stroke back. Schauffele hit all 18 greens in regulation for the first time in his career, despite showing up late at the practice range because he thought his 7:35 a.m. tee time was at 7:50. “That was a pretty big rookie move on my behalf,” the Olympic champion said. “But when I’m at home, I’ll show up for an 8 o’clock tee time at 7:55, maybe hit two putts and then start swinging. So, take advantage of the youth, I guess.” Patrick Cantlay, Charles Howell III and Webb Simpson, who played alongside McIlroy, were two shots back at 64. “We kind of fed off each other,” Simpson said about McIlroy. “The holes started looking bigger and bigger. A lot of putts were made.” Rain on Wednesday left the greens soft in the morning. They hardened later in the day and the wind picked up after lunch, leading to some higher scores. “I thought the conditions in the afternoon were a lot tougher,” Cantlay said. “It was blowing as soon as I got on the first tee. Watching a little bit of the coverage this morning, I knew it was much different this afternoon than the low scores those guys put up this morning.” Harris English, who won last year on the eighth hole of a playoff, opened with a 66. Top-ranked mastes champion Scottie Scheffler had a 68. Jordan Spieth, who holed a shot out of a greenside bunker on 18 to win here in 2018, had one of the tougher afternoons. He made a double bogey on 12, hitting his tee shot out-of-bounds near the Connecticut River. The three-time major winner sat cross-legged in the fairway as he attempted to regroup and then birdied two of his next three holes. But his tee shot at 16 found the water and he finished with a 75.

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Round 2 of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD begins Friday. Here’s how to follow the action. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Sunday, 12:45 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Featured Groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 3 p.m.-8 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama Tiger Woods, Matthew Wolff, Xander Schauffele MUST READS Woods struggles, Wolff rebounds at Sherwood Munoz leads the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD Dad carries Spieth's bag while Greller grieves Tiger, Sherwood a perfect fit Strong Japanese contingent set for this week Tiger’s best stats from his 82 wins CALL OF THE DAY

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It happens all the time. Even now, a year later, someone in the gallery will yell, “I got thisâ€� – just like Amy Bockerstette did that day — before Gary Woodland hits a shot. Or a fan, often on the verge of tears, will seek him out after a round to tell him about the confidence their child with special needs gained from watching Amy, who has Down syndrome, play – and par — the famed 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale during last year’s Waste Management Phoenix Open pro-am. “She’s touched a lot of people,â€� says Woodland, who will reunite with Amy on Wednesday. “I was very fortunate to be there with her and experience that with her that day. I have grown people come up and when I started talking to them, they start crying from that impact that I was there with her. “I mean, I didn’t do anything besides be supportive and have a great time with a special, special person. Amy’s obviously had a huge impact on my life and it’s nice to continue to stay in contact with her. The world needs more of Amy.â€� That’s exactly what Ben Cole and Steve Anthony thought when they saw the now-famous video clip that went viral – it now has more than 44 million views and made the national news and ESPN – last year. The two were planning a golf tournament to raise money for Special Olympics in Fort Scott, Kansas. “And so, Steve says to me, he goes, ‘you know how awesome it would be if we could get her to come to our tournament?’â€� Cole recalls. “I said, ‘Yeah, good luck with that. How will we ever pull that off?’â€� Related: Amy inspires Woodland | Amazing Amy changing lives on and off the course Anthony went on Facebook and started corresponding with Amy’s mother, Jenny. But Fort Scott is 1,200 miles from Phoenix – about 18 ½ hours by car – and the distance was daunting. Could she at least send an autographed photo for a raffle, Anthony asked, and Jenny said, of course. In the meantime, as Cole and Anthony spoke with potential tournament sponsors, they found one, a local printing company called Ward-Kraft, that had a private jet. The company offered to let the tournament use the plane to pick up the Bockerstette family after Amy played in the North American Special Olympic Games in Nashville, Tennessee. When the plane landed in Fort Scott, a town of 7,000 that is 88 miles south of Kansas City, Amy was given the key to the city. Cole, who is the town’s Undersheriff gathered other law enforcement officers to witness Amy being sworn in as an honorary deputy, complete with her own badge. People, many of whom were clients of the Tri Valley Development Services for people with developmental disabilities, were waiting at the airport with high-fives and signs to welcome her. A local car dealership gave the Bockerstettes an SUV to drive during their visit and the Sleep Inn offered them complimentary rooms for two nights. “She’s basically an icon here,â€� Cole says with a chuckle. He had hot-pink t-shirts made for his foursome with the Special Olympics logo and Team Amy on the front and “#I Got Thisâ€� on the back. In part due to Amy’s participation, the second annual Golf Scramble to benefit Special Olympics Kansas sponsored by the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office was a huge success, raising just under $25,000. The previous year, the tournament had made $15,000. “It was an awesome day,â€� Cole says. “I get goosebumps and you’ll hear my voice started cracking every time I talk about it.â€� Woodland donated a signed U.S. Open pin flag while his equipment sponsor, Wilson, offered a new set of irons for the raffle. Kansas City native Tom Watson sent memorabilia and Jack Nicklaus gave them a signed scorecard from the 1986 Masters. The resourceful Cole and Anthony bought a golf cart for $900 and had it professionally painted and outfitted with new tires and a battery – all donated — for the raffle, too. Amy, though, was the star of the event. “She drove around and said hi to all the players and she’d stop and play a hole with them,â€� Cole says. “A lot of the players let her putt for them, or they’d say, ‘Hey Amy, you hit this shot for me.’â€� And she’ll be back for the third annual event on Aug. 29. On New Year’s Day, Amy made a video saying how much she missed Fort Scott and that she was looking forward to the tournament. Cole posted it “to let everyone know that Amy’s coming back.” “The town has just erupted,â€� Cole says. Within two days after registration opened for the tournament, 60 teams – nearly double the previous year – had entered, including some from as far as three hours away. “All of our golf friends and stuff are like, ‘hey, I see that Amy’s coming back, make sure I get in that golf tournament’,â€� Cole says. “Don’t forget me this year.â€� He and Amy have stayed in touch since the tournament, much as the 21-year-old – who plays golf at Paradise Valley Junior College and is the first person with Down syndrome to receive an athletic scholarship – does with Woodland. Cole said he was immediately drawn to her. He and Anthony even attended her birthday party last October where the family launched the I Got This Foundation. “That’s just the type of person she is, I don’t think she’s ever met a stranger,â€� Cole says. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s ever met a stranger. And I think that we have something in common. She loves golf and we do, too. I just thought it was awesome that she went out on No. 16 and she was able to par it.   “I hadn’t met her, but her outlook on life, her smiles, her waving to the crowd. I don’t think it wouldn’t have mattered if she would have birdied it or bogeyed it. She was having fun and her outlook on life is, ‘I’m going to live my life to the fullest I can, regardless of what disabilities I have.’â€�

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