Local boy Bill Haas leads the way after day one at Quail Hollow, where defending champion Rory McIlroy had a poor start.
Local boy in the lead in Charlotte as McIlroy struggles on day one
Bill Haas leads the way after day one of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, where defending champion Rory McIlroy had a poor start to his title defence.
Haas is the local boy in Charlotte, and he showed his liking for the Quail Hollow course he grew up on as he struck eight birdies and no bogeys to sign for an eight-under round of 64.
The lead was two shots at the end of the first round with Jonathan Byrd and David Toms both on six-under par behind the flying leader.
"I've got good feelings around this place," Has told www.pgatour.com. "I'm comfortable, I guess, out there, although the whole thing looks different with ropes and people and grandstands.
"(Putting well) makes you more comfortable over your iron shots knowing that you can maybe miss this shot and your putter might save you because I just had the good feelings going with it.
"It's early, and there's a lot of golf left to play, and I hope it can just work for some of that time."
McIlroy struggles
Byrd was also in birdie mode as he picked up seven shots but he dropped a shot at the sixth hole to settle on six under alongside Toms - who had an eagle, five birdies and a bogey in his 66.
McIlroy was hoping for a happy return to America on his first appearance since the Masters, but the defending champion at Quail Hollow struggled on his first round with a three over round of 75.
The Northern Irishman, starting on the tenth hole, duly bogeyed it - and despite picking up a shot at the par-five 15th, bogeys and 17 and 18 dropped him back to two over at the turn.
Another birdied par five at the fifth was cancelled out by two other bogeys and McIlroy finished the day on three over and all of 11 shots behind the leader after just the first round.
World number two Martin Kaymer fared a little better but is still six shots off the pace after another inconsistent round saw him card a two-under round of 70 alongside Anthony Kim.
Americans Lucas Glover and Pat Perez are up in fourth place after five-under rounds of 67, while Stuart Appleby is one of five men on four under.
Padraig Harrington is on three-under par after four birdies and a bogey in his round of 69, and he is joined by Sergio Garcia after he also picked up four shots alongside a single bogey on the 17th.
