Rory McIlory, Joel Dahmen share lead at Quail Hollow Championship
Friday 3 May 2019 15:22, UK
Rory McIlroy bounced back from his Masters disappointment to grab a share of the lead after the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship.
The world No 4 - a two-time winner at Quail Hollow - mixed six birdies with a sole blemish to sit alongside America's Joel Dahmen at the top of the leaderboard.
Scotland's Martin Laird lies in a group of five players a shot off the pace, while defending champion Jason Day is two strokes back after opening with a three-under 68.
Looking to bounce back from falling well short in his bid to complete the Grand Slam at Augusta, McIlroy holed a 20-foot birdie at the second but reached the turn level-par after finding water off the seventh tee on his way to bogeying the par-five.
McIlroy responded by posting back-to-back birdies from the tenth and got up and down from a greenside bunker to roll in an eight-foot gain at the 14th, before converting a 12-footer at the next and picking up another shot at the 16th on his way to setting the clubhouse target.
The Northern Irishman lost his outright advantage when Dahmen nailed a 15-footer at the last to close out a bogey-free 66 and also get to five under, as Dylan Frittelli birdied two of his last three holes to join Laird, Patrick Reed, Adam Schenk and Nick Taylor in the group sharing third.
Ryder Cup duo Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia are part of the pack on two under, while world No 2 Justin Rose - the highest-ranked player in the field - marked his first start since missing the cut at the Masters with a one-under 70.
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