Memorial Tournament: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy in early contention after first round

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler and PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele made strong starts to sit among the leaders after the first round of the lucrative Memorial Tournament on Thursday.

Canada’s Adam Hadwin though will head the field going into Friday’s second round at Muirfield Village Golf Club after the world No 59 produced an impressive six-under-par opening round featuring eight birdies.

Scheffler finished one shot back on five under, after recording six birdies and one bogey – which came on the par-five fifth – while Schauffele is a further shot back in a four-way tie for third.

Making his first appearance since winning at Valhalla last month, Schauffele went bogey-free through his 18 holes.

Ludvig Åberg, Corey Conners and Collin Morikawa also finished their opening rounds on four under.

Defending Memorial champion Viktor Hovland is one of five players tied at three-under 69, and Rory McIlroy is part of a group at two-under

“Going out this morning, a little softer greens, a little softer fairways, I was able to put up a good score,” said Scheffler.

“It felt like I hit a lot of quality shots today, it felt like my ball striking was really good, and I was able to hole a few putts as well, so overall, pretty pleased with the round today.”

Hadwin, 36, is a top-60 player in the world but has just one PGA Tour win to his name, which came back in 2017.

The Canadian started his round with a downhill, 29-foot birdie putt at the first hole and added a 35 1/2-footer at the par-five fifth. Those were two of his four birdies on the front nine before a bogey at the eighth.

His four birdies on the back nine were much shorter, none longer than five feet, and he stood at seven-under before bogeying his last.

Watch the Memorial Tournament throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Early coverage begins of Friday’s second round starts from 12.15pm via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, before moving to Sky Sports Golf from 5pm ahead of full coverage at 7pm.