Rose makes early progress in Illinois

England’s Justin Rose made a good start in the first round of the BMW Championship as two birdies in his first three holes gave him a share of the lead at Cog Hill.

With a 60% chance of thunderstorms, officials moved the tee times forward in an effort to beat the possible bad weather but when play began on a hot, muggy morning the scoring was low.

Tiger Woods also started nicely with birdies at his first two holes to join a growing group at the top.

A total of 66 players are in the field for the third event of the FedEx Cup play-off series, which concludes with next week’s Tour Championship, which will comprise just 30 players.

The winner of the play-off series, based on a points list, will collect $10m (€7.3m), paid into the player’s retirement fund.

Phil Mickelson, who decided to skip this week, leads the points table from fellow Americans Steve Stricker and Woods.