Former teenage prodigy Danny Lee birdied three of his first four holes en route to a one-shot lead in the opening round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday (Aug 6).
On a day when Jordan Spieth finished five strokes off the pace, the 25-year-old Lee, who won his first PGA Tour title in a playoff for the Greenbrier Classic last month, fired a five-under-par 65 at Firestone.
He ended a challenging day one ahead of American Jim Furyk and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell.
Texan Spieth birdied his final hole for a 70 in the third of four World Golf Championships (WGC) events to be held this year.
"Making birdie to shoot even (par) feels better than making bogey to shoot one-under," Masters and US Open champion Spieth told reporters after his first competitive round since his tie for fourth at last month's British Open.
Veteran Furyk, a 17-times winner on the PGA Tour, was also at five under with one hole to play but bogeyed the par-four last after being unable to get up and down from behind a tree in the right rough, 38 yards short of the green.
Several players in the elite field of 77 struggled in the firm conditions. Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson carded 76 and fellow American Troy Merritt ballooned to an 82 just four days after winning the Quicken Loans National. p>
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