champion

Defending champion Rory McIlroy made a solid start to the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune set the early pace with a 10-under 62.

Hisatsune, 23, was six under at the turn and concluded a stunning performance with four more birdies on the back nine on the PGA Tour’s first signature event of the season.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy is still in contention six shots back after carding a four-under 68 in California.

But it was a case of what might have been for McIlroy, who opened with consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th holes and another on the 17th at Spyglass Hill, with the highlight of his front nine coming when he chipped out of a greenside bunker on the 14th for an eagle.

However, his progress was checked after the turn with double bogeys at the two par-three holes – the third and the fifth – when his putter ran cold.

While the world number two picked up shots on the second, fourth and ninth, he has ground to make up in Friday’s second round, although not as much as the man directly above him in the rankings, Scottie Scheffler.

The American, who has not finished outside a top 10 place since last year’s Player’s Championship, struggled to a disappointing even par 72.

With the opening two rounds of the event split across two courses, Scheffler’s friend and compatriot Sam Burns fared much better at Pebble Beach golf links, to end the day in second on nine under alongside Keegan Bradley.

Chris Gotterup, a two-time winner already this season, began with six successive birdies and is well placed at eight under along with Tony Finau and Patrick Rodgers.

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick is at six under and Tommy Fleetwood and Ireland’s Shane Lowry made solid starts to sit at five under with Englishman Harry Hall one further back.

With a $20m (£14.7m) purse available, 18 of the top 20 players in the world are competing in the 80-man field, with Pebble Beach hosting Saturday and Sunday’s third and fourth rounds.

Olympic gold medallist Sha’Carri Richardson has been arrested for “dangerous excessive” speeding, according to jail booking records.

Richardson was booked into Orange County Jail in Florida at 19:39 local time on Thursday.

Jail records state the 25-year-old American was charged with driving dangerously and at “excessive speed of 100mph or more”.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Richardson was allegedly traveling at 104 mph tailgating and crossing lanes of traffic to pass other drivers, BBC’s US partner CBS News and Reuters reported.

It has been reported her bond was set at $500 (£363).

The American won silver in the 100m at the Paris Olympics and gold as part of the USA’s 4x100m relay team.

The state of Florida introduced new penalties for speeding offences in July.

Under a new statute – known as the “Super Speeder” law – drivers can be fined up to $1,000 (£727), be mandated to appear at court if the allegation is more than 50 miles per hour over the limit, face jail time or have their license revoked for repeat breaches.

In August, Richardson was arrested over allegations of domestic violence. She was released the following day and later said she would seek help.

Richardson missed the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after testing positive for marijuana.