Shane

After starting with four pars, Lowry – who is without an individual victory since September 2022 – carded back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth holes.

The former Open champion vaulted into a share of the lead with a run of five straight birdies from the par-four 11th before picking up a shot at the last to edge ahead of Nakajima.

“It’s not that hard when you hit it in play out there, but you start missing fairways it becomes quite tricky, so I’m happy with that,” said Lowry.

He added: “You need to shape it around the course, hit it in position off the tee and it’s all about your iron play. That’s one of my strengths and I took advantage of that today and managed to roll a few putts in on the back nine, which was nice.”

Lowry added there was a “little bit” of Ryder Cup chat with playing partners Fleetwood and Donald.

“We could hear the horns from the road, it was not as off-putting as the Bethpage [Black] crowd,” he said with a smile, referring to the hostile New York fans at last month’s Ryder Cup.

Fleetwood mixed four birdies, an eagle and two bogeys to sit four shots back.

Donald, who is playing his first tournament since his second Ryder Cup success as captain, carded five birdies and a bogey to match fellow Englishman Fleetwood and 2023 Open champion Brian Harman.

Playing with McIlroy, US Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin opened with a 68 while McIlroy’s European team-mate Viktor Hovland signed for a 71.

Irish Olympic swimmer Shane Ryan has joined the Enhanced Games, a multi-sport competition that will allow athletes to use performance-enhancing substances without being subject to drug tests.

Ryan, who was born in the USA, competed in three successive Olympics Games for Ireland before announcing his retirement from the sport earlier this month.

“After a decade dedicated to traditional competition on the world’s highest stage, I’m excited to dive into this next chapter with the Enhanced Games,” the 31-year-old said on his decision.

Ryan joins Team GB Olympic swimmer Ben Proud, four-time Greece Olympian Kristian Gkolomeev and US sprinter Fred Kerley in announcing his intentions to compete at the Games.

The move has been criticised by Sport Ireland, which says it is “deeply disappointed” with the decision.

The first Enhanced Games are due to take place in Las Vegas in 2026 with each event awarded a total prize purse of $500,000 and a $1m on offer for competitors who break world records.

Swim Ireland has also condemned the move, confirming his disassociation with the organisation and that he will no longer be provided with any funding or services.

Ryan competed at the Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games, becoming the first Irish swimmer to participate at three Olympics.

The Olympic Federation of Ireland said that Ryan’s move to the Enhanced Games “stands in direct opposition to our core clean sport values”.