• BMW Championship

Snedeker snatches lead, Woods makes solid start

Brandt Snedeker registered seven consecutive birdies in his round © Getty Images

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Brandt Snedeker carded a fine eight-under 63 to lead the BMW Championship after the opening round as Tiger Woods trails by three shots, but reigning champion Rory McIlroy made a nightmare start to the defence of his crown.

FedEx Cup champion Snedeker parred his first three holes when beginning on the back nine, but then picked up great form from the par-4 13th to register seven consecutive birdies to power into the lead. He collected an eighth birdie at his 15th hole to finish on eight-under and lead by one shot over Zach Johnson.

World No. 1 Woods ended his round on five-under, and could have been closer to Snedeker had it not been for bogeys in two of his final nine holes. Woods managed six birdies along the way to finish on 66. Masters champion Adam Scott is four-under and scored five birdies.

McIlroy had a horrible opening round as the former world No. 2 finds himself near the bottom of the leaderboard on seven-over.

The Northern Irishman had a double bogey on his second hole before dropping two more shots at the turn. He then hit a triple bogey on the par-4 first and added two more bogeys to his scorecard.

Lee Westwood was no better than McIlroy as the Englishman is tied for last in the standings on nine-over, and was battling problems and posted on Twitter:

Well shouldn't really play injured but everybody wants to play the tour championship . Give it a night to see if my neck & back settle down.

— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) September 12, 2013

Steve Stricker, who put his hunting trip on hold in order to play at Conway Farms, is three shots off Snedeker after a five-under 66. Stricker is currently eight in the FedEx Cup standings after finishing second at the Deutsche Bank Championship. The BMW Championship is the third of four FedEx Cup play-off events.

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