Rory McIlroy reclaimed the world number one ranking after his first win of the new season and the 23rd of his PGA Tour career, securing the CJ Cup with a score of 17 under par.

McIlroy took the outright lead on the 14th hole with his fifth birdie of the day and built a tournament-winning lead with two more birdies on the next two holes on his way to a Sunday 67. 

Those extra insurance birdies ended up coming in handy after the Northern Irishman bogeyed the final two holes, but Kurt Kitayama could not birdie the last to force a playoff.

He entered the final round leading by one stroke, and by finishing the same way, he leapfrogged Scottie Scheffler to the top of the world rankings as the American finished tied for 45th at one under.

Speaking to NBC after stepping off the final green, McIlroy spoke about his love for the game and his journey back to the top.

"It feels great," he said. "It feels great to go out there with the lead, shoot a great score, play really well and get the win. 

"It's an awesome way to start the season, I guess, and a continuation of how I feel I've been playing the past few months.

"[Becoming world number one] means a lot. I've worked so hard over the last 12 months to get myself back to this place. I feel like I'm enjoying the game as much as I ever have, I absolutely love the game of golf.

"When I go out there and play with that joy – it's definitely shown over the past few months. It feels awesome, I'm looking forward to celebrating with my team."

Kitayama finished alone in second at 16 under, with Lee Kyoung-hoon the only player in third at 15 under.

Tommy Fleetwood shot Sunday's equal second-best score with a 65 to jump up into a tie for fourth at 14 under with Jon Rahm.

Aaron Wise finished alone in sixth at 12 under and an all-American group headlined by Sam Burns rounded out the top-10, tied for seventh at 11 under.

The best fourth-round score came from Taylor Montgomery, who was three strokes better than the field on the last trip around Congaree Golf Cup with his nine-under 62 – finishing his tournament at nine under after entering the round at even par.

Defending CJ Cup champion Rory McIlroy started strong to be one shot behind joint leaders Gary Woodland and Trey Mullinax after the opening day at Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina.

The Northern Irishman is tied with six players at five-under after carding opening rounds of 66, including recent Shriners Children's Open winner Tom Kim.

McIlroy pieced together birdies on the fourth, fifth and sixth holes, but his round leveled out, finishing bogey-free.

Woodland was one of the pre-tournament favourites and he impressed early, with three straight birdies to open his round.

The American dropped three bogeys to slow his progress, but sunk a 21-foot birdie putt on the par-four 18th to finish his round with nine birdies and a share of the lead.

Co-leader Mullinax birdied four of his first six holes and six of his first 11, highlighted by a 23-foot birdie putt on the 11th.

Kim, who is only 20-years-old, stormed up the leaderboard late with three birdies in his final six holes, including rolling in a 28-foot birdie on the 16th although he slipped from the lead with a bogey on the 18th.

McIlroy and Kim are joined by Cam Davis, Kurt Kitayama, Aaron Wise and Wyndham Clark in carding opening day rounds of five-under-par.

Norwegian Viktor Hovland and American Tyrrell Hatton headline the following six-member group at four-under.

Two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas is back at three-under, while former world number one pair Jon Rahm and Jason Day are at two-under. Scottie Scheffler finished with an even round.

Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth had a poor round that included a double bogey on the sixth and four bogeys to be four-over-par.

Tom Kim took advantage of a disastrous final hole from Patrick Cantlay to secure the Shriners Children's Open title on Sunday with an overall score of 24 under.

Kim, 20, became the first player since Tiger Woods to win two PGA Tour events before their 21st birthday, and he did it after coming into Sunday's final round tied for the lead with Cantlay.

The two players atop the leaderboard exchanged the lead multiple times, with Cantlay birdieing the opening hole, before Kim closed out his front-nine with back-to-back birdies to make the turn with a two-stroke advantage.

Cantlay evened things up with back-to-back birdies of his own on 11 and 12, before Kim banked another pair of birdies on 13 and 14, only for Cantlay to level the playing field with two more on 15 and 16.

Heading onto the 72nd and final hole of the week tied at 24 under, Cantlay teed off first and put it into the coarse bushes off the side of the fairway. 

Instead of declaring it unplayable and taking a drop, he opted to try and play his way out, resulting in a botched first shot that traveled less than a yard, before putting his next shot in the water in a catastrophic meltdown.

Kim made no such mistake off the tee, finding the centre of the fairway before approaching safely onto the green and two-putting for the win, while Cantlay needed to sink a 36-foot putt for triple-bogey, tying for second at 21 under.

Speaking after the win, Kim highlighted his mistake-free play as the key to victory.

"I played really solid this week – I had no bogeys for 72 holes," he said. "I think I have to give big credit to Joe [Skovron], my caddy, he really kept me in it and we had a really good game-plan the week, and it paid off.

"I got very lucky on the 18th, I'm not going to lie. Patrick played awesome, and it was an honour to battle with him, and to come out on top, I feel very fortunate."

When asked if he was surprised by his early success on the PGA Tour, he said he is just enjoying the ride.

"I've worked really hard, and my team has worked really hard to get to this point," he said. "I'm just really grateful, and I'm very fortunate to have an opportunity like this. I'm having fun playing on the PGA Tour, it's awesome."

Finishing tied with Cantlay for second place at 21 under was Matthew NeSmith, and first-round leader Tom Hoge ended the week with some momentum as he posted a seven-under Sunday to shoot his way into a tie for fourth at 20 under with Mito Pereira and Kim Seong-hyeon.

Im Sung-jae was alone in seventh at 19 under, and Jason Day tied with Kim Si-woo for eighth, giving South Korea four of the top-10.

After the first trip around TPC Summerlin on Thursday it is Tom Hoge alone atop the Shriners Children's Open leaderboard with an eight-under 63.

Hoge finished his bogey-free round with four birdies and two eagles, holing out from the fairway on the par-four seventh hole, before sinking a 33-foot eagle putt when he took on the water on the par-five 16th.

He leads by one stroke from the duo of Kim Si-woo and Maverick McNealy, who combined to shoot one bogey and 15 birdies to sit at seven under.

Kim is part of a strong South Korean contingent in the top-five, with Tom Kim, Kim Seong-hyeon and Im Sung-jae all part of an eight-way tie for fourth at six under.

Former world number one Jason Day headlines the next group at five under as he continues to climb back up the rankings, and Mito Pereira is at four under after bursting onto the scene last season by making the playoff at the PGA Championship.

Winner of the first event of the season and a strong performer at the Presidents Cup, Max Homa is also at four under, along with fellow United States team member Patrick Cantlay and International team representative Cam Davis.

South Korea's Kim Si-woo and American J.J. Spaun are the co-leaders at eight under after one round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind.

Being the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the field is made up of the top-125 from this season's FedEx Cup standings, minus LIV Golf signees Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford, who failed to have their exclusions overturned by a judge earlier this week.

Spaun shot a bogey-free 62 with eight birdies, while Kim posted seven birdies, an eagle and a solitary bogey on the par-three fourth hole.

Speaking on the broadcast after his round, Spaun said he hopes his performance during the playoffs will book his place at The Masters next year.

"It will be nice to punch another ticket there and be able to plan it out and get down Sunday, maybe even Saturday the week before, take my time and enjoy all the little things that come along with that great tradition," he said. "Hopefully keep playing well this week and the next couple weeks, and I'll be there."

In outright third place is Sahith Theegala at seven under, while one further shot back tied for fourth are Austria's Sepp Straka, South Korea's Lee Kyoung-hoon, American J.T. Poston and the red-hot Tony Finau, fresh off back-to-back PGA Tour wins for the first time in his career. Finau has shot no worse than 68 from his past 10 rounds.

The logjam in a tie for eighth at five under includes England's Tyrrell Hatton, Australia's former world number one Jason Day, and Rickie Fowler, who barely squeezed into the final field. Last week's 20-year-old first-time winner Joo-hyung 'Tom' Kim highlights the group at four under, along with Adam Scott.

Many of the serious contenders are at three under, including Cam Smith, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and reigning FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, and they are one stroke ahead of major winners Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry at two under.

Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy shot even-par 70s, and the pair of Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris have plenty of work to do after finishing at one over.

Scheffler was responsible for arguably the round's most viral moment as he caught a side-eye from playing partner Smith when he walked right in front of the Australian while he was lining up a putt, with many speculating it was an intentional slight due to reports Smith has signed on with LIV Golf for next season.

John Huh leads by two strokes after the first round of the Wyndham Championship, shooting a career-low nine-under 61 in his first trip around Sedgefield Country Club on Thursday.

With seven birdies, one eagle and no bogeys in his round, Huh had his game working from all areas. According to Data Golf's strokes gained stats, the American was the second-best in the tee-to-green category (5.29 strokes gained), third in approach shots (3.25) and sixth in putting (3.21).

Speaking to the media after his round, Huh said he did not feel like he was playing his best, but he is glad to be in such a strong position after entering the week on the fringe of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

"It’s kind of strange," he said, "because I wasn’t really feeling great with my game and I shoot my career low – it’s kind of weird. 

"Sort of mixed feelings, but I’ll take this any day. I was able to take advantage of a good break and good shots, that’s all I can say."

Tony Finau became the first player since Brendon Todd in 2019 to win back-to-back PGA Tour events, taking advantage of the friendly conditions to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic by five shots.

Finau – who entered the final round with a four-stroke lead along with Taylor Pendrith – made six birdies and one bogey in a closing five-under 67 at Detroit Golf Club. It was his only dropped shot of the tournament, after just three bogeys last weekend in his 3M Open triumph.

The 32-year-old finished on an incredible 26 under, with Patrick Cantlay, Pendrith and Cameron Young tied for second place.

Prior to that 3M Open success, Finau had only two wins for his career, and one since the 2015-16 season, with the notoriously mediocre putter figuring things out on the greens. 

He entered the week as the 142nd best putter on the tour this season, but was the 13th best in that discipline for the tournament among players to make the cut, according to Data Golf's strokes gained stat. 

It made a devastating combination when combined with his strong tee-to-green stats – clearly the best of the week, gaining 3.44 strokes on the field in that area, 0.73 more than any other player.

Speaking to the CBS after stepping off the 18th green, Finau said it feels extremely rewarding to have his hard work culminate in such an incredible fortnight.

"It feels amazing, last week was amazing," he said. 

"I was actually quite disappointed in my finish last week, and all I wanted to do this week was show that I am a winner and a champion. I think I did that today.

"The work has been relentless, and to be able to just get rewarded for it… you never know in this game, but you keep your head up, put one foot after the other and good things can happen. That's what's happened the last couple weeks for me."

Pendrith started the day as co-leader, before finishing as one of 16 players to shoot 72 or worse.

A 72 saw Pendrith's challenge fade, while Cantlay signed for a 66 and Young carded a 68.

Germany's Stephan Jaeger finished alone in fifth at 20 under, America's Taylor Moore was sixth as the only player at 19 under, and South Korea's Kim Jooh-yung tied the tournament record with a nine-under 63 to shoot up the leaderboard into outright seventh at 18 under.

Wyndham Clark and J.J. Spaun both shot 65s to finish tied for eighth at 17 under.

Just days after winning the 3M Open, Tony Finau has put together a terrific eight-under 64 to earn the position of joint-leader at the Rocket Mortgage Classic after the first round of play.

Finau came from five shots back on Sunday to lift this past weekend's trophy, and he kept that momentum going with a bogey-free round, birdieing three holes on the front-nine and five down the back.

He finished with the most strokes gained on approach shots (4.20 strokes gained), and was third in strokes gained off the tee (1.65).

Speaking to the media after stepping off the 18th green, Finau acknowledged his rich run of form, and the fact that it was the first round of his career where he had hit all 18 greens in regulation.

"I was riding the high off last week," he said. "I didn’t know that fact before today, that I haven’t hit all 18 greens, so to be able to do that here today is pretty cool."

The only other player at eight under is Canada's Taylor Pendrith, who had nine birdies, and then bogeyed the 18th hole to give up the outright lead.

That pairing is two strokes clear of the chasing field, with England's Matt Wallace and the American group of Michael Thompson, Webb Simpson, Cameron Champ and Lee Hodges all posting 66s.

There is strong international representation in the logjam tied for eighth at five under, including South Korea's Kim Si-woo, Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat, England's Callum Tarren and Sweden's Henrik Norlander.

Australia's Cam Davis is one further back at four under, his compatriots Adam Scott and Jason Day are at three-under, while England's Danny Willett and strong major performer Will Zalatoris are flirting with the cut-line at two under.

Keegan Bradley shot a three-under 67 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after 54 holes at the Wells Fargo Championship on Saturday.

The 35-year-old scored the low-round on a rain-interrupted day at TPC Potomac to finish on eight-under after 54 holes.

After splitting two birdies and bogeys on the front nine, Bradley regrouped on the back nine with two birdies on the opening three holes, before claiming another on the par-four 16th hole.

Max Homa is two strokes back on six-under after a one-over 71 for the day, with Anirban Lahiri and James Hahn a further two strokes back on four-under.

Heavy rain in Maryland during the week has wreaked havoc at Avenel Farm, but the windy conditions were just as impactful on Saturday's play, requiring particularly gritty shot selection.

Jason Day began the round with a three-stroke lead but shot a disappointing nine-over on moving day, with his tournament unravelling on the front nine.

Day found the water on consecutive holes after a bogey on the par-three third, posting a triple-bogey and bogey respectively, and then scored a double-bogey on the par-five 10th to eventually finish on 79.

While Bradley had the day's low round, only four players cracked par on Saturday, including Rory McIlroy who recovered from Friday's score of 73 and bogeys on the opening two holes to post two-under for the day.

Bradley will come into Sunday seeking his fifth PGA Tour tournament win, with his last coming at the 2018 BMW Championship, which he won in a playoff over Justin Rose.

Jason Day will head into the weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship as a strong favourite after extending his first-round lead to three strokes in Friday's action.

After posting a 63 in much friendlier Thursday conditions, Day was solid again, birdieing two of his first three holes, and was four under through 13. 

After a bogey on 14 and 17, he ended his day on the right foot with a birdie on 18 for a three-under 67, sitting at 10 under through two rounds.

Day, who has not won a PGA Tour event since 2018, told the media after stepping off the 18th green that he is excited to be back in this position after previously spending 51 weeks as the world number one before a number of injuries.

"I'm looking forward to it – it's nice to be back in the mix, nice to be leading," he said. "It's still two more days left, so I can't get too far ahead of myself.

"I mean, not many times you see this hair (after being forced to play without a hat due to the rain), but hopefully this weather can kind of go away and we can have hats on for the weekend.

"When you have conditions like this, it's really hard to commit to a shot because you're going in there and you're doing it kind of a lot quicker than your normal pre-shot routine.

"You have to force yourself to hit the shot and trust that."

Max Homa has a hold of outright second at seven under after posting a 66 – tied for the second-best round of the day. Also shooting 66 was Luke List, who drove the green on the par-four 14th hole to putt in for eagle, flying up the leaderboard into a tie for third at six under.

One shot further back at five under is a small group highlighted by Keegan Bradley, who had the round of the day with seven birdies and two bogeys for his 65.

A strong international contingent is in a tie for 10th at four under, with English duo Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick, as well as India's Anirban Lahiri and Slovakia's Rory Sabbatini.

Abraham Ancer is part of the group at three under, while some big names are a further shot back, including Tony Finau, Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler and Camilo Villegas.

Rory McIlroy, Corey Conners and Matt Kuchar will live to see the weekend after finishing right on the cut line at even par, while Aaron Rai was not so lucky, going from a bogey-free 65 on Thursday to a birdie-free 76, missing the cut at one over.

Also missing the cut was Charl Schwartzel, Francesco Molinari, Marc Leishman and Webb Simpson.

A chip-in on the 15th hole propelled Jason Day to the outright lead on his way to a seven-under 63 in the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship.

After a solid front nine, where he birdied three of his first five holes, it was an action-packed second nine. He birdied 10, 12, 14, 15 and 16, with his sole bogey coming on the 13th.

Only posting three top-10 finishes from 22 events last season – with a best result of tied-seventh – Day is already in search of his third top-10 result this season in his 11th event, seemingly rediscovering some of the form that has seen him spend 51 weeks as the world number one.

Speaking to the media after stepping off the 18th green, Day was careful to not get ahead of himself, but emphasised his focus on creativity as opposed to just technique.

"I'm obviously, I think, a long way away from being that confident in myself in regards to my game," he said.

"But I feel like [with what I've worked on with my swing] I'm a little bit more creative on the golf course, because at some point you have to get out of the technical aspect and go more creative.

"I feel like things are progressing nicely, and I just have to keep my head down and keep going.

"It is actually very encouraging [to be healthy and confident in his body] because typically if I play well, then people ask me how my back is, and that's probably not something you want to always constantly want to be talking about.

"I've done a lot of work, and been very diligent and disciplined in my approach to staying healthy. I get hiccups every now and then, but for the most part – touch wood – I've been really good."

There was a spectacular start to the day for American Joel Dahmen, who was six under through eight holes, including four consecutive birdies starting on the fifth, before cooling off and finishing at six under for outright second.

One shot further back in the group tied for third were England's Aaron Rai and Callum Tarren, who had just one bogey between them.

Rickie Fowler highlighted the next group at four under after coming back from one over through eight holes, with four birdies, one eagle and one bogey in the last 10. 

Fowler sat one stroke ahead of a logjam at three under, which included defending champion Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Max Homa and Matt Kuchar, with England's Matt Fitzpatrick and India's Anirban Lahiri at two under.

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are on track to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, closing the third round of play with a five-stroke lead.

After a record opening-round score of 59 in the first day of four-ball play on Thursday, the Presidents and Ryder Cup teammates scorched the back nine at TPC Louisiana with eight birdies to finish with a 12-under 60 for the day.

The two lead the field at an extraordinary 29-under after three rounds, with the South African duo of Garrick Higgo and Branden Grace five strokes back in second, improving on a solid second day to put themselves in the frame from Presidents Cup selection this year.

The pair will be seeking to go one better than their countrymen Louis Ooosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, who finished second at TPC Louisiana last year to Australian pair Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman.

Another Australian pair looking to work their way into calculations for Quail Hollow in September are Jason Day and Jason Scrivener, who improved on scores of 65 over the opening two rounds with a nine-under 63 on Saturday, birdieing the final four holes to sit on 23-under.

They're joined by the team of Aaron Rai and David Lipsky, along with Sam Burns and Billy Horschel, who bounced back from a bogey on the par-three ninth to close the back nine with five birdies.

Cantlay and Schauffele have been the stars of the weekend, however.

After blitzing the 54-hole record, only a catastrophic final round of alternate play would deny the reigning FedEx Cup and Olympic champions from smashing Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown's 72-hole record of 27-under.

Closing out on Sunday would make for maiden PGA Tour win this season for both Schaffele and Cantlay, with the latter coming into this weekend off a playoff loss to Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage.

Though Schauffele claimed the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, his last tour win came in 2019.

Ryan Palmer holds a two-stroke lead over the field after the second round of the Valero Texas Open.

Palmer, who shot four under in round one, finished with a six-under 66 to move to 10 under.

The American finished the round bogey-free, and three times carded back-to-back birdies on the second and third, eighth and ninth, and 14th and 15th.

Speaking to the media after his round, Palmer said the key to his success is to limit the severity of his mistakes.

"It's a golf course – if you get it off-line, you're going to struggle," he said. 

"I was able to keep the ball in front of me. When I've missed fairways, I've gotten fortunate breaks, I think. 

"[This] weekend, it's a matter of just avoiding those big misses."

Kevin Chappell worked his way into a three-way tie for second after he shot 65 for the best round of the day, and he is joined at eight under by South Africa's Dylan Frittelli and American Matt Kuchar.

Chappell – who is ranked as the world number 547 – played the course beautifully, nabbing an eagle on the par five second hole before going bogey-free and birdieing the eighth, ninth, 12th, 15th and 17th.

The leader after round one, Russell Knox, had a poor day, bogeying four of his first six holes on the way to shooting 76, dropping down to three under and a tie for 27th.

With the cut-line at even par, Jordan Spieth followed up his even par first round with a 70 on Friday to sneak into the frame.

Plenty of notable names who will hope to contest the US Masters crown next week failed to make the cut, including Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau.

Russell Knox's bogey-free 65 earned him top spot on the Valero Texas Open leaderboard after the first round of action at TPC San Antonio.

The Scotsman was excellent all day, highlighted by his four consecutive birdies starting on the 12th hole to finish seven under.

He is one stroke ahead of Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard, who eagled the par-five 18th to finish at six under and make up for his double-bogey on nine.

Speaking to the media after his round, Knox spoke about getting control of his driver, and the potential to play in next week's US Masters.

"I would love to win and get to play next week," he said. 

"I know my game is good, so I've got to keep playing well and see if I can have a great finish.

"I've been a little more consistent tee to green. I'm back to kind of feeling like the way I should be playing, which has been nice.

"Off the tee's been kind of important for me. Over the last couple years I just kind of got off track slightly, hitting a few wayward tee shots.

"I've worked hard with my coach, Mark McCann, and we've really gone back to fundamentals, got my set-up correct and it just gives me the freedom to kind of swing away.

"I know it's never going to be perfect, but the last couple months it's really been a strength of mine again."

Matt Kuchar and Englishman Aaron Rai are in a four-player tie for third at five under, with India's Anirban Lahiri and Australian Matthew Jones part of the large contingent at four under.

In-form Canadian Corey Conners finished tied with Richard Bland and Tony Finau with a big group at two under, with Ian Poulter and Keegan Bradley one shot further back.

It was an up-and-down round for Rickie Fowler, with his bogey on 18 forcing him to accept even-par for the day, which he shared with stars Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

Bryson DeChambeau and Lee Westwood highlighted the group at plus one, while Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama will be fighting to make the cut after carding plus two.