Aug 21, 2014 4 min read

Rory McIlroy took a week to celebrate his blockbuster summer and paid for it in The Barclays with his worst start in two months.

He could afford a day off.

That wasn’t the case for players like Bo Van Pelt and Paul Casey, and they picked a good time to produce good scores.

With no guarantee of playing beyond this week, Van Pelt opened with three straight birdies Thursday and chipped in for eagle late in his round for a 6-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead in the opener of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Van Pelt is No. 104 in the FedEx Cup. Only the top 100 advance to the next tournament.

Casey is No. 118 with a lot on his mind – specifically the birth of his first child in two weeks – and played bogey-free at Ridgewood to join seven other players at 66. That group included Brendon Todd, a Peters Township native, who is trying to get Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson’s attention as a possible wild-card pick; and Hunter Mahan, who at No. 62 is in danger of missing the Tour Championship for the first time since the FedEx Cup began in 2007.

Ridgewood featured some of the deepest rough of the year, though the greens were soft enough to allow for birdies if players could keep it in the fairway. The average score was 70.8, with 44 rounds in the 60s.

McIlroy was not among them.

The British Open and PGA champion went 13 holes before he made his first birdie and finished with a 74. That ended a streak of 14 straight rounds under par, and it was his highest score in the opening round since a 74 in the Irish Open in June.

Ryu leads at LPGA: So Yeon Ryu set a course record with a 9-under 63 to take the lead at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open after one round on Thursday.

Ryu finished with nine birdies Thursday at the London Hunt and Country Club to take a one-stroke lead over fellow South Korean Na Yeon Choi, who chipped in three times during an impressive morning round.

Swede Anna Nordqvist, who was playing with Ryu in the afternoon, was alone in third at 7 under.

Inbee Park, coming off a victory in last week’s LPGA Championship and dinner Wednesday night with Ryu, and Choi were part of a group at 6 under along with Azahara Munoz, Danielle Kang and Xi Yu Lin.

Donaldson leading at Czech Masters: Jamie Donaldson shot a 6-under 66 on Thursday to take first-round lead at the Czech Masters and boost his chances of securing a spot on the European Ryder Cup team.

Seeking his third European Tour victory, the Welshman produced two straight birdies on his last two holes to top the leaderboard. He made a total of eight birdies and two bogeys at the Albatross Golf course near Prague.

Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg was one stroke back in second place, with a group of 10 players carding 68.

Donaldson currently has a qualifying spot for his debut Ryder Cup but still needs a good result to guarantee a place in Paul McGinley’s team for next month’s match against the United States at Gleneagles.

Two other Ryder Cup hopefuls – Stephen Gallacher of Scotland and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands both shot 70.

Couples seeks title win: It will remain a sore spot with Fred Couples until he’s finally able to add the accomplishment to his resume.

For all the tournament’s won during his career, Couples has still never won in the Seattle area, where he grew up.

Not that he’s had many chances. With Seattle lacking a regular PGA Tour stop the most marquee events that Couples has participated were the 1998 PGA Championship and 2010 U.S. Senior Open, along with being a regular participant in the Boeing Classic since joining the Champions Tour in 2010.

Couples is back at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge this week trying to win that elusive hometown title in the 10th edition of the popular tournament.

“It’s really one of my favorite courses and not just because I’m from here, but it’s for a longer hitter,” Couples said. “It’s always in immaculate condition. The greens are perfect, the fairways are perfect. You get a good amount of people out there to watch.”