Syme in contention at Celtic Manor after 66

Fife’s Connor Syme played himself into contention to make up for last week’s near miss at Celtic Manor with an opening 66 at the same venue in the ISPS Handa Wales Open.

Syme carded seven birdies and two bogeys to claim a share of the lead with England’s Jordan Smith on five under par, with Scot Robert MacIntyre, Sebastian Soderberg, Callum Shinkwin and Kurt Kitayama sharing third place on three under.

Syme held a one-shot lead after 54 holes of the Celtic Classic but had to settle for a share of third place following a final round of 71 which was compiled either side of a two-hour lightning delay.

“We were thinking a little bit about how they might change the golf course but the wind has certainly done that for us – a completely different direction and a lot stronger,” the 25-year-old said.

“It was a good round, I had to plan my way around differently but I did that and holed a few nice putts which was a bonus. I took a lot of confidence from last week. It was a new experience for me having a 54-hole lead and I really enjoyed it. I’m trying to get back into those positions as much as I can.

“It’s a long way to go and I think tomorrow is going to be a tough day (with bad weather) so it’s just like jockeying for position a little bit the first two days, but I’m up the top end of the leaderboard, which is good, and can hopefully kick on a little bit tomorrow.”

Asked how valuable his experience of last week could prove, Syme added: “Massively. You never really know how you’re going to handle it all until you’re in those situations, sleeping a little bit different on a lead was obviously new.

“Having won on the Challenge Tour has definitely helped me. I’m drawing on all the experiences, trying to build the bank up as much as I can and I guess today was another one of those.”

Sam Horsfield’s bid for back-to-back wins at Celtic Manor and a third victory in the space of four weeks got off to a flying start with three birdies in the first five holes, but the 23-year-old eventually signed for a two-over-par 73.

Aberdonian David Law is level par, while Calum Hill and Richie Ramsay are two shots further back. Grant Forrest is four over and Stephen Gallacher six over.

Meanwhile Tiger Woods recovered from a sluggish start to card a threeunder-par 68 on the opening day of the Northern Trust, the first of the PGA Tour’s three FedEx Cup play-off events.

Starting on the more difficult back nine at TPC Boston, Woods played his first eight holes in one over par before a birdie on the 18th took the 15-time major winner to the turn in level par.

The front nine offers more birdie opportunities and Woods took advantage by picking up shots on the third, fourth, seventh and eighth before a wayward drive led to a disappointing bogey on the ninth.

At three under par Woods was four shots off the early pace set by fellow American Harris English, whose 64 gave him a one-shot lead over Scott Piercy, Charley Hoffman and former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen.

Woods began the week at 49th in the FedEx Cup standings, with the top 70 on Sunday evening qualifying for the second event, the BMW Championship in Chicago.

Only the top 30 after that advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, which Rory McIlroy won for the second time in four years in 2019 to claim the overall FedEx Cup title and pocket the $15 million (£12.3m) first prize.

Two birdies and one bogey on the front nine saw the former world No 1 sign for a two-under-par 69. Ian Poulter, who has yet to qualify for the Tour Championship at East Lake, carded an opening 66.