Bowditch makes self at home near Dallas

Steven Bowditch considers the AT& T Byron Nelson his home tournament — just maybe not to the extent Jordan Spieth does.

The Australian matched his low round on the PGA Tour with an 8- under- par 62 on Thursday to take a two- shot lead over another Texan, Jimmy Walker. Spieth was seven shots back in his first round as Masters champion in the event that gave the Dallas player his start as a 16- year- old amateur in 2010.

Bowditch, who moved to the Dallas area 10 years ago, has made the cut just once at the Nelson — in his debut in 2011, when he tied for 60th after a third- round 80. Still, it seems like home.

“It’s starting to feel that way, to be honest. Starting to get a lot more ticket requests,” said Bowditch, whose only PGA Tour win was the 2014 Texas Open in San Antonio. “You always want to play well, but I guess it is a little more special when you have everyone around that only get to see you play golf once a year.”

James Hahn and Dallas resident Ryan Palmer shared third at 65, and 2011 Nelson champion Keegan Bradley was in the group 66. Danny Lee aced the par- 3 17th with a 5- iron from 190 yards and was tied for ninth at 67. European Tour: Rory McIlroy shot a season- worst 9- over 80 in the Irish Open to fall 13 strokes behind the first- round leaders.

The top- ranked player, who’s from Northern Ireland, had nine bogeys in his morning round in cold and windy conditions and occasional rain at Royal County Down in Newscastle, Northern Ireland. He was tied for 150th in the 155man field.

McIlroy missed the cut last week in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in England after winning the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship the previous week in North Carolina. McIlroy won the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic in February and the WGC- Match Play Championship at Harding Park on May 3.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer shot 67 to share the lead.

Rickie Fowler opened with a 71 playing alongside McIlroy. The American is coming off a victory three weeks ago in PGA Tour’s Players Championship.