Hunter Mahan carded a superb first round of 62 to open a four-shot lead after the first round of The Barclays.
Casey leads chasing pack after excellent opening 66
Hunter Mahan carded a superb first round of 62 to open a four-shot lead after the first round of The Barclays.
The American's nearest challenger at Ridgewood Country Club proved to be England's Paul Casey who gave his Ryder Cup challenge a welcome boost with an opening 66 to sit on his own in second at five-under.
Four more American are just a stroke further adrift at four-under, Bo Van Pelt, Kevin Streelman, Charley Hoffman and Dudley Hart and have also been joined by Australian Matthew Goggin.
However, the first day of the first of the four FedEx Cup play-off events belonged to Mahan who took advantage of ideal conditions in New Jersey to post a spectacular first round score.
The 26-year-old set the tone for his day by holing his second shot from 100 yards at the first for eagle and followed it with eight birdies at four, five, seven, ten, 12, 13, 14 and 18.
His only blemish came at the short eighth where he could manage only a bogey-four, but it did not take the gloss of a splendid day's work.
"It's perfect conditions," Mahan stated afterwards. "You've got great weather, the course is in perfect shape right now, playing in the morning helped a lot and the greens were a little bit more receptive.
"You can give yourself a lot of good looks, if you hit a lot of fairways.
In the red
"It's a tough golf course. I thought if you shoot in the red all week, in the 60s all week, you'll have something at the end there.
"I feel great and love this golf course and I'm excited about the next couple of days."
Casey made full use of an advantageous early tee-time to put himself in contention with a round that also contained eight birdies, but also three bogeys.
Having birdies three of his first four holes, the Englishman let things slip slightly with back-to-back bogeys at six and seven, but responded with consecutive birdies at 11 and 12.
Another bogey followed at 14, but he picked up shots and 15 and 16 and, despite missing a golden opportunity to do the same at the par-five 17th, he signed off in style with birdie at 18.
Good start
"I'm very happy with that," Casey said afterwards. "I've struggled to get off to a good start this year.
"First rounds have been not so good, so that was great."
Steve Stricker, last year's winner when the tournament was played at Westchester Country Club, shot 68 - the same score as Australian Adam Scott, Jesper Parnevik of Sweden and Americans Rich Beem, Bubba Watson and George McNeill.
USPGA champion Padraig Harrington could manage only a one-over-par 72, while playing partners Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry shot 70 and 69 respectively.
