Ian Poulter shares the lead of RBC Heritage in PGA Tour & # 039; s second event back

RBC Heritage, round one leaderboard-7 I Poulter (Eng), M Hubbard (US); -6 B Garnett (US), W Simpson (US), M Thompson (US), R Palmer (US), V Hovland (Nor), S Munoz (Col), D Frittelli (SA) Selected: -5 J Spieth ( USA), M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -4 B DeChambeau (USA); -3 M Wallace (Eng); -1 D Willett (Eng), J Rose (Eng); Level L Donald (Eng), T Hatton; +1 R McIlroy (NI); +2 R Knox (Sco); +4 G McDowell (NI)

England's Ian Poulter said he went "straight into the driving range" despite firing an under 64 to share the lead of the first round at the RBC Heritage.

Poulter hit some quirky drives, but didn't miss a putt of less than 10 feet to lead with American Mark Hubbard in the second event of the PGA Tour.

Seven players are six under, while England's Matt Fitzpatrick and Jordan Spieth are under five.

World number one Rory McIlroy admitted he had a "bit of a fight" in his 72.

The Northern Irishman said not much had changed from last week in Colonial where he was fighting, but faded on Sunday with a four-over 74 in the last round.

"I missed tee shots. I didn't get enough into the game to give myself a look at hitting them in greens," he said of Thursday's round in South Carolina.

Poulter was off the tee too, but said his "solid iron play" and putting made all the difference, adding, "Every time you shoot seven under this track it's clearly a good day."

He took his first shot with a five-footer on the second, two-putted for birdie on the par-five fifth, emptied a five-footer on the ninth and tapped from under the two feet on the 11th.

A nine-foot birdie followed on the 13th and hit a 31-foot putt on the 17th before hitting a 213-yard five-iron to eventually set up a five-foot birdie.

American quartet Brice Garnett, Webb Simpson, Michael Thompson and Ryan Palmer all shot under six to 64 to finish a shot back, along with Norwegian Viktor Hovland, Colombian Sebastian Munoz and Dylan Frittelli from South Africa.

Fitzpatrick placed a bogey-free round with five birdies in his 66, while Spieth had eight birdies in his round, six consecutively from the second hole.

However, he started on the 10th and had a triple-bogey on the 12th after hitting a tree and jumping out of the field.

The tournament is the second event to be held behind closed doors by the PGA Tour in the United States.

All players, caddies and officials undergo a coronavirus test before playing and so far none have tested positive for the two events.