Justin Rose continued his improved finish to the season as Chris Kirk grabbed the early lead in the opening leg of the FedEx Cup play-offs.

Kirk had a hole in one at the 16th en route to 64 in the sweltering opening round of the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis, a round which would have been better without a bogey on the 18th.

It was still enough to give the American a one-shot lead over Canada’s Taylor Pendrith, France’s Matthieu Pavon and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan – playing without his regular caddie Shota Hayato, who had his passport stolen during a visit to London after the Olympics.

Rose, who started the day at 55 in the FedEx rankings with only the top 50 making the BMW Championship, is in a group a shot further back on four-under-par which also includes fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and the top two in the standings – Olympic champion Scottie Scheffler and double major winner Xander Schauffele.

Rose, who moved to just outside the top 50 with his tie for second behind Schauffele at The Open after playing all four rounds in just one of his previous five events, birdied three of his last four holes in a blemish-free 66.

“This year has felt like a bit of a grind, all my weeks off have been quite hardworking,” said Rose, who took some time off in the UK after The Open.

“I’ve been seeing signs on the range. I’ve been seeing signs in practice that I feel like there’s moments where I feel like I’m as good a player as I’ve ever been, and obviously haven’t seen that much in results this year.”

A congested leaderboard has 57 of the 70-strong field within six shots of the lead,

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre – who holed a 58-foot putt for par on the 17th – and Ireland’s Seamus Power are among those on three-under-par, one better than Rory McIlroy who headed off for a game of tennis after a 68 which included an eagle and two birdies.

Aaron Rai, who claimed his first PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship last week, opened with a 69.