Procore Championship R1 Leaderboard: Ryder Cup rookies flying high at Silverado

Ryder Cup rookies Ben Griffin, Russell Henley and JJ Spaun provided encouragement for US captain Keegan Bradley as all three made excelllent starts to the Procore Championship in California.

Henley and US Open champion Spaun will make their debuts at Bethpage having qualified automatically, while Griffin was named as a captain's pick.

And all three are inside the top 10 after round one, with Griffin best placed on 8-under after he fired an opening 64 to sit one behind Mackenzie Hughes, who had just five pars on his card in a remarkable 63.

The Canadian was on 59-watch when he made his ninth birdie of the day at the 13th, but back-to-back bogeys halted his momentum before he bounced back with birdies at 16 and 18.

Griffin kept a bogey off his card, while Henley recovered well from a poor start, dropping shots at the opening two holes before reeling off four straight birdies as he returned a 7-under 65.

Spaun also looked in good nick as he fired a blemish-free 67, while Scottie Scheffler has work to do to get into the mix after his mixed-bag of a 70.

"I think it was a pretty frustrating day overall," said the world No 1. "I felt like I did some things well out there, I just wasn't quite getting the reward. Yeah, that's pretty much it on my end."

Scheffler also hinted that the Ryder Cup players in the field could have benefitted from a week's rest before the showdown against Europe later this month, but he insisted their were no drawbacks about playing competitive golf this week.

"Any drawbacks? I couldn't really think of one," he added. "I mean, you could maybe nitpick and say you could use some rest, but like I said, it was more important for me to be here instead of having four weeks off before the Ryder Cup."

Sam Burns (71) was the only other member of Bradley's team to be under the card on day one, with Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Harris English all shooting 72.