McIlroy in Wells Fargo Chase

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Rory McIlroy joined six other players in a leadership log jam after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship.

McIlroy birdied the 18th hole at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte to end the opening round alongside Americans Ryan Moore, Nick Watney, Robert Garrigus, Derek Ernst, Daniel Summerhays and Nate Smith on five under at the top of the leaderboard.

Watney and Moore both posted bogey-free rounds with the former, who started on the back nine, producing a brilliant run home, birdying the first, second, third, seventh and eighth holes to take a share of the lead.

Moore also took a little while to get going on Thursday but a birdie on the 9th hole set him up for an impressive back-nine performance.

The 30-year-old birdied the 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th holes to card a five-under 67 in North Carolina.

McIlroy looked on track to be the sole leader at the end of the first round of the PGA Tour event when he birdied four consecutive holes from the par-five 5th onwards.

While the 2010 champion also birdied the 10th and 11th holes, bogeys on the 9th and 12th left the Northern Irishman on four under and he needed another birdie on the 18th to take a share of the lead.

The tight nature of the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship was underlined with 30 players within three shots of the leading seven players.

Rod Pampling and Steven Bowditch are the highest-placed Australian players at three under, while John Senden is a shot further back heading into Friday's second round.

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Harrington Anchors at Wells Fargo

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Padraig Harrington used a belly putter in the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship.

Despite shooting an eight-over-par 80 - his long game was more to blame - the three-time major winner said he would consider sticking with a belly putter until the proposed ban on anchored strokes comes into effect in 2016.

"The R&A and USGA support the rules of golf and (anchoring) is well within the rules," Harrington told reporters at Quail Hollow.

"I think (anchoring) is bad for the game of golf. But if something's going to help me for the next three and a half years I'm going to use it.

"It's the same as the box (square) grooves. It's hurt me deeply having the box grooves banned. I knew it wasn't good for my game, but it was for the good of the game.

"For the majority, I believe anchoring shouldn't be there. It doesn't look good. The commentators are talking about it. You (the media) are talking about it now. It's a story, just like the grooves.

"As much as the grooves cost me dearly, I know nobody wants to talk about that now. Six months after they were gone, nobody talked about it. It will be the same with the putter. Once it's banned, six months later everybody will move on.

"And there is no doubt there are individuals that it's going to be tough on (Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Ernie Els and Adam Scott have won four of the past six majors between them using anchored putters).

"But it cost me a couple of shots a day, at least a shot a day, not having the box grooves because that's my style of game. So it's not like it hasn't happened before. But for the game, I definitely think that I don't agree with anchoring at all."

Speaking after Els' Open Championship win at Royal Lytham last year, Harrington said he was expecting a ban, adding: "I just hope that they don't wait too long - I hope they don't wait until I'm 50 years of age to change the rule."

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