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Rory McIlroy sits in a familiar spot on top of the BMW Championship leaderboard.

McIlroy is tied with Brian Harman for first place at five-under after one round at Olympia Fields Country Club.

The three-time FedEx Cup champion turned in the best round of the top contenders for golf’s end-of-season trophy on Thursday.

McIlroy’s 65 gave him his fifth first-round lead at the BMW Championship, a record for any player at a single PGA Tour event, per PGA Tour Communications.

McIlroy and Harman hold a one-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick and four others going into the second round.

McIlroy will be one of the 30 golfers who qualify for next week’s Tour Championship, but others need to use the next three days to solidify their spot in the top 30, and for some the rest of the tournament will serve as one of the final auditions for the United States Ryder Cup team.

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McIlroy ended Thursday in a tie for first place at the BMW Championship and at the top of the projected FedEx Cup standings.

Those are two places that the Northern Irishman is more than familiar with. He won his second FedEx Cup title in 2022 and earned his fifth first-round lead at the BMW.

The BMW 18-hole lead statistic is even more impressive when you consider that the tournament has hopped around between 10 golf courses since it was introduced in 2007.

It is one thing for a player to dominate one course that suits his strengths, but for McIlroy to achieve this feat across different courses at one event is remarkable.

McIlroy needs three more solid rounds to set himself up for the best possible start at the Tour Championship, where the first-place golfer in the FedEx Cup standings starts at 10-under.

He has a slight advantage over Scheffler and Jon Rahm, and if he finishes in front of both golfers, he should earn enough points to top the FedEx Cup standings come Sunday.

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Matt Fitzpatrick’s four-under 66 moved him 11 spots in the projected FedEx Cup standings.

Fitzpatrick entered Olympia Fields in 40th place and in need of a big move up the leaderboard to reach the Tour Championship.

The 2022 U.S. Open winner could not have asked for a better start, as he finished one shot off the lead held by Harman and McIlory.

Fitzpatrick moved up to 29th in the projected standings, which would put him one spot clear of the bubble, and in order to remain there, he must be consistent over the next three rounds.

Fitzpatrick’s first-round surge was not a huge surprise given what he did at Olympia Fields in 2020. He landed in a tie for sixth when the second leg of the FedEx Cup featured 70 players.

The Englishman needs a placement similar to that come Sunday to secure his spot at East Lake.

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United States Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson faces a tough decision in the coming weeks to name six players to the 12-man squad.

Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Brooks Koepka and Max Homa sit in the top six of the U.S. Ryder Cup standings entering the BMW Championship. The top six automatically qualify for the team.

That leaves Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and plenty of others with two weeks left to impress Johnson before he makes his final decision.

Morikawa, Cameron Young, Rickie Fowler and Sahith Theegala stood out the most among the potential Ryder Cup captain’s picks contenders on Thursday.

Theegala and Fowler both finished one shot off the lead, Young and Morikawa are two shots adrift of McIlroy and Harman. Spieth is within striking distance at two-under as well.

Young has the most to play for at Olympia Fields, as he entered in 46th place. He needs to win or finish in second place to feel secure about his spot in the Tour Championship field.

Theegala is the only other member of the group mentioned above who started the week outside the top 30 in 31st place. He just needs to move up one spot to make it to East Lake.

The performances of Young and Theegala under pressure could impress Johnson, as could the form Spieth, Morikawa and others play themselves into.

Each shot will be closely watched over the next two weeks, and one or two stellar rounds could be the difference in earning the 11th or 12th roster spots.