Kirk, Horschel stay hot, tied for lead at Tour Championship

Atlanta, GA (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Kirk and Billy Horschel continued to play well on Thursday and they share the lead after one round at the Tour Championship.

Kirk and Horschel finished the first round at East Lake Golf Club at 4- under 66 and are one shot ahead of four others. Thursday's round was the ninth straight round Horschel has shot in the 60s.

"I feel really good. I feel really confident with where my game is," Horschel said. "Also it doesn't hurt that whatever course I go to I feel like I'm going to have a good round. Doesn't matter if I'm struggling with my putting, short game, hitting the ball, I figure I'm just in the mindset that I'm going to find some way to put a good round together and that's the way it's been the last nine rounds."

Kirk is currently No. 1 on the FedExCup points list after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship two weeks ago. Horschel, perhaps the hottest player on tour right now, is coming off a win at last week's BMW Championship and he is No. 2 on the points list. Horschel also finished tied for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Any of the current top-5 players on the points list would capture the FedExCup title with a win this week, while anyone outside the top five will need a win and some help.

Masters champion Bubba Watson, who is No. 3 in the standings, is tied for third at 3-under 67. He is joined there by Jason Day, Patrick Reed and Jim Furyk. Day withdrew from last week's BMW Championship due to an ailing back.

Cameron Tringale, Zach Johnson, Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar are all tied for seventh at 2-under 68. This year's Open champion and PGA Championship winner Rory McIlroy is three shots back at minus-1 with Ryan Palmer, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Ricky Fowler. McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, is fourth on the points list.

Rounding out the top five on the points list entering this week was The Barclays winner Hunter Mahan, who is tied for 27th and well off the pace at 4- over 74.

Kirk and Horschel, playing in the final pairing on Thursday, both had bogey- free rounds to open up their week.

After Kirk kicked in a 6-foot birdie putt on the first to get into red numbers early, he quieted down a bit with six straight pars before making his second gain on the par-4 eighth.

Kirk made the turn with six straight pars from nine, but he closed out his round in a big way. Following his third birdie on an 11-foot putt on No. 15 and a par on 16, Kirk played a brilliant chip shot just off the green and rolled his ball in from 82 feet away for birdie to join Horschel at minus-4.

"Nice lie there in the fairway, just kind of had to hit a little chip and bump-and-run with my lob wedge and get it to release over the slope just right," Kirk said. "Very great shot, but to see it going in was pretty cool."

Horschel remained at even par through eight holes after eight straight pars, but he poured in a 21-foot birdie effort on nine to get to minus-1 as he made the turn.

The 27-year-old made it two in a row with another long, 30-foot putt on 10, putting Horschel at 2-under. After a pair of pars, Horschel stuck his approach on the par-4 13th to within two feet and he tapped that in for his third gain in a five-hole stretch.

Another pair of pars preceded Horschel's fourth and last birdie of the day at the par-4 16th when he made another putt outside of 10 feet to take the outright lead at that moment before Kirk joined him on the next hole.

Watson, the runner-up at last week's BMW Championship, had an up-and-down day, which found him in the lead heading to the final hole. Watson wrapped two birdies on three and five around a bogey on four to go along with a gain on nine as he made the turn at minus-2.

Another birdie on 10 was canceled out after a double-bogey on 13, dropping him back to 1-under for the day. Watson rattled off three straight birdies from 14 to take the outright lead at minus-4, but a bogey at the last put him back to minus-3.

McIlroy made three birdies and two bogeys on his front nine, and he traded a bogey on 11 with a birdie on 17 to get him within three shots following the first round.

NOTES: Kirk and Horschel were the only to players not to record a bogey on Thursday ... This is the first time Horschel has even had a share of the first-round lead on the PGA Tour ... Kirk also won the McGladrey Classic earlier this season ... Due to impending bad weather on Friday, tee times for the second round will be between 8:45 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. ET.