Christiaan Bezuidenhout started fast on Thursday with a five-under-par 67 in the first round of the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi.

His six birdies and just a single dropped shot put him in an eight-way share of third, one shot off the lead which was shared by Americans Davis Riley and Will Gordon.

Bezuidenhout made two consecutive birdies right out of the blocks on the first and second, and then two more in a row on the fifth and sixth to turn in four-under. His bogey came on the par-five 15^th when he three-putted from inside 18 feet, but he closed things out with a birdie on the 17^th.

Garrick Higgo had a solid start with a two-under-par 70 putting him in a share of 25^th. Also on two-under, in his debut as a qualified member of the PGA Tour, was Dean Burmester. In a similar position was MJ Daffue, fresh from earning his card on the Korn Ferry Tour. His first-round 70 included a hole-in-one on the fourth.

Dylan Frittelli opened up with a one-under-par 71 for a share of 43^rd.