Rai leads McIlroy and Bridgeman in the rain

Aaron Rai, who finished 16 holes, is the overnight leader at 6 under in the rain interrupted Genesis Invitational gold championships at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

World No 2 Rory McIlroy and Jacob Bridgeman posted 5-under 66s to trail the Englishman and just one stroke ahead of Ryan Fox.

A pack of co-stars sit at 3 under, including Collin Morikawa, Akshay Bhatia and Pierceson Coody, below.

Rai opened with an eagle on the first hole, then added six birdies against two bogeys.

The Genesis Open is his third event of the season, having finished tied-50th at the Sony Open and tied-73rd at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Rai, who won the Wyndham Championship last year, is seeking his first second PGA Tour title.

McIlroy, who failed to shine at Pebble Beach last week, recorded his lowest opening-round at the links, in his tenth start at the championships. Ironically, McIlroy has the third most wins (29) on the Tour without a win at The Genesis Invitational over the last 30 years behind Tiger Woods/82 and Vijay Singh/31).

Bridgeman, making his tournament debut, rebounded from a double bogey on the fourth hole after an eagle on No 1.

He finished in the top 10 in four starts this season – tied fourth at the Sony Open in Hawaii and tied eighth at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Morikawa, fresh off his win at Pebble Beach, posted 3-under 68, as he seeks a back-to-back title.

Defending FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood is a shot back on 69 while two-time Genesis Invitational champion Adam Scott fired a 70.

Defending champion Ludvig Åberg is trailing the leader with a one over-par 72 round.

World No. 1 and 20-time PGA TOUR winner Scottie Scheffler is on a disastrous start, with a +5 thru 10 holes. He is tied for dead last with Keegan Bradley. Scheffler failed to make a single birdie but blew up with double bogey on the par-4 eighth after hitting his second shot into the grandstand right of the green.

PARTIAL First-Round Leaderboard