There was good news for rival Ryder Cup captains at the opening round of the Deutsche Bank Cham­pionship yesterday, with wild card sureties Keegan Bradley and Ian Poulter putting together impres­sive rounds.

At TPC Boston, a birdie-birdie finish gave Bradley the clubhouse lead of one shot as he shot a bogey-free round of six-under-par 65 playing in the morning groups.

And Poulter made four birdies in his last five holes for a four-under par 67.

Also making good starts in the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which is also the last tour­nament before US captain Tom Watson and his European counter­part Paul McGinley announce their three picks, were America’s Webb Simpson and England’s Luke Don­ald.

Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion, shot a five-under par 66, where he was joined by Australian Jason Day, while Donald was steady in his two-under par 69 effort.

However, world No1 Rory McIl­roy squandered a red-hot start – he was three-under par after four holes – by making three bogeys in his last five holes for a one-under par 70. World No2 Adam Scott just could not get going yesterday and was way down the leaderboard with a two-over par 73.

Bradley, considered by many experts as a guaranteed name in Watson’s three picks, espe­cially with his impressive show at Medinah in 2012, said Ryder Cup was omnipresent in his mind.

“I am dreaming about it,” Keegan said. “When I wake up, I am think­ing about it. When I’m on the course, I am thinking about it. I’ve just made the decision that it’s go­ing to come up and I’m not going to try to block it out.

“I’m just going to try and embrace it and be aware of those thoughts. “

Unlike Bradley, Poulter said he is not trying to think about the Ryder Cup.

“I’m not thinking about the Ry­der Cup. It’s in a few weeks’ time. Obviously, it’s on everyone’s radar because everyone wants to play in it. And I want to play in it as well. So I’ll have to wait and see,” he said after a round that included seven birdies and three bogeys.