WASHINGTON (AFP) — Matt McCarty birdied five of his first eight holes, three on spectacular putts from beyond 50 feet, and grabbed the lead in Thursday’s storm-halted opening round of the PGA Truist Championship.

On a day when Masters winner Rory McIlroy made 17 pars before a closing birdie, McCarty stole the show with long-distance putting accuracy he called surreal.

The 28-year-old American also birdied four of his last five holes to fire an eight-under par 63 and sit atop the leaderboard at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Bad weather delayed the start by 90 minutes after more than two inches of overnight rain, and play was halted by storms with 20 of 72 players needing to finish the first round on Friday morning.

South Korean back-nine starter Im Sung-jae birdied six of his first eight holes and sank a 12-foot eagle putt at the par-five seventh to stand second on seven-under with one hole to play.

McCarty, who sank just over 220 feet in putts, was the first player since distance measuring was introduced by the PGA Tour to make three putts from beyond 50 feet in one round.

“You never really expect to make one of them, let alone three in the span of like five or six holes,” McCarty said.

“I’ve been focused on doing a lot of lag putting the last couple of days out here, just hitting a lot of shots and knowing how long in and I guess that paid off a little bit.”

McCarty, who won his first PGA title at the 2024 Black Desert Championship in only his third tour start, was a runner-up to world number one Scottie Scheffler in January in the California desert and ninth last week at Doral.

“Being in the mix all week was really good for me,” McCarty said. “Game feels solid. Feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”

McCarty started on the back nine and opened with a birdie putt from just inside five feet.

He added a birdie putt from just beyond 52 feet at the par-three 13th hole then birdied the 14th from just inside five feet.

At 16, McCarty rolled in another birdie putt stunner from just inside 60 feet and followed at the par-three 17th with a 52-foot birdie putt.

McCarty sank a birdie putt from just inside four feet at the fifth, missed the green and made bogey at the par-three sixth and answered with a tap-in birdie at the par-three seventh after reaching the green in two.