Golf: Danny Lee starts well at Greenbrier Classic

Danny Lee tees off. Photo Justin Cooper/Icon Sportswire

Danny Lee's excellent form has continued as he searches for his second career PGA Tour victory - at the same course where he won his first.

Lee sits in a share of third of at six-under par after the first round of the Greenbrier Classic; where he is the defending champion.

He raised the trophy in 2015, and the West Virginia-based tournament was cancelled in 2016 due to flooding, leaving Lee as one of the men to beat.

That status was backed up by his recent form, which has seen Lee make six straight cuts, including recording three top six finishes.

The result was a bogey-free round, Lee's first since March, in which he made 12 of 14 fairways and hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation. When his radar was briefly wayward, Lee's recovery shots were superb, leaving him three shots of the lead held by Colombian Sebastian Munoz.

"Off the tee was good, my iron game was strong out there," said Lee.

"I left a couple of birdie chances out there, but still made a lot of good putts.

"I've been playing some good golf the last couple of months, and that time of the year I need to play good to get into the President's Cup. It means a lot to me."

Fellow Kiwis Tim Wilkinson and Steven Alker both shot a one-over 71 to sit in a tie for 97th.

On the European Tour, Ryan Fox is in a share of ninth at the Irish Open. Fox, who finished in sixth at the French Open last week, mixed eight birdies with a bogey and a double bogey to shoot a five-under 67, which puts him in the mix at a tournament featuring 27 of the world's top 100 players.​