Lee just shot off leaders at Barclays

Rotorua golfer Danny Lee is holding a share of fifth place after the first round of The Barclays in New Jersey.

The Barclays is the first of four play-off tournaments held at the end of the PGA Tour season to find the FedEx Cup champion.

Lee shot a four-under 66 yesterday at Plainfield Country Club to sit in a share of fifth after the first round. He was only one shot off the leaders.

The Barclays is followed by the Deutsche Bank Championship (for the top 100 players on the standings), then the BMW Championship (top 70 on the standings) and the final Tour Championship reserved for the top 30 players.

Lee, who is ranked 10th on the FedEx Cup standings, told PGATour.com he had a good day on the course yesterday.

"I was hitting my drives very nicely today and if you're hitting the drives well here you can make a lot of birdie opportunities because it is not an extremely long golf course," he said.

"I had quite a few short birdie putts out there and I didn't make every single one of them but I'm happy I made four of them and didn't make any bogeys."

The winner of the FedEx Cup, found after the Tour Championship, will take home a bonus cheque for US$10 million.

Meanwhile, Lee has made it no secret this season he has been gunning for a spot on the International Team competing at the President's Cup in October in South Korea, his country of birth.

His form this season has lifted him just inside the cut to make the International Team.

"I'm right inside the President's Cup, I'm No10 right now," he said.

"So I'm really focusing on that and just trying to hang on to that last spot as much as possible for the next couple of weeks and, hopefully, I'll get in."

Lee needs to be in the top-10 eligible players for the International Team on the Official World Golf Ranking to make the team.