Baylor's Jimmy Walker carded a 5-under 66 in the first round of The Barclays at Bethpage Thursday, landing him in a tie for 4th place.
Walker carded three birdies on the front nine and two more on the back nine to finish two strokes off leader Padraig Harrington. He has a one stroke lead over Nick Watney and Brian Harman after the first 18 holes.
K.J. Choi finished 4-under, one stroke behind Walker.
Austin's Bob Estes shot 2-under to put himself in a tie for 26th, along with SMU product Colt Knost. Colleyville, Tex., resident Greg Chalmers shot a 1-under 70 and is in a tie for 35th. Fort Worth's Martin Flores and TCU's J.J. Henry finished at even-par.
Harrington made six birdies on the back nine, including the first four holes, on an increasingly warm day with soft greens. Harrington is looking to make a run at the Ryder Cup team, and with his only chance resting on European Captain Jose Maria Olazabal's pick, Harrington is responding early.
Pat Perez, Sergio Garcia and Gary Christian tied with Walker finished -5 for the day, tied for fourth place.
Tiger Woods finished at 3-under, and is tied for 14th place.