Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy start second round at Tour Championship

The Tour Championship got off to an early start on Friday with Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy wasting no time.

Fowler birdied the first two holes, moving to 3-under and a tie for third place behind first-round leaders Billy Horschel and Chris Kirk.

McIlroy also started well with a birdie on No. 2 to reach 2-under. The world’s No. 1 golfer was hoping for improvement after scrambling to stay in the hunt on Day 1.

“I haven’t been firing on all cylinders for the past couple of weeks,” he told reporters after Thursday’s play. “Trying to put 100% effort in every round.”

Horschel and Kirk -- both at 4-under -- were scheduled to tee off at 8 a.m. PT.

After winning the BMW Championship last week, Horschel is making a strong run at the $10-million bonus that comes with a FedEx Cup playoff victory. He has something else to worry about -- his wife is due to give birth in the next two weeks.

“We have decided that if she goes into labor while I’m playing, I will just keep playing, because $10 million is a lot of money and I’m not going to pass that by,” he said. “And I’ll just fly home after the round and fly back a couple hours later, spend some time with them.”