Seamus Power eagled the last to open with a stunning 65 but Pádraig Harrington was even happier as he celebrated the return of Rory McIlroy’s ‘swagger’ with a super 66 in the AT&T Bryon Nelson.

The Dubliner hit all 18 greens and made an eagle and four birdies on a day of hot scoring at TPC Craig Ranch to lie three shots behind playing partner JJ Spaun, whose nine-under 63 gave him a one-shot lead over Rafa Cabrera Bello, Aaron Wise and Doc Redman.

Harrington is looking to sharpen his game for next week’s PGA Championship and as European Ryder Cup skipper, he’s thrilled to see McIlroy back to winning ways .

“Look, I was pleased,” he confessed. “I won’t say I wasn’t. It certainly wasn’t unexpected by me. Rory’s always been an ebb and flow player. When he starts playing well, he plays even better. The way I look at it is that win last week brings back a bit of that swagger that we all need in the golf course. Rory is a very dangerous player with that. Hopefully he’ll be a very dangerous player for five more months.”

Thrilled to chip in for eagle at the18th, Power said: “I knew my game was in pretty good shape but you still you have to put the scores on the board,” he said. “I’ve played well last two weeks but just haven’t put the scores together, so it was nice to see that.”

Elsewhere, at the British Masters, 2017 champion Paul Dunne continued his return to form, carding a three-under 69 to share 16th on three under. He’s just four shots behind Richard Bland (69) and Scottish duo Robert MacIntyre (66) and Calum Hill (70), who lead by a shot on seven-under at The Belfry.

Cormac Sharvin shares 48th on level par after a 71 while Jonathan Caldwell fired a 69 to make the one-over cut on the mark as Niall Kearney (77) and Colm Moriarty (75) missed out on six and nine-over par respectively.

Meanwhile, Mallow’s James Sugrue birdied his last two holes to open with a frustrating, two-under 70 on his pro debut in the weather-delayed Range Servant Challenge in Sweden.

“It was good but I struggled a bit to be quite honest,” said Sugrue, who bogeyed three of four holes straight after a storm delay before regrouping.

“It was a bit of a battle. When that rain delay came I just completely lost the speed of the greens and I had a couple of three putts. But I finished decently so I’m happy enough.”

Sugrue was tied 58th in Malmo, five shots behind a quintet of leaders with Gavin Moynihan 99th after a 72. 

British Masters, Live Sky Sports Golf, 1.30

Byron Nelson, Live Sky Sports Golf, 6.0