Jeff Maggert and John Merrick were delighted to get off to a good start as first-round co-leaders of the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Rory McIlroy was happy to get back on track. Maggert and Merrick carded 4-under 66s while McIlroy was two shots back after an opening 68 on Thursday at TPC Southwind. “I felt like that was about the best round of golf I played in awhile,” said McIlroy, who has missed three cuts in his past three events. “It could have been a lot better." McIlroy twice saved par by making putts outside of 8 feet. He also rolled in a 16-1/2 foot birdie putt and another one from just inside 10 feet. After missing the cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance last week, McIlroy continued to spend time working on his swing plane. He said that he saw some progress on Thursday. “Definitely. I’m getting the club in a better position,” said McIlroy, who will defend his U.S. Open title next week at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. “From there you have a little bit of freedom. You’re not trying to protect against a bad shot. You’re trying to hit the shot you can see. Yeah. I still feel like it’s improving but it’s getting (better).” Arjun Atwal, Jeff Overton, J.J. Henry and rookie Seung-Yul Noh were one shot back at 67. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, Robert Allenby, McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Chad Campbell, Ken Duke, Y.E. Yang, John Daly, Lee Janzen, J.J. Killeen and Troy Kelly all shot 68s.