Matt Fitzpatrick is hoping his first-round flurry at TPC Scottsdale will be a solid foundation to build on for the rest of the weekend at the Phoenix Open. 

Fitzpatrick birdied seven of the first eight holes on his way to carding a six-under 65, though he still finds himself two shots adrift of clubhouse leader Chris Gotterup. 

But after shooting a stunning 29 on the front nine, and adding another birdie at 12 to move to eight under with six holes to play, Fitzpatrick bogeyed the final two holes. 

That left him just behind Gotterup. The American, who won the season-opening event in Hawaii last month, made six birdies and an eagle in an impressive round of 63. 

Fitzpatrick, however, believes he has a strong chance of challenging for the title against the home hopeful. 

"If someone said, here is six under to start the day and I can stay in bed, I would have snatched your hand off," Fitzpatrick said. 

"I'm in a good position to start with and hopefully kick on. I could argue I actually played better on my back nine than on my front nine to be honest.

"I felt like I gave myself a few more mid-range putts to make birdies and just didn't quite make them."

Lighting up the 16th hole!@MattFitz94 gets to 6-under through 7 @WMPhoenixOpen.

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But it was a day to forget for world number one Scottie Scheffler, whose round has put him at risk of missing the cut for the first time since the 2022 FedEx St Jude Championship.

Scheffler opened with a two-over 73, a round that saw him register five bogeys and a double against five birdies, leaving him with plenty of work to do in the second round. 

Playing the back nine first, he faltered at the par-four 18th, before doing so again at the eighth, which triggered him to throw his hand up in disbelief in a rare sign of frustration. 

There was plenty of European representation towards the top of the leaderboard, with Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard among four players on five under. 

Another Dane, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is on four-under, while England's John Parry finished the day on three under with two holes to play after running out of daylight.