Ireland's Richard Coughlan is in real danger of missing the cut after a disappointing two-over-par 74 in the first round of the Deposit Guaranty Classic in Mississippi. He is nine shots behind leader Curt Byrum, who fired a seven-under-par 65 to lead after the first round for the second consecutive week.

Coughlan, starting on the ninth tee, was two over by the turn, and dropped a further shot at the sixth, before picking up a second birdie.

Byrum began with birdies on his first two holes and closed with birdies on three of his final five holes to lead former champion Brian Henninger and four others. Henninger also had seven birdies but bogeyed the par-four 14th hole. Byrum, 39, is the older brother of PGA golfer Tom Byrum and the two won seven weeks apart in 1989. That victory is his only win since joining the tour in 1982 and he is among many players in this diluted field looking for the two-year exemption that comes with the tournament title.

"It's playing soft right now," Byrum said. "You can go after those pins. The greens are slow, so you can be aggressive with putts. You can go at the pin from the rough."