England's Justin Rose birdied nine holes in an impressive eight-under 63 on Thursday to seize a two-stroke lead after the first round of the US PGA Tour's BMW Championship. Rose had eight pars and just one bogey around the par-71 Cog Hill layout and was two strokes in front of Americans Webb Simpson and Mark Wilson in the third event in the US tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. Simpson won the previous playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, two weeks ago. South Korea's K.J. Choi was four shots off the lead after a 67. "Certainly my best round of the year by a long, long way and could have been top five, top 10 rounds I?ve ever played for sure," said Rose, who hit all 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation. His playing partner, American Jim Furyk, called it "a spectacular round," in difficult, chilly conditions. Rose came into the tournament ranked 34th in the FedEx Cup standings. His first-round effort has him poised to move into the top 30 and qualify for a spot in the finale of the playoffs, next week's Tour Championship.