Rafa Cabrera-Bello boosted his Ryder Cup hopes with a sizzling start at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina on Thursday.

The long-hitting Spaniard bagged an eagle and five birdies for seven-under-par 63 in the first round at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

He shared the lead with American Kevin Na with half the field back in the clubhouse, two strokes ahead of Englishman Luke Donald, New Zealander Danny Lee and American Derek Fathauer.

Graeme McDowell shot a first round two-under-par 68 - starting on the back nine he hit four birdies having opened with a bogey. Two more bogeys on the third and ninth then sandwiched his final birdie on the fifth.

Fellow Irish man Shane Lowry is two shots back in a tie for 76th. A double bogey on the 15th not helping his cause. He's hoping for a win this weekend to make a late play for Ryder Cup selection.

Cabrera-Bello received an invitation to play in Greensboro where he arrived in good form, coming off a tie for fifth at the Olympic golf in Rio. As much as he enjoyed representing Spain, he also wants to be part of the Europe team for the Ryder Cup in six weeks.

He is on the borderline, with the top nine players at the end of next week making the team automatically before captain Darren Clarke selects three others.

“Last week ... was the first time I was really not playing for myself, just playing for my country and obviously it’s a huge honour but also big responsibility and I wanted to do good and I was pleased with my result,” Cabrera-Bello told reporters.

“I would have wanted to win a medal but given how it turned out it was a very good week and coming into this week, I felt the game was good.”

Cabrera-Bello said he decided to play in Greensboro this week instead of the European Tour’s Czech Masters, because the stronger field would offer more world ranking points, and give him a better chance to improve his Ryder Cup position.

"I also felt that it was going to be easier to travel South to North (America) than from Rio to Czech Republic, jet lag-wise," he said.

Cabrera-Bello is hoping to continue the Spanish success in Greensboro, where the late Seve Ballesteros won in 1978 and Sergio Garcia also lifted the Sam Snead Cup in 2012.

“Obviously an honour for me if I have a chance to put my name on a trophy where Seve and Sergio are also part of it,” he said.

“Last tournament I won, two Spaniards had just won before me so if that record helps me get a little bit of luck and being in contention, then so be it, great.”