Chris Kirk aced the par-3 14th hole on his way to grabbing a one-stroke lead after Thursday’s first round of the PGA St. Jude’s Championship. The 39-year-old American, seeking his seventh PGA triumph, fired a six-under par 64 at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, in the FedEx Cup playoff opener. Sharing second on 65 were Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, playing without his regular caddie and coach after a London restaurant robbery, plus Canada’s Taylor Pendrith and France’s Matthieu Pavon. On a hot day, Kirk had the most sizzling shot of all when he played a 6-iron high draw from 205 yards at 14 that landed 10 feet right of the flagstick, then bounced and rolled into the hole. “I was just trying to hit it left of the hole and make a three,” Kirk said. “Didn’t quite come off where I was looking. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ “Just trying to hit it in the middle of the green. I was just swinging really good and the ball sensed it, just found it’s way in the right direction.” The hole-in-one, the fourth of Kirk’s PGA career, gave him a three-stroke lead but a closing bogey brought him back near the pack. Kirk, the 2014 playoff runner-up, captured the PGA season-opening tournament of champions in Hawaii after winning last year’s Honda Classic. He sought “boring” but consistent play and began well with birdies on a putt from just over 11 feet at the par-4 second and just beyond 18 feet at the par-5 third. Kirk also birdied from just inside 20 feet at the sixth and dropped his approach inches from the hole at the ninth for a tap-in birdie. A 17-foot birdie putt at the 12th set the stage for the crucial ace. “The goal is to trust yourself and make it as boring as possible,” Kirk said. “That was my plan and I was doing it for the first 13 holes. Very consistent, steady, hitting solid shots, making a few putts here and there — 14 was not boring golf.”