Rory McIlroy overcame an erratic display off the tee to get within a shot of the lead at The Players, as Scottie Scheffler made a strong start to his title defence.
McIlroy found just four fairways during an eventful opening round at TPC Sawgrass, where he mixed seven birdies with two bogeys to post a five-under 67 and stay in touch with the early leaders.
Former major champion Lucas Glover set the clubhouse target with an opening-round 66, later matched by JJ Spaun after a bogey-free round, with Camilo Villegas making a three-way tie after carding five birdies in a seven-hole stretch to also get to six under.
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Rory McIlroy made a charge towards the top of the leaderboard at TPC Sawgrass during the opening round of The Players Championship with four birdies in a row
McIlroy shares fourth spot with Billy Horschel, Min Woo Lee, Akshay Bhatia and Max McGreevy, who still had two holes to complete when play was suspended at 7.34pm local time (11.34pm GMT) due to darkness.
English duo Aaron Rai and Laurie Canter are part of a logjam two off the pace after opening-round 68s, while Scheffler – playing alongside McIlroy and looking to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winner of The Players – started with a three-under 69.
How ‘erratic’ McIlroy moved into contention
McIlroy made the dream start when he rolled in from eight feet at the first and two-putted from 40 feet to take advantage of the par-five next, only to bogey the par-three third, miss a 10-foot birdie chance at the fourth and hole from the same distance to save par at the sixth.
The 35-year-old failed to get up and down from off the seventh green and carded his second bogey of the day, dropping him back to one under, before sparking a charge up the leaderboard by making an eight-foot birdie at the par-five ninth.
Rory McIlroy was tied-140th of the 144-man field for driving accuracy during the opening round
McIlroy converted from eight feet at the 10th and recovered from finding trees off the next tee to birdie the par-five 11th, with the 2019 champion jumping within two of the lead when he added another birdie from 12 feet at the par-four 12th.
The 2019 champion continued to recover from wayward tee shots to maintain his bogey-free back nine and saved his best for the par-four last, where a stunning punch-and-run – with a five-iron – from the pine straw set up an eight-foot birdie.
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Rory McIlroy closed to within one of the lead with an incredible birdie on the 18th hole
“I was trying to be disciplined and strategic, I just didn’t execute that very well,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. “I didn’t hit a lot of fairways. I was trying to cut it into play, didn’t do it very well, but any time I did miss a fairway I was able to do something with it. I’m not going to be able to ride my luck like that the rest of the week.”
More to follow…
Watch The Players throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf, with 10 extra feeds – including Featured Groups, Featured Holes and six bonus groups – on Sky Sports+. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
