Rory Mcilroy overcame a messy show from Tee to get inside a blow to the players, as Scottie Scheffler made a strong start to protect his title.
Mcilroy found only four straight roads during a random opening round at TPC Sawgrass, where he mixed seven birds with two bogeys to post a five-nine-year-old and stay in contact with early leaders.
Former great champion Lucas Glover set the club’s target with a round of opening 66, later matching JJ Spaun after a round without apology, with Camilo Villegas making a three-way tie after charging five birds in a seven-hole stretch to reach six under.
Mcilroy shares fourth place with Billy Horschel, Min woo Lee, Akshay Bhatia and Max McGrerevy, who still had two holes to finish when the game was suspended at 7.34 in the afternoon with local time (11.34pm GMT) due to darkness.
English duo Aaron Rai and Laurie Canter are part of a two logjam out of rhythm after opening 68s, while Scheffler-playing along with Mcilroy and seeking to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winner of the players-started with a three-nine 69.
How disordered ‘mcilroy moved to the quarrel
Mcilroy made the beginning of the dream when it revolved from eight meters to the first and with two feet 40 meters to take advantage of the other, just to deceive the third money, lost a 10-foot bird chance in the fourth and the hole from the same distance to save money in the sixth.
The 35-year-old failed to get up and down from the seventh green and marked his second noise of the day, falling back to one under, before promoting a load up to the manager’s table making an eight-foot bird in the ninth of the five-five.
Rory Mcilroy was associated with the 140th field with 144 men for direction accuracy during the opening round
Mcilroy turned eight meters to 10 and recovered from finding trees outside the other TeE in the 11th Bird, with the 2019 champion jumping inside two of the lead when added another bird from 12 meters to the 12th.
The 2019 champion continued to recover from Wayward Tee shots to store nine of his back without Bogey and escaped the best for the last forefront, where an amazing note-with a five iron-pine straw raised an eight-legged bird.
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Rory Mcilroy was locked inside one of the bullets with an extraordinary bird in the 18th hole
“I was trying to be disciplined and strategic, I just didn’t execute it very well,” Mcilroy told Sky Sports. “I haven’t hit a lot of right roads. I was trying to cut it into the game, I didn’t do it very well, but whenever I miss a free road, I was able to do something with it. I wouldn’t be able to drive my fate like the rest of the week.”
What else happened on the opening day?
Scheffler mixed four birds with a single noise in its opening round, while Xander Schauffle-finishing that Treball studied with stars-ranging back to the level of a double level.
Scottie Scheffler claimed a win with a blow to last year’s tour after winning players in 2023
Glover Zogu each of the last four holes in the TPC Sawgrass to set the club’s original target, with Villegas briefly entering solo lead in seven up to a late Bogey in its first round 66.
A compressed table sees 19 players separated by two strokes, with Chandler Phillips between the two back after an extraordinary four-nine four that contained three eagles and a big trip.
The casual opening of Jordan Spieth 70 contained two eagles in his first seven holes, while Ryder Cup Ludwig Aberg, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood began their tour with one under 71 years old.
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Jordan Spieth gathered twice for Eagle in the opening of his nine holes in the player championship
Former World No. 1 Justin Thomas needed a finish of bird birds to slam a six 78 and faces a battle to cut on Friday, while former FedExcup Victor Hovland champion sits at the top of the leader after an eight-top 80.
Five players were unable to finish their opening round and will return to end at 8.50 am (12.50 pm GMT), with the second round starting at 7.40am (11.40am GMT) as planned.
Look at the players all week directly on Sky Sports. Direct coverage continues on Friday from 11.30 am at Sky Sports Golf, with 10 additional sources – including sets presented, holes presented and six bonus groups – on Sky Sports+. Get Sky Sports or Broadcasting Without Contract Now.
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