Rory McIlroy stumbled to a four-over par 76 to finish 12 shots behind early clubhouse leader Chad Ramey in round one of the Players Championship.
The Northern Irishman opened with a double-bogey six and, while he birdied his next hole, a series of wayward tee shots left him scrambling at Sawgrass.
McIlroy was playing with world number one Jon Rahm, who hit a 71, and number two-ranked Scottie Scheffler (68).
US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England is among the later starters.
Scheffler shines among top trio
Much was expected of the marquee group in the PGA Tour’s $25m (£21m) flagship event, with all three knowing victory will see them top the world rankings.
Rahm is the current incumbent after a run of five wins in his past 10 events and the Spaniard birdied the 16th and 18th holes to reach two under after nine holes. A run of seven pars followed before he dropped his solitary shot on the par-three eighth.
A birdie putt lipped out on the par-five ninth, leaving Rahm to remark: “It felt like a slap in the face. I hit a lot of putts and just kept burning edges. It’s golf.”
McIlroy, who came into the event on the back of a runner-up finish at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, looked out of sorts all day.
A slightly pushed tee shot on his opening hole, the 10th, left the 33-year-old in deep rough and he could only gouge his second into more rough to the left of the green. His third bounced through the green into a bunker and McIlroy would take three more from there.
It set the tone for a dismal round.
And even when McIlroy did play a sensational recovery shot, his putting let him down.
Another pushed drive on the par-five 16th left McIlroy with a tough 200-yard second shot from the pine straw, with water waiting for anything leaked further right. He drew huge applause after threading his shot between two trees and onto the back of the green, but squandered eagle and birdie putts.
“The three-putt on 16 was probably the one that sort of stopped any momentum,” said the 2019 Players champion, who was two over at the time and trying to bounce back from a bogey on the 15th.
“I hit a really good shot out of the pine straw and didn’t capitalise on that. And, after making bogey on one and three, it was tough to get it back from there.
“I feel like this is as penal as I’ve seen it out of the rough for a long time. I think you’d have to go back to when the tournament was played in May, for it to be as penal as that.”
American Scheffler had the strongest start, despite admitting he had “a bad warm up”.
The reigning Masters champion missed numerous makeable birdie putts as he opened with nine straight pars, before successive birdies on the first and second holes moved him up the leaderboard.
Scheffler then finished with three birdies in his final four holes.
“I’m proud of how I finished,” he said after a round of four under. “I just kept plodding along and fortunately I saw some putts go in.”
Unheralded leader and an ace
While all the talk heading into the week was focused on the world’s top three, the early pace was set by world number 225 Ramey.
The 30-year-old American had eight birdies in a bogey-free round and finished one clear of 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa, who had five birdies and an eagle in benign conditions at the Stadium Course in north-eastern Florida.
Fellow American Hayden Buckley celebrated by throwing his cap into the air after hitting a hole-in-one on the iconic par-three 17th.
Buckley took advantage of a friendly pin position, at the bottom of a slope towards the front of the island green, to hit the 11th ace on the hole in the the 41-year history of Sawgrass hosting the Players tournament.
He followed that with a birdie on the 18th and first holes to stand at five under after 10, but two bogeys and two double bogeys in his next six holes saw him post a one-over 73.
More to follow.
