| -7 J Rahm (Spa); -5 K Kitiyama (USA);-5 C Kirk (USA), C Young (USA); -4 A Shenk (USA), S Scheffler (USA), J Spieth (USA), A Rai (England), X Schauffele (USA), P Cantlay (USA), R Fowler (USA) USA), K Bradley (USA) |
| Others selected: -2 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), D Willett (Eng); -1 V Hovland (Nor), L Donald (Eng), T Hatton (Eng), M Laird (Sco); E S Lowry (Ire); +1 R McIlroy (NI), T Fleetwood (Eng) |
| Full ranking |
World number one Jon Rahm shot a seven-under 65 to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
The Spaniard had six birdies and an eagle and the only blemish on his scorecard was a bogey in the eighth.
Chris Kirk, who won the Honda Classic last week, is tied at three for second place with fellow Americans Cameron Young and Kurt Kitayama.
Defending champ Scottie Scheffler is one shot further on four under.
Rory McIlroy opened with a bogey after finding a greenside bunker and it marked the start of a seesaw round for the Northern Irishman.
The 33-year-old, ranked third in the world behind Rahm and Scheffler, birdied three times but a double bogey in the sixth and a dropped shot in the 14th – where he again found sand – proved costly as he signed for a one-over 73.
It was a more positive day for England’s Aaron Rai, who started on the back nine and is well placed alongside Scheffler after a 68.
Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are also four under in a high-caliber field that contains 43 of the top 50 players in the world.
They are vying for a £17m purse, of which over £3m will go to the champion.
US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and former Masters winner Danny Willett both recovered from a double bogey to finish with two under-70s.
Fellow Englanders Tyrrell Hatton and Luke Donald also made encouraging debuts to sit alongside 2011 Scottish winner Martin Laird.
