Rory McIlroy stumbled on a par 76 from four over to finish 12 strokes behind early club leader Chad Ramey in the first round of the Players Championship.
The Northern Irishman opened with a double bogey six and, as he birdied his next hole, a series of wayward tee shots left him struggling at Sawgrass.
McIlroy was playing with world number one Jon Rahm, who hit a 71, and number two Scottie Scheffler (68).
US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England is among the latest starters.
Scheffler shines among the top three
Much was expected of the marquee group at the PGA Tour’s $25m (£21m) showpiece event, with the three knowing victory will put them top of the world rankings.
Rahm is the current starter after a five-game winning streak in his last 10 events and the Spaniard birdied on the 16th and 18th holes to reach two under after nine holes. A seven-par run followed before he dropped his lone shot on the par-three eighth.
A birdie putt escaped on the par-five ninth, leaving Rahm to remark: “It was like a slap in the face. I hit a lot of putts and just kept burning edges. That’s golf. “
McIlroy, who entered the event after finishing second in last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, looked uncomfortable all day.
A slightly driven tee shot on his first hole, the 10th, left the 33-year-old in deep rough and he could only dig in his second rougher to the left of the green. His third bounced across the green into a bunker and McIlroy would take three more from there.
This set the tone for a lamentable round.
And even when McIlroy played a sensational recovery shot, his set-up let him down.
Another driven drive on the 16th par five left McIlroy with a difficult second shot from 200 yards out from the pine straw, with water waiting for something to leak further to the right. He drew huge applause after threading his shot between two trees and to the back of the green, but wasted eagle and birdie putts.
“The three-putt on the 16th was probably the one that kind of stopped all momentum,” said the 2019 Players Champion, who had twice as much at the time and was trying to rebound from a bogey on the 15th.
“I hit a really good shot on the pine straw and didn’t take advantage of it. And, after bogeying on one and three, it was hard to get it back from there.
“I feel like it’s as penal as I’ve seen in a long time. I think it would have to go back to when the tournament was played in May, for it to be as penal as that.”
American Scheffler got off to the best start, although he admitted he had “a bad warm-up”.
The defending Masters champion missed many achievable birdie putts as he opened with nine straight pars, before successive birdies on the first and second holes lifted him up the rankings.
Scheffler then finished with three birdies in his final four holes.
“I’m proud of the way I finished,” he said after a round under four. “I just kept plodding along and luckily I saw a few putts.”
Unsung leader and an ace
While all the talk before the week focused on the top three in the world, the initial momentum was set by world No. 225 Ramey.
The 30-year-old American birdied eight in a bogey-free round and finished clear of 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa, who birdied five and an eagle in benign conditions at the Stadium Course in the northeast. East Florida.
Fellow American Hayden Buckley celebrated by throwing his cap in 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 forward slope of the island green, to hit the 11th ace on the hole in Sawgrass’ 41-year history of hosting the Players Tournament.
He followed that up with a birdie on the 18th and first hole to hold five under after 10, but two bogeys and two double bogeys in his next six holes saw him post a 73 of 73.
More soon.
