MIAMI: Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy tied the course record with 10 birdies to share an early lead with reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffel in the opening round of The Players Championship on Thursday.
Schauffele shot a bogey-free, 7-under-par 65 to tie McIlroy at the top of the US PGA Tour rankings after 18 holes at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
“It’s always nice to get a bogey-free round at Sawgrass,” Schauffele said after his lowest-ever round at the famous course. “I just made some good breaks, made some nice putts and overall a good start.
The 30-year-old American, who has not won since the 2022 Scottish Open, hit nine of 14 fairways in his bogey-free first round of 15 at the Players.
“Bogey, or the fear of bogey, comes when you miss the fairways,” Schauffele said. “The rough is pretty thick. Shockingly thick in some cases. You just have to keep it on the short grass.”
World No.2 McIlroy, the 2019 Players winner, stumbled to a 76 in his final round at Bay Hill last week but bounced back after working on the irons.
“Overall, I’m really happy with how the day went,” McIlroy said. “It’s improved a lot since Sunday at Bay Hill. I’ve put in a lot of work over the last three days. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of progress there.”
“The iron game has improved a lot and that’s something I’ve been working on a lot. I hit balls for five hours on Monday to try and sort it all out and I feel like I’m getting somewhere. It was a continuation of the other things I had.” I’ve been doing well, I hit my heels well in the last three rounds last week and that was reflected in today. I’m really glad to see some iron wounds near again.’
No one came closer than New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who had the first back-to-back eagles in Players history after an eagle on the par-5 16th, a second shot inches from the hole and an ace on the island’s famous par-3 17th en route to shoot 69.
Sawgrass also offered frustration, with Canadian Adam Hadwin knocking his second shot at 18 into the water before hurling his club into the water seconds later. He finished with a bogey and shot a 75.
Another Canadian, Nick Taylor, was third in the clubhouse at 66.
The sixth-ranked Schauffele started on the back nine and birdied the par-5 11th after getting to the green in two, before adding another birdie on the 13-foot putt at the 12th.
On the 18th hole, Schauffele dropped his drive three feet short of the hole and made a birdie that started a run of four, including a 25-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 third.
Schauffele added the final birdie after dropping just under a foot at the fifth.
McIlroy, who also started on the 10th hole, birdied his first three holes – the 10th with a putt from less than six feet, the par-5 11th on a tap-in after reaching the green in two and the 12th after landing his approach. within five feet of the hole.
“That second shot on 10 and hitting it close proved that I can do what I’ve been doing in practice under the heat of competition,” McIlroy said. “It was a nice way to start.
He birdied the 14th from less than 15 feet, the par-5 16th after hitting his third shot just inches from the hole and the par-3 17th island hole just short of six feet.
McIlroy found water off the tee on the 18th hole and bogeyed, but responded with a birdie on the par-5 second after reaching the green in two.
McIlroy sank birdie putts from 10 feet at the fourth and 15 feet at the sixth, but again sputtered his tee shot at the seventh en route to a double bogey that knocked him off the lead.
The Northern Ireland star responded with a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole to become the fifth golfer to make 10 birdies in a single player’s round.
