Rory McIlroy fired a seven-under 65 in the first round of The Players Championship on Thursday to take an early co-lead of the tournament, but that doesn’t begin to tell the story of his eventful day at TPC Sawgrass.
The world’s second-ranked golfer came out of the gates on fire, birdieing his first three holes on the back nine to jump to the early lead. He didn’t slow down after that, making birdies on 14, 16 and 17 to start his day six-under through eight holes.
That’s when the round got interesting.
On the par-4 18th hole, McIlroy hooked his drive into the water down the left side. After controversy regarding where he needed to drop for his next shot, the Northern Irishman plopped a ball on the fairway 293 yards from the hole. He hit a beautiful three-wood to the green and two-putt for a bogey.
McIlroy rebounded from the poor tee shot with three birdies in his next six holes, but TPC Sawgrass punched back again on the par-4 seventh. As he did on the 18th hole, McIlroy pulled his drive too far left on the seventh and found the water again. His ball bounced on the grass before diving into the drink, but there was debate about whether it landed inside the red penalty line.
The television crew didn’t get a good landing angle, so the debate was left to McIlroy and his two playing partners, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland. The three players disagreed on where McIlroy should legally drop, and cameras picked up the heated discussion. It’s worth eight minutes of your time.
