A stunning approach from the pine straw on the 18th hole helped Rory McIlroy card a five-under 67 to sit one shot off the clubhouse lead at the Players Championship in Florida.
McIlroy drove into the trees on the right of the par-4 18th but manufactured a wonderful second shot from 160 yards with a 5-iron to inside eight feet before sinking the birdie.
It meant world number two McIlroy comfortably won the bragging rights in the prize three-ball alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler (69) and number three Xander Schauffele (72).
McIlroy opened his round with back-to-back birdies but dropped shots at the third and seventh dropped him back to level par. But four birdies in a row from the ninth got him to four under before his hot streak came to an end.
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Former US Open champion Lucas Glover produced a blistering finish to set the early clubhouse target on day one.
Glover birdied the last four holes at TPC Sawgrass to card a six-under-par 66, a mark he was joined on by fellow American JJ Spaun. Australia’s Min Woo Lee was joined by McIlroy on five under.
Glover, whose closing salvo included a birdie from 18 feet on the famous par-three 17th, said: “On 15 I had a great number [to the pin], so that was a green light.
“Sixteen, if you hit it in the fairway you feel like you should make a four and I drew a good lie in the rough left of the green. On 17 I happened to know a putt from years past hitting it there and over-reading it.
“Then 18, wind switched, I had help all of a sudden. It was an eight-iron number and ended up hitting nine. Then gravity kind of took over for me and pulled it down there to the left, which it does to that hole location if you just get the right number.
“That’s the thing about this place is there’s always some really good scores and always some really bad scores. The margins are razor thin here, akin to say Augusta or Bay Hill. You get off just a little, you can make big numbers in a hurry.
“So I happened to have a bunch of good numbers today and a bunch of good yardages and was able to be aggressive and I putted great. But any time you get off to a good start it gives you confidence.”
England’s Aaron Rai was among a group of players two off the leaders after he carded a four-under 68.
Rai is based at Sawgrass and made the most of his local knowledge in Florida with a round containing six birdies and two bogeys, the last of those caused by three-putting the 17th from 50 feet.
Justin Lower somehow managed to play the 17th in one shot fewer than Rai despite hitting his tee shot over the island green into the water, the American then taking a penalty drop before holing out from the drop zone for an unorthodox par.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre was three shots off the pace following an opening 69, with three-time Major winner Jordan Spieth another stroke back following an eventful 70 which included two chip-in eagles, two birdies, a double bogey and two bogeys.
Shane Lowry carded three birdies and three bogeys in an even-par 72, while Séamus Power carded two double-bogeys in a four-over 76.
Former champion Jason Day withdrew from the event before the start of play due to illness.
Day, who was scheduled to go out in the morning wave with Spieth and Wyndham Clark, was replaced in the field by Danny Walker, who returned a 73.
Justin Thomas was two under par after seven holes of his round before finding water on the 17th and 18th to drop five shots, the two-time Major winner slumping to eight over par before making birdies on his last two holes to card a 78.
