McIlroy had seven birdies in Thursday's opening round even though he hit only four of 14 fairways on the Stadium Course.

Trailing by seven strokes heading into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy regretted a club switch and sent for his older set.

A tale of two waves took place Thursday in the opening round of the 2025 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Pete Dye's devilish design gave early goers everything they could handle before conditions eased in the afternoon and gave way to a trio of surprising first-round leaders in Camilo Villegas,