Rory McIlroy is near the top of the PLAYERS Championship, but he had to earn his 5-under 67 the hard way as his struggles off the tee continue.

Rory McIlroy took matters into his own hands at The Players Championship earlier this week after being heckled by a fan.

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

Fields indicated that Potter has written letters of apology to several people: McIlroy; PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan; Brendan von Doehren, the director of PGA Tour University; and Scott Schroeder, men's golf coach at the University of North Florida. Fields would not disclose to Golf.com whether Potter was facing any disciplinary action.

Rory McIlroy said "absolutely not" when asked whether he would ever play on the PGA Tour Champions. The legends didn't like that.

Glover made all three of his looks from 10 to 15 feet, holing 120 feet, 11 inches of putts in all — nearly 50 feet more than his average.

Rory McIlroy has been known to take some sharp U-turns on his opinions over the last few years, particularly as it relates to the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. He was willing to state another position Wednesday as strong as any.

Rory McIlroy made his feelings clear about the option of playing on the Champions Tour, and many of his colleagues did not like his approach.

McIlroy, who added that he still has plenty of things he hopes to accomplish in his golf career, has myriad interests outside of golf including as the co-founder of TGL and a growing business portfolio,

Rory McIlroy has no plans on playing the PGA Tour Champions when he turns 50. "Something has went terribly wrong if I have to compete at golf at 50," he said.

Rory McIlroy supported the idea of moving big events outside of America and pointed to one tournament that he believes should be elevated.