Rory McIlroy endures miserable FedEx St Jude opening round after shocking late collapse

Rory McIlroy's FedExCup Playoffs campaign got off to a miserable start as a late collapse left him 4-over par and down in 67th place at the 69-man FedEx St Jude Championship.

McIlroy, playing alongside World No.1 Scottie Scheffler at TPC Southwind, endured a frustrating opening round before his afternoon unravelled spectacularly over the closing holes.

The Northern Irishman also chose not to speak with reporters after his round, leaving little to explain after a finish that saw him drop four shots across his final three holes.

McIlroy began with a bogey at the par-5 3rd but immediately responded with a birdie at the par-3 4th. 

Another dropped shot at the par-3 8th left him 1-over at the turn.

A 15-foot birdie putt at the par-3 11th briefly appeared to get his round back on track, but the problems returned late in the day.

McIlroy's tee shot at the par-5 16th found trouble to the right, leading to another bogey. 

Things then went badly wrong at the par-4 17th when his approach bounced beyond the green towards the stands.

After taking a drop, McIlroy eventually carded a bogey, before the par-4 18th produced an even more damaging conclusion.

His tee shot found the water and his approach came up short, leaving him with a double-bogey six and a 4-over 74.

The opening round leaves McIlroy 67th in the 69-man field, with only two players currently sitting behind him on the leaderboard.

As it stands, McIlroy finds himself nine shots off the pace. 

It is a particularly disappointing start for a player who arrived in Memphis looking to rebuild momentum after a difficult spell of results since successfully defending his Masters title in April.

McIlroy, who finished tied 40th in his last start at The Open, had taken the last three weeks off to spend time with family and friends in both Ibiza and Greece. 

His putting coach Brad Faxon did hint that McIlroy could be a little rusty after his recent three-week break in the schedule.

McIlroy started the week 12th in the FedEx Cup standings, and after his slow start is projected to fall to a current 15th. 

McIlroy's performance was in stark contrast to Scheffler, who carded a steady 2-under 68 on his return to competition after finishing runner-up at the 3M Open.

Scheffler's only bogey came at the 15th, while he said afterwards that patience had been key to his round.

“I felt like I hit a lot of quality shots with my irons,” Scheffler said. “I did a good job of being patient and not trying to force it too much.”

McIlroy will now need a significant improvement in the second round if he is to climb back towards contention.

Thankfully for the record three-time FedEx Cup champion, there is no halfway cut at the FedEx St Jude. 

Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama and Jordan Spieth set the early clubhouse lead at 5-under par.

Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama are lurking a further shot back after rounds of 4-under 66. 

Unlike McIlroy's rough finish, Matsuyama closed out his round with five straight birdies, including six in his last seven. 

Elsewhere, Scotland's Robert MacIntyre endured one of his worst-ever rounds as a professional with a disastrous 12-over 82. 

Players are still out on the golf course in the afternoon wave of groups. 

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