The Players 2026: Rory McIlroy's immediate reaction to flat opening round

Rory McIlroy cut a flat and frustrated figure on day one of his title defence at the 2026 Players. 

There were significant doubts over whether McIlroy was going to make it through the first round of the PGA Tour's flagship event. 

The Northern Irishman injured his back last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and his preparation for the unofficial fifth men's major was severely disrupted. 

McIlroy only arrived 20 hours before his tee time on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and did not hit his driver until his brief warm-up on Thursday morning. 

The world number two showed no obvious signs of discomfort, though, when he teed off at 14:12 local time (18:12 GMT) alongside major champions Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele. 

But it was an arduous day for the reigning Masters champion, who mixed three bogeys, one birdie and 14 pars for an opening 74. 

No player has ever gone on to win this tournament after opening with the same score.

It leaves him well adrift of the early pacesetters and facing an uphill battle to make the cut. 

"Honestly, overall it was fine," McIlroy said, adding that he felt most discomfort when the ball was below his feet or when chipping.

"Got a little bit tired at the end of the day, but yeah, it was actually all pretty good."

He added: "I've sort of had zero prep. I hit maybe 30 golf balls yesterday and then went and chipped and putted around the last six holes last night.

"But I felt like from what I experienced yesterday evening in terms of like the golf course and the greens compared to what we played today, it was so different. 

"The greens were two feet slower, so much softer just because of the rain. So a little bit of an adjustment there."

McIlroy said he had lower expectations given what has transpired. 

He was surprised nobody went really low given the benign conditions. 

"If I can go out and shoot a good one tomorrow, I feel like I'll be right in it for the weekend," he said. 

US golfers Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges, Sahith Theegala and Austin Smotherman shone brightest on day one. 

McIlroy's Ryder Cup teammate, Sepp Straka, is also in the mix. 

Justin Thomas also bounced back from his missed cut last week with a 68. 

World number one Scottie Scheffler continued his streak of struggling on a Thursday and is on level par. 

The 29-year-old, who reverted to his old driver, was spotted hitting balls in the pouring ran hours after his round concluded. 

Elsewhere, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Ludvig Aberg, VIktor Hovland and Cameron Young have all started well. 

Shane Lowry had a decent score going but hit the self-destruct button on the 18th, finding the water twice to register a quadruple-bogey eight and sign for a 76.

Collin Morikawa withdrew after tweaking his back on a practice swing. The 29-year-old had only played one hole. 

New Zealand's Ryan Fox also withdrew prior to his tee time, citing illness. 

He later revealed he had surgery to remove kidney stones.