PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rory McIlroy held up his end of the hype Thursday at The Players Championship with a 3-under 69 that put him two shots behind the early lead. Jordan Spieth was headed in the other direction by matching his worst score of the year.
“Just a really, really poor day,” Spieth said after making five bogeys in his round of 75.
Hideki Matsuyama, the 23-year-old from Japan who can get overlooked golf’s youth movement, had a 67 for a one-shot lead among the early starters in warm, sunny conditions at TPC Sawgrass.
There was more energy than usual for a Thursday morning, especially with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson playing in the afternoon. McIlroy is No. 1 in the world and coming off a win at the Match Play Championship, while Spieth became the de facto challenger with a dominant Masters win that moved him to No. 2 in the world.
They warmed up next to each other on the range. And it was clear from the start this day would be a solid one for McIlroy, but not so much for Spieth. Along for the ride was Jason Day, who isn’t exactly on the B-list. Day also had a 69, his day slowed by a double bogey on No. 18.
Spieth felt something wrong with his alignment when he arrived Monday, and he still hasn’t sorted it out. He got behind quickly, and that didn’t help. After failing to save par from short of the green on No. 10 to start his round, he had to hit three wedges around the green and finally got up-and-down for bogey on the par-5 11th.
“It’s just one of those days where I started maybe looking into it a little too much rather than just accepting it and going forward,” Spieth said. “It just happens every once in a while and I’ll get over it. I’m fortunate we have a lot of time before we tee off in his next round versus a quick turnaround. Just going to have to find some answers.”
Billy Horschel was among those at 68 from the morning group.
Thumbnail photo via John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports Images
