Rory McIlroy slapped together an opening 67 and is now one back of the lead. Here are the tee times for Round 2 at The Players.

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.

After missing the short grass again off the tee, McIlroy’s ball settled down in the pine straw to the right of the fairway. With water all down the left side, and plenty of trees in his way, it looked like McIlroy was destined for a bogey — or worse.

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

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.

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,

Lucas Glover, J.J. Spaun and Camilo Villegas each shot a 6-under 66, but the top of the leaderboard is jammed after Thursday.

Rory McIlroy is just one shot off the lead at the Players Championship after shooting a five-under 67 in his opening round, but the Northern Irishman believes he got lucky