McIlroy and Schauffele, co-leaders after the first day of the TPC

The No. 2 in the world, Rory McIlroy and no. 6, Xander Schauffele, shared the lead at 7 under par after the first day of The Players Championship ended Thursday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Both took advantage of soft greens and light winds to post 65s at TPC Sawgrass, although they did so in distinctly different ways.

McIlroy recorded 10 birdies, the most in 41 rounds of his career at TPC Sawgrass. The Northern Irishman was 8 under par through 15 holes before going under the water with his drive on the par 4 seventh hole, and then recording a double bogey.

McIlroy made one of those strokes with a birdie on his final hole of the day, a par 5. Along with 10 birdies and the double bogey, he had one bogey and just six pars on his card despite two tee shots that. is in the water and a long dispute where to throw after a penalty.

“My approach to the game has improved a lot today, which is good to see,” McIlroy told reporters.

Schauffele’s bogey-free card featured seven birdies and 11 pars. I had fun playing in the morning, with the wind starting to pick up in the afternoon. “I don’t want to repeat some of the shots today, I can tell you that,” Schauffele said. “I really need to clean this up.”

Canadian Nick Taylor carded six birdies in a bogey-free round to finish one stroke behind McIlroy and Schauffele.

Swede Ludvig Aberg, who broke into the Top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time this week, made two of four par 5s en route to a 5-under 67 in his first round at The Players. He added a pair of birdies against a lone bogey.

The New Zealander Ryan Fox He birdied the first hole in one of the week, hitting just the 14th ace in the event’s history on the famous par 3 17th hole.