Few have the experience of playing the Stadium Course as McIlroy and certainly not three of the players directly ahead of him on the leaderboard.

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,

Rory McIlroy has refused to comment on being heckled by a top US college golfer during a practice round at the Players Championship. The world number two declined to discuss the matter with reporters after his opening round.