Fitzpatrick up with leaders at Sawgrass

SHEFFIELD’S Matt Fitzpatrick shot a four-under-par 68 as defending champion Rory McIlroy made a nightmare start to the Players Championship.

Ryder Cup player Fitzpatrick was five under par after 10 holes, but three-putted both par-fives on the back nine for par and also three-putted the dangerous 17th on his way to an opening 68 at Sawgrass.

In contrast, McIlroy suffered a terrible day with a miserable 79, which included a quadruple bogey on the 18th, equalled the worst opening round in the event by a defending champion, set by Sandy Lyle in 1988.

And it was 14 shots worse than playing partner Sergio Garcia, who fired two eagles and four birdies in a seven-under-par 65 to enjoy a three-shot clubhouse lead over Fitzpatrick and Canada’s Corey

Conners. Garcia, who won the Players Championship in 2008 and lost a play-off in 2015, birdied the 15th and eagled the 16th to reach the turn in 33 and finished his round in style with birdies on the seventh and eighth and an eagle on the ninth.

“I’ve always said it, Valderrama and this course are some of my top favourite ones and for some reason it just kind of fits my eye,” Garcia said.

Lee Westwood, who finished second in the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, went round in three under, after putting all his experience to good use.

He said: “I could see going out that nobody was going to burn it up, you were going to have to play conservatively sometimes, smart golf, and that’s what I tried to do. I can use a bit more guile to get round this kind of course.”