A rough round for Rory

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rory McIlroy endured an uncharacteristic struggle in the opening round of the Players Championship on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy, the No. 3 ranked player in the world who finished tied for second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, shot a 4-over 76 and was all over the yard, constantly out of position. The 2019 Players winner is tied for 118th and now facing a difficult task to make the cut Friday.

PLAYERS NOTEBOOK

“I feel like this is as penal as I’ve seen it out of the rough for a long time,’’ McIlroy said. “I think you’d have to go back to when the tournament was played in May, when we were in Bermuda rough, for it to be as penal as that. Yeah, you don’t hit it on the fairway here, you’re going to struggle.’’

McIlroy hit only 6 of 14 fairways and revealed he’s having issues with his driver, testing several out of late.

“I’ve just struggled a little bit off the tee the last couple weeks,’’ he said.

➤ Hayden Buckley carded a hole-in-one on the iconic par-3 17th island hole. It was playing 125 yards, and the 27-year-old Buckley hit pitching wedge. It was the 40th ace in tournament history, the 35th at TPC Sawgrass and 11th on the 17th hole. For Buckley, it was the second ace of his PGA Tour career.

“I had a little feeling something like that might happen this week,’’ he said. “I’ve been hitting it well, but it’s always nice to see it happen on that hole, too.’’

Buckley, who began his round on the back nine, shot a 1-over 73, failing to parlay the ace into a low round. He followed the ace with a birdie on the 18th to make the turn in 4-under 32. But he shot 41 on the front nine with double bogeys on Nos. 6 and 8.

When Buckley holed out on 17, he went into a wild celebration with his caddie, Brian Mahoney, and playing partners Taylor Montgomery and Adam Long.