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Rory McIlroy was 70 strokes at the end of play on the opening day - seven behind tournament leader Martin Kaymer.
The two-time Major champion made the turn in 33 after four birdies and the first two holes on the way home to reach five under. But then three bogeys - on his twelfth, fifteenth and seventeenth - left him just two under for the day.
“I played really solid for the first 11 holes but let a few shots get away from me at the end,” said McIlroy. “Guys are going low so 70 is going to be pretty average by the end of the day but I feel like my game is in good enough shape that I can go out tomorrow and shoot something in the 60s.
“It’s a course that has frustrated me in the past but I feel like I learnt how to play it last year. I’m coming in disappointed with a 70 when maybe a couple of years ago I would have been happy.”
Lee Westwood shrugged off an unusually early start to lead the European challenge for a rare victory at Sawgrass.
Westwood hit the opening tee shot of golf’s so-called ‘fifth major’ at 7.15 local time, but showed no ill-effects to compile a flawless five-under-par 67.
That score was matched 10 minutes later by Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and then equalled by compatriot Sergio Garcia and US Open champion Justin Rose to boost the chances of just a fourth European win in 41 attempts.
“It’s probably been about 21 years since I was the first ball in the air at a tournament,” said Westwood. The 41-year-old Englishman, who won his 41st worldwide title in Malaysia last month, birdied the first, second and sixth to reach the turn in 33 and also picked up shots at the 12th and 16th before safely negotiating the iconic 17th.
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