Rory McIlroy ties the lead after round one of The Players

Rory Mcllory secured 10 birdies in the opening round of the Players and shares the lead with Americans Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark.

The Northern Irishman began his round on the 10th and found six of his birdies on the first eight holes. It wasn’t completely plain sailing for Rory as he dropped shots on holes 18 and seven when he found the water.

Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the Open in 2022, finds himself 6-under par, while world number one, Scottie Scheffler, is 5-under and two shots back off the lead.

The Players comes with a massive prize pool, with $25 million up for grabs. Scheffler will look to retain his title from last year with the Players tournament coming with a massive prize pool, with $25 million up for grabs.

This years event is stacked with all the best players in the world and Mcllory’s group alone had current Fedex cup winner Viktor Hovland and 2015 Masters winner Jordan Spieth.

There was a long debate going on between the three players when Rory pulled his tee shot into the water on the seventh hole.

The 10-minute discussion tried to clarify if Rory’s ball went straight into the water or bounced and went in. The Ryder cup players eventually came to a conclusion however slowed down play.

The second round gets under way today at 11:30am UK time.