Rory McIlroy made a run of costly late bogeys as he slipped to a four-over-par opening round at the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis.
The Northern Irishman had been aiming to rebuild some momentum heading into the PGA Tour Play-offs, following a run of disappointing results after his successful defence of his Masters title in April – which included tied for 40th at The Open at Royal Birkdale.
McIlroy, currently 12th in the FedExCup standings, was in a marquee pairing at TPC Southwind alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler on his return to the event he skipped last year.
A bogey on the par-five third was soon recovered with a birdie at the par-three fourth, before another dropped shot at the eighth saw him head into the turn at one over.
McIlroy sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 11th, but a wayward tee shot off the 16th out to the right saw him make another bogey. His second at the 17th then bounced away past the green towards the stands, meaning a drop before eventually taking five.
There proved little relief on the 18th as McIlroy sent his tee shot into the water and then came up short in his approach, meaning a double bogey and a round of 74.
Scheffler, returning to action for the first time since finishing runner-up at the 3M Open, finished at two under, his only bogey coming on the 15th.
“I felt like I hit a lot of quality shots with my irons,” he said. “I did a good job of being patient and not trying to force it too much.
“I feel like I was right on the edge of having a good day, so I felt like patience-wise, I did a pretty good job.”
Jordan Spieth – who has not produced a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour this season – was among five Americans to set the first-round lead at five under after making four birdies on the back nine. Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama, Jake Knapp and Michael Kim also started with 65s.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood is part of a group who are a shot back, having chipped in from the edge of a bunker at the third for an eagle.
“I feel good,” he said. “I didn’t really play very good in the practice days, my game’s not really been that great. I have been showing a lot, like some good and some really not so good.
“I hit it great off the tee today. Still my iron play was iffy, but I did a good job of managing it for the most part.”
Ireland’s Shane Lowry sits at one under, making a double-bogey five on the par-three 11th where his tee shot went into the water, before recovering some ground with successive birdies from the 15th.
Defending champion Justin Rose struggled to three over, with two double bogeys at nine and 16.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre also had an opening round to forget, finishing at 12 over.
