McIlroy knows this, which is why he did his best to avoid commenting on the debacle when asked about it Thursday afternoon at Sawgrass. Even for a player with a vulnerable history with the press, fanning the flames of an embarrassing-all-the-way-around story was an obvious no-go.

Alex Smalley is the only one of this penultimate group to find the first fairway, as Rory McIlroy starts his bid to land his biggest title since winning this event in 2019. McIlroy's just off the fairway to begin with. Onto our final group and first up will be Lucas Glover, the 2009 US Open champion.