PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy doesn’t practice from the pine straw anymore, preferring the short grass and flat lies of a driving range.

So when he does find himself in such a situation, he has to rely on his intuition, the feel that’s been fortified over his nearly two decades as a professional.

It was on display on his final hole Thursday, as McIlroy watched his punch shot roll out of the trees right of the 18th fairway and within 8 feet of the hole. He converted the putt to close his 5-under 67 in THE PLAYERS’ first round.

That score left him just a shot behind leaders Lucas Glover, J.J. Spaun and Camilo Villegas. It was a testament to McIlroy’s savvy, as he made the most of a day when he didn’t have his best and was required to rely on a controlled cut off the tee to keep the ball in play and avoid Pete Dye’s obstacles.

“Whatever way the pattern is in my swing at the minute, I'm trying to hold everything off,” McIlroy said. “That's fine; that's what I did here in 2019 (when McIlroy won his first PLAYERS) and it worked well. Hitting that cut shot into play here is never really going to get you into trouble.”

McIlroy birdied his first two holes, but followed with bogeys at 3 and 7. He made four consecutive birdies on Nos 9-12 before making that one last unlikely birdie on the final hole. McIlroy hit just four fairways but gained nearly 3.5 strokes with his approach play and hit 13 greens. He also gained 2.7 strokes on the greens.

McIlroy’s 67 was the low round in the pairing that featured the top three players in the world, including No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is trying to become the first player to win three consecutive PLAYERS.

Scheffler shot 69, while Xander Schauffele, playing just his second event in his comeback from a rib injury, fired 72.

Scheffler made four birdies and just a single bogey Thursday. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 13 greens. His playing partners both birdied the first two holes, while Scheffler made par. He holed a 30-footer for birdie on 3, though, and hit a wedge to 5 feet on the next hole. He two-putted for birdie on 9 after reaching the green in two to shoot 33 on the front nine; it was his only birdie on a par-5 Thursday. He bogeyed No. 10 after driving into the trees well left of the fairway, though, but rebounded with a birdie on 12, his only birdie on the back nine.

“I feel okay about the round,” Scheffler said. “Overall felt like I did some decent things out there and gave myself some chances.”