CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — A short time away from golf has paid off for birthday boy Rory McIlroy.
The world’s third-ranked player shot a 3-under 68 at Wells Fargo on Thursday in his first tournament since missing a loss at the Masters, leaving him three shots behind first-round leader Tommy Fleetwood.
Fleetwood’s 6-under 65 is one stroke better than Xander Schauffele, Kevin Strellman, Taylor Moore, KH Lee and Ryan Palmer, who are tied for second after an opening 66 seconds.
Patrick Cantlay, bagging former Tiger Woods punter Joe Lacava, shot a 67.
McIlroy withdrew from the RBC Heritage after a disappointing second round 77 at the Augusta National, a controversial decision that cost him a $3 million bonus for failing to meet the playing requirements of the PGA Tour’s new Player Impact program.
The Northern Irishman said earlier in the week that he had not touched his clubs for more than two weeks, adding that he needed a “reset” to gain some perspective as golf began to consume his life.
He looked fresh on Thursday.
“It was great to be there again,” said McIlroy.
Not surprisingly, McIlroy got off to a solid start at Quail Hollow, a track that suits his style of play. He has won the Wells Fargo Championship three times and finished in the top ten nine times in 11 starts.
It is also the site of his first win on the PGA Tour in 2010 and where he scored a tournament record at 21-under 267 in a dominant seven-stroke win in 2015. He won again in 2021, making him the tournament’s only three-time champion.
“I feel very comfortable here,” McIlroy said. “I think if you go back to the site of your first win on the Tour, and you get to know (Quail Hollow boss Johnny) Harris really well, and he just had a level of comfort on this golf course and at this club that maybe nowhere else on the Tour.”
McIlroy sent his opening shot on No. 10 down the fairway and a fan shouted “Happy Birthday, Rory”. He shot 34-34, some numbers appropriate for his 34th birthday.
McIlroy’s only hiccup came on No. 7, when he sent his tee correct and out of bounds, forcing a timer hit. McIlroy took advantage of his second chance, driving 366 yards down the pass. He ended up missing an even 22-foot putt to finish with his only bogey.
He bounced back at the closing 9th hole, and rolled his approach to 11 feet to create a birdie.
“I didn’t want to spend the afternoon on my birthday grinding on the field, so it was nice to play well,” McIlroy said with a laugh.
Fleetwood, a six-time winner on the European Tour but never on the PGA Tour, finished a bogey-free tour with birdies at No. 17 and 18 in a challenging three-hole closing stretch of Quail Hollow dubbed the “Green Mile”.
“I have to keep going and wait for those really big results and hopefully start competing again at the top of the leaderboard and we’ll see what we can do from there,” said Fleetwood.
Schauvelli looked set to take control of the championship early on after racing to the 7-under-15 hole. But he bogeyed two of the last three holes to give up the lead.
“I really managed to go there. The ball was on a string for some time and I did everything really well,” said Schavelli. “It’s a championship style golf course, so I played really well through the 15 holes and then a little hiccup there, so it’s what it is.”
Cantlay seemed to mesh well with LaCava, who has been in the bag for 12 of Woods’ tournament wins, including the 2019 Masters.
Cantlay, who has played without a yardage book in his pocket since turning pro, immediately put confidence in LaCava, who helped him read a tough uphill birdie game in the eighth.
LaCava has worked once before with Cantlay, at the Genesis Invitational in 2021 when Woods was injured, and Fred Husbands came highly recommended to him.
“He’s just an amazing guy,” Cantlay said. “I trust Fred so much, he’s a good friend of mine. I’ve gotten really close to him over the years, so when he says something like that, I know he means it.”
Defending champion and two-time winner Max Homma shot the 70.
The ever-evolving Tony Finau, who has won four of the last 18 tournaments he’s entered — including the Mexican Open last week — has stepped up to shoot a 71 after catching two of his last three holes.
Jordan Spieth made 72 in his first appearance at the tournament since 2013.