Rory McIlroy shares lead at Players despite drama on 7th hole - ESPN

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Despite hitting two tee shots into the water and being at the center of a controversial drop after the second one, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy opened the 50th Players Championship with a 7-under 65 to grab a share of the first-round lead Thursday.

McIlroy, the 2019 Players Championship winner, was tied atop the leaderboard with Xander Schauffele and reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who had much more uneventful opening rounds at TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy had just taken the lead at 8 under when he pulled his driver left on the par-4 seventh hole, his 16th of the round. McIlroy's ball crossed a hazard, bounced and kicked into the water.

The issue was whether his ball hit above a red hazard line on the slope of a fairway bunker or below it. If the ball hit above the red line, McIlroy was permitted to take a drop at that spot. If the ball hit below the line, however, he would have to go much farther back to drop and hit his third shot.

From the tee, McIlroy was certain that he saw his ball hit above the red line. Norway's Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, who were playing with McIlroy, didn't seem so sure.

It made for a rather uncomfortable moment in what was a comfortable round for McIlroy, who tied a Players Championship record with 10 birdies in a round.

«It would have been nice to shoot 62 and not hit two in the water,» McIlroy said.

A birdie at the last to tie the lead.
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is the fifth player to make 10 birdies in a round <a href=«https://twitter.com/THEPLAYERS?ref_src=» https:>@THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/n2nVsFGS1N

Canada's Nick Taylor and England's Matt Fitzpatrick were one stroke behind at 6 under, while