Defending champion Rory McIlroy enjoyed an eventful start to his bid for a fourth victory in the Wells Fargo Championship.
Playing for the first time since finishing runner-up to Scottie Scheffler in the Masters, McIlroy birdied five of his first six holes, but handed two shots back before the turn, and followed a double bogey on the fourth – his 13th hole of the day – with birdies on the fifth and sixth.
The resulting three-under-par 67 left McIlroy in a tie for 16th place, four shots off Australian Jason Day's lead, and three behind American Joel Dahmen.
A group of players sit two clear of McIlroy on five under, including England’s Aaron Rai and Callum Tarren, Paul Barjon of France (after 15 holes) and the American duo Matthew Wolff, and Denny McCarthy.
Seamus Power opened with a level par 70 to sit in a share of 81st position going into the second round. The Waterford native made 16 pars with a solitary bogey coming on the par-five second hole.
Power got back to level par on the par-three 12th and parred his way home from there.
"I think first week back after three weeks off, there’s maybe going to be a couple of mistakes in there," McIlroy said. "The three-putt on 17 was an unforced error.
"Eleven’s a tough hole, I got a bit of a flyer from the semi rough and made bogey, but you sort of accept that and deal with that. I probably left a couple out there but I’m still pretty happy with 67.
"It could have been a 65 or a 64, but it’s still a good start. That was a nice bounce back (after the double bogey) to birdie both of those holes. I said to myself walking off the green, if I could just get back to three under by the end of the day after that, I would be pretty happy."
With the tournament’s regular venue of Quail Hollow hosting the Presidents Cup later in 2022, this year’s event is taking place at TPC Potomac in Maryland, a move which does not appear be to McIlroy’s advantage.
However, the course is just two miles from Congressional Country Club, where the 33-year-old McIlroy won the 2011 US Open by eight shots to claim his first major title.
"I love this part of the world, I like the area," McIlroy said. "I went over to Congressional yesterday and that rekindled some nice memories. As I said, this style of golf just sort of suits me and I seem to play well around here."
