2015 Players Championship leaderboard: Rory McIlroy runs away from Jordan Spieth

The PGA Tour paired Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy at the Players this week in what was billed as the start of golf’s rivalry of the century. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee said earlier in the week that we may be on the cusp of the greatest rivalry in the history of the game.

After McIlroy’s two majors last summer solidified his status as the game’s top talent, the rivalry narrative started to crescendo this last month when Spieth joined the battle with that record-setting Masters win. Spieth, who is four years younger than Rory, has been the hottest player in the world since the end of November and is now ranked No. 2 in the world. So the PGA Tour obliged and put the two together this week, and the golf world was salivating.

But the start of this Rory-Jordan battle was underwhelming at TPC Sawgrass. Last year, Spieth went 58 holes and shot to the top of the leaderboard before he made his first bogey. He didn’t have to wait until Sunday afternoon this year to drop a shot, opening bogey-bogey with an array of shaky shots, particularly up around the greens. Spieth bogeyed both par-5s on his first nine, which is a good way to fall behind the long-hitting McIlroy.

The frustrations for Spieth didn’t go away after he made the turn. He’s streaked to the No. 2 spot in the world rankings largely by being the hottest putter in golf. But they weren’t falling on Thursday, and he looked exasperated over his final few holes. He lipped out birdie putts at both the sixth and seventh (his 15th and 16th holes of the day) to stay at a disappointing 3-over. It looked like he would drop another shot on his penultimate hole, but he pulled off this circus wedge shot, using the backboard here and saving par.

One more par on his last hole completed his card with a 3-over 75 (38-37).

McIlroy did not play his most dominant round, but it was clear early on that he was in much better form than Spieth and threatening to run away from his contemporary. The world No. 1 had a relatively uneventful day, posting just one bogey and a whole bunch of pars. He caught a fortunate break early on just his second hole, hitting the bulkhead that abuts the water at the par-5 11th.

He saved an easy par from there and go out in 2-under 33. A red number at the 15th got him under par for the day, and then he pulled off one of those shots that reinforced why he’s the No. 1 player in the world. Rory hit an 8-iron from 203 yards out at the 16th hole. After the round, he said it was downwind and “not even that hard an 8-iron.”

An 8-iron from 203 yards for a nice comfortable eagle -- nobody is beating that, including Spieth.

Rory got into the house at 3-under, which was good enough to be in the top five after the morning wave. Hideki Matsuyama is the early pacesetter, posting a 5-under 67 to lead the morning group. Matsuyama is often cited as one of the mid-20s talents who, much like Spieth, can push McIlroy for the next couple of decades.

Here’s your leaderboard midway through the opening round:

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