McIlroy starts season-opener in Abu Dhabi with 8-under 64

Arnold Palmer once opined that golf is both “deceptively simple and endlessly complicated.” In Thursday’s opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, Jon Rahm approached a 10-inch par putt at the par-3 seventh hole at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. After taking the putter back, Rahm decelerated on the follow-through, the ball moving just one inch. It marked the shortest missed putt of his PGA TOUR career. The world No. 1 tapped in for bogey, en route to an opening-round, even-par 72, seven strokes back of early leader Rory McIlroy. Rather than shying away from the situation, Rahm did his best to explain the short miss in his post-round meeting with the media. “I wish I could give you all the excuses in the world,” said Rahm as dusk descended upon central Florida. “It just didn’t feel good in my hands, and I tried to stop, and I didn’t. I just simply didn’t stop. I don’t know. It was very odd.” The bogey dropped Rahm to 2-over for the day. He made the turn at the same score before rallying with three birdies on the back nine, against a bogey at the par-4 18th. “It’s not like it affected my play the rest of the day, because I played really good,” Rahm reflected post-round. “But sitting at 1-under, I feel like, would feel a lot better than even par. “I’ve seen many things. I’ve seen the putter get a little stuck on a blade of grass on the way back and do something funny, hit the ground before because you’re not paying attention. I’ve seen so many things from a foot. I’ve seen some of the best putters in the world miss it because you don’t really take a proper stance. “It sucks to give away a shot like that, to be honest.”

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – TPC Sawgrass’ eighth hole isn’t as famous as its sibling on the course’s other nine, but it presents its own challenges. There’s no water on No. 8, the longest par-3 on the course, but its scorecard yardage of 237 yards is 100 more than its more-famous sibling. Viktor Hovland played the hole to perfection Monday morning, making an ace there with a 4-iron on his second-to-last hole of the third round. It was the eighth ace on No. 8 since 1983 and Hovland’s second on TOUR. He also made a 1 on Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s 14th hole in the second round of the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The hole-in-one was Hovland’s second eagle on that side, as well. He also eagled the par-5 second, making a 22-foot for eagle on his final hole of Sunday. He made two eagles and seven pars on TPC Sawgrass’ front nine, his final nine of the round, to shoot 68 and get to 4 under par. “I’ve been playing really well the whole week. I just haven’t really been able to capitalize on any putts,” said Hovland. “Maybe if I get a few putts going early and maybe start blowing in the afternoon and gets a little shaky, then maybe, but got a lot of work to do.” He hit 17 greens in the third round after hitting 14 in each of the first two rounds. He’s gained more than four strokes with his approach play while losing more than four strokes on the greens. Hovland’s hole-in-one came a day after his Ryder Cup teammates, Shane Lowry, made an ace on TPC Sawgrass’ most famous hole. Both 1s occurred in the third round, however, which began Sunday afternoon after weather delays throughout the week. This is the fifth time since 1983 that there have been multiple holes-in-one in one round at THE PLAYERS.

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